#gynandromorphy

[luvianblue]

Just been thinking about Pokemon, various pigmentation conditions/mutations, and the possibilities combining the two could create.

[bowelfly]

I'm really curious how extreme the dimorphism in a species can get where bilateral gynandromorphism is still survivable.... like I don't think a trilobite beetle would be able to make it, but we know ants and stag beetles can, so how much of a difference in size/form can there actually be?? I think I've seen pictures of bilateral gynandromorphs with such a size difference that they're visibly curved to one side, but is that really happening?

that's an interesting question but not one that i think i could answer in any kind of satisfying way, both because insect developmental biology is pretty outside my field of expertise and also because i don't think there's any way of quantifying sexual dimorphism in such a way that one could give a specific answer as to which point along the gradient would result in an inviable gynandromorph. as you suggest, species with neotenic or wildly modified females like trilobite beetles, tussock moths, strepsipterans, scale insects and similar sternorrhynchans, etc would all likely be unable to produce a viable gynandromorph. outside of obvious cases like that though i could only guess.

also it just occurred to me that you didn't really specify only insects in your question but if anything i'm even less qualifies to speak about vertebrate gynandromorphs.

[spiderace]

Shout out to the maker of the Alex's Mobs mod for Minecraft for adding gynandromorphic lobsters, kind of a biology nerd deep cut. There are mantis shrimp too. Beautiful

[supersciencegeek]

Half-male, half-female songbird discovered in Pennsylvania | Live Science

Half-male, half-female songbird discovered in Pennsylvania

Finding the rare specimen was like "seeing a unicorn."

[webratjen]

Teratology challenge gynadromorphy

[palaeoplushies]

Four Ornithocheirus Pterosaurs for sale! Including two speculative "Gynandromorphs": http://www.palaeoplushies.com/ 

Two of these individuals are bilateral gynandromorphs! One side appears male, the other female. During the early stages of development, when an organism consists of very few cells, a rare event can occur where the sex determination cells do not split correctly, resulting in one half of an organism developing female traits and the other male traits. Gynandromorphy is observed in many insects, crustaceans as well as in birds. It is most noticable in species that display sexual dimorphism, such as this cardinal.

The possibility of gynandromorphy in Pterosaurs is unknown, and depends on their sex determination system- if their sex is determined genetically, like birds, then gynandromorphic individuals is a possibility. However, it's likely that pterosaurs had thermal sex determination like living crocodillians, which would mean bilateral gynandromorphy is not possible. Take this plush as a fun exercise in speculation!

[currentsinbiology]

Rare Butterfly is Half Male, Half Female

This insect boasts both genders on each side of its body, making it half male, half female, new research shows.

Later identified as a Common Archduke butterfly (Lexias pardalis) - better known as the "brush-footed" butterfly - its unusual features were first realized by Chris Johnson, a volunteer at a butterfly exhibit at Drexel University.

Its two right wings were typical of the female of its species - large and brown with yellow and white spots. Meanwhile, its two left wings sported a darker green, blue and purple coloring, a pattern archetypal of males.

The strange sight is an example of a rare condition called gynandromorphy, which means an organism has physical characteristics of both males and females, resulting from a genetic mutation. It can either result in bilateral symmetry, as in this case with two sides distinctively male and female, or the gynandromorphy can be mosaic, where the two sexes aren't defined as clearly.

[xiphosurida]

Half-male, half-female cardinal neither sings nor has a mate