If anybody is interested, the Memphis Zoo has a female gator that was born male. It was given hormones over a period of time which turned it female. It was part of a research project to help with endangered species. Kinda interesting, I thought I would just share. If your in the Memphis area, it's worth the look. She is about 5ft long or so. Pretty animal.
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Memphis Zoo Gator...Boy or Girl?
noaspop
Apr 22, 2005 11:10 AM
Replies (5)
goini04
Apr 22, 2005 11:46 AM
I seriously dont see how that is possible. Would hormones seriously cause the male organs to "disappear" and make female organs "appear" even if over a period of time? Just doesn't seem quite feasible to me. Then again, im not a scientist
CDieter
Apr 22, 2005 02:25 PM
Similiar process is used in human transgender surgery. Hormones make the male female and vice versa along of course with a little physical modification.
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CDieter
'Reason, observation, and experience; the holy trinity of science.'
goini04
Apr 22, 2005 08:39 PM
Interesting......actually it's kinda awesome!
goini04
Apr 22, 2005 08:50 PM
np
joeysgreen
Apr 28, 2005 04:50 AM
lol, okay who's the expert here on transgenders
I think an entirely hormanal change would be more likely in herps as they have a higher incidence sexual phenomenom. Consider that some frogs will change sex in a single sexed environment. Parthenogenesis is much more common in herps than mammals. Single sexed species are also quite common in the herp world. It would be interesting to see the specifics on this experiment. What would be more interesting is what they hope to use the information for.
