hermaphroditism

The same is true for (very) rare hermaphroditism: in this case both gametes could in theory be produced, in practice though individuals are sterile.

Usually hermaphroditism means an organism can produce male or female gametes.

Intersex only refers to hermaphroditism in humans, mainly for political reasons.

That some other animal species have a reproductive strategy of sequential hermaphroditism is not relevant to the conversation.

To quote the great Wikipedia: > In the past, ovotesticular syndrome was referred to as true hermaphroditism, which is considered outdated as of 2006.

That's true even for majority of pathological cases such as hermaphroditism.

Some animals have sex defined by incubation temperature; there are animal species with inbuilt hermaphroditism and dioecious plants; male birds are WW, female birds are WZ.

In all other species, its still called hermaphroditism.

I was talking about hermaphroditism like in earthworms and snails.

Having recently start keeping snails, I naturally draw parallel between my dear invertebrates with the hermaphroditism in the book, which is an extra curiosity for me.

Some fishes can change its sex once, but a few gobies go further than sequential hermaphroditism and just can do it at will at the beginning of the mating season.

In other words, although there can be multiple variants of sex chromosomes, they determine each individual to be one of two sexes, both sexes (hermaphroditism), or indeterminate.

The term "true hermaphroditism" was considered very misleading by many medical organizations and by many advocacy groups, as hermaphroditism refers to a species that produces both sperm and ova, something that is impossible in humans.

But they're calling it a third sex because it's due to "normal expression of the species' genes", not because of hermaphroditism.

You might find more luck with the term “intersex” or in more historical sources, hermaphroditism.

>You might find more luck with the term “intersex” or in more historical sources, hermaphroditism.

Hermaphroditism is humans (and for that matter, in birds; the above is a really unusual case) works completely differently.

Hermaphroditism, sex chromosome aneuploidy, androgen insensitivity etc etc etc...

Hermaphroditism exists, simple scientifically backed up fact.