Abstract
MANY animals and most higher plants are hermaphrodites. The basic argument of this paper is that the sex habit of a species is determined by selection acting on the number of offspring produced by individuals of different types. The argument differs radically from most earlier explanations of the evolution of hermaphroditism (reviewed by Ghiselin)1,2, although it is formally similar to a recent explanation3 of sequential hermaphroditism, in which individuals function first as one sex and then the other.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 52 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.83 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on SpringerLink
- Instant access to the full article PDF.
USD 39.95
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ghiselin, M. T., Q. Rev. Biol., 47, 189–208 (1969).
Ghiselin, M. T., The Economy of Nature and the Evolution of Sex (University of California Press, Berkeley, 1974).
Leigh, E. G., Charnov, E. L., and Warner, R. R., Proc. natn. acad. Sci. U.S.A., (in the press).
Maynard Smith, J., and Price, G. R., Nature, 246, 15–18 (1973).
Fisher, R. A., The Genetical Theory of Natural Selection (Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1929).
MacArthur, R. H., in Theoretical and Mathematical Biology (edit. by Waterman, T., and Morwitz, H.) (Blaisdell, Lexington, 1965).
Maynard Smith, J., in Group Selection (edit. by Williams, G. C.), 163–175 (Aldine, Chicago, 1971).
Lewis, D., New Phytol., 40, 56–63 (1951).
Lloyd, D. G., Genetics, 45, 325–339 (1975); Heredity, 32, 11–34 (1974); Heredity, 32, 35–44 (1974).
Arroyo, M. T. K., and Raven, P. H., Evolution, 29, 500–511 (1975).
Grant, V., Genetics of Flowering Plants (Columbia University Press, New York, 1975).
Baker, H. G., Cold Spring Harb. Symp. quant. Biol, 24, 177–191 (1959).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
CHARNOV, E., BULL, J. & MAYNARD SMITH, J. Why be an hermaphrodite?. Nature 263, 125–126 (1976). https://doi.org/10.1038/263125a0
Received:
Accepted:
Issue date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/263125a0
