Hey guys, gals, non-binary humans—you think dating is hard?
This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science saying…
Pity the simultaneous hermaphrodite. An animal with BOTH sets of sex organs.
While polyclad flatworms “mate,” they blast each other with jets of corrosive seminal fluid. It eats through skin, allowing sperm to swim about the body in search of eggs. The “loser” mostly gets stuck with the exhausting FEMALE role: laying eggs.
Similarly, mating Australia’s Pseudoceros bifurcus marine worms engage in—yes— it’s called “penis fencing.” Again, the “loser” has to lay eggs—and her wounds will hinder her future desirability as a mate. Some researchers wonder if hermaphrodites’ coital combat is sending them down an evolutionary dead end.
Or maybe a hit nature reality show! “En Garde!” *Shiver*