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Sexual Identification

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Encyclopedia of Animal Cognition and Behavior

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Synonyms

Sex check; Sexing; Sexual classification

Definition

Sexual identification allows the classification of animals as males, females, or hermaphrodites and the intersex condition and can be performed in a simplified way for species with apparent sexual organs and/or marked differences between the sexes, known as sexual dimorphism, or through specific sexing methods for species that do not have such differences.

Description

Identifying sex in animals may seem, at first, a simple and straightforward task. In fact, some species have apparent sexual organs or marked morphological characteristics, a condition known as sexual dimorphism, which makes visual distinction between the sexes simple. On the contrary, there are species in which males and females present extremely similar external characteristics, so no significant differences between the sexes can be perceived, making the application of sexing methods necessary for sexual identification.

Sexual dimorphism occurs in many groups...

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References

  • Blanckenhorn, W. U. (2000). The evolution of body size: What keeps organisms small? Quarterly Review of Biology, 75, 385–407.

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  • Bronwyn, C. M., & Andrew, H. S. (2002). Vertebrate sex determination: Many means to an end. Reproduction, 124, 447–457.

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  • Johnsen, A., Delhey, K., Andersson, S., & Kempenaers, B. (2003). Plumage colour in nestling blue tits: Sexual dichromatism, condition dependence and genetic effects. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 270(1521), 1263–1270.

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  • Manolakou, P., Lavranos, G., & Angelopoulo, R. (2006). Molecular patterns of sex determination in the animal kingdom: A comparative study of the biology of reproduction. Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology, 13, 4–59.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Biology and Freshwater Fish Culture, Federal University of Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, Brazil

    Luciano Augusto Weiss & Alex Pires de Oliveira Nuñer

Authors
  1. Luciano Augusto Weiss
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  2. Alex Pires de Oliveira Nuñer
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Luciano Augusto Weiss .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Oakland University , Rochester, MI, USA

    Jennifer Vonk

  2. Department of Psychology, Oakland University Department of Psychology, Rochester, MI, USA

    Todd Shackelford

Section Editor information

  1. Laboratory of Comparative Ethology, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Poolesville, MD, USA

    Annika Paukner

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© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

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Weiss, L.A., de Oliveira Nuñer, A.P. (2019). Sexual Identification. In: Vonk, J., Shackelford, T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Animal Cognition and Behavior. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47829-6_1995-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47829-6_1995-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-47829-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-47829-6

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Behavioral Science and PsychologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences

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