CrowdScience

Why Do We Have Males and Females?


Listen Later

Sex is responsible for the large variety of life on earth. Without the two sexes there is no sexual reproduction which means no shuffling of the genetic make-up – and no survival in a changing environment. But why do we have two sexes in the first place and does nature determine your sex? It’s with these questions and more that listener Du from Singapore persuaded the CrowdScience team to investigate the weird and wonderful world of sex. You might think that Nature would have standardised something as important as ensuring the continuation of the species. Far from it – species do sex in many different ways – some stranger than others.
Presenter Marnie Chesterton unpicks the zoological oddities of sex and along the way learns about her own sex chromosomes. We also meet an unlikely bird keeper, who is the proud owner of a female duck that is morphing into a male. Will her boyfriend, a male mandarin duck, mind the change?
Do you have a question we can turn into a programme? Email us at [email protected]
Presenter: Marnie Chesterton
Producer: Louisa Field
(Image: Male and female mandarin ducks. Credit: Getty Images)
...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

CrowdScienceBy BBC World Service

  • 5
  • 5
  • 5
  • 5
  • 5

5

4 ratings


More shows like CrowdScience

View all
The Science Show by ABC listen

The Science Show

121 Listeners

All In The Mind by ABC listen

All In The Mind

749 Listeners

The Documentary Podcast by BBC World Service

The Documentary Podcast

1,834 Listeners

Global News Podcast by BBC World Service

Global News Podcast

7,676 Listeners

Science Weekly by The Guardian

Science Weekly

412 Listeners

TED Talks Daily by TED

TED Talks Daily

11,107 Listeners

More or Less: Behind the Stats by BBC Radio 4

More or Less: Behind the Stats

897 Listeners

The Forum by BBC World Service

The Forum

275 Listeners

Future Tense by ABC listen

Future Tense

71 Listeners

The Infinite Monkey Cage by BBC Radio 4

The Infinite Monkey Cage

1,941 Listeners

BBC Inside Science by BBC Radio 4

BBC Inside Science

398 Listeners

The Inquiry by BBC World Service

The Inquiry

753 Listeners

CrowdScience by BBC World Service

CrowdScience

474 Listeners

ABC News Daily by ABC

ABC News Daily

125 Listeners

The Intelligence from The Economist by The Economist

The Intelligence from The Economist

2,515 Listeners