Final Project: Leaping for Lepidoptera
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What is Sex?
What is Sex? In evolution, sex can be referred to as either a state or an action. As a state, sex is defined as a way of distinguishing between different organisms based on their roles in producing offspring. These distinctions are usually between males and females. Males produce sperm, while females produce eggs; these gametes then fuse in sexual reproduction. Some species have individuals that may be considered "hermaphroditic," because they have both male and female reproductive organs, which enable them to produce both types of gametes (sperm and eggs). Though sexual reproduction most often involves two individuals, many species reproduce asexually without the involvement of a second organism as seen below in a fictional buttery example of reproduction. Sexual reproduction, in essence, involves the fusion of gametes from two parents, resulting in offspring having a combination of their genetic makeup. This encourages genetic recombination, where the offsprings exp...
