11 Animals That Can Change Sex
For many wild creatures, the line between male and female is decidedly blurry.
By
Sidney Stevens
Updated July 03, 2024
A green sea turtle swimming on the Great Barrier Reef.
Diane Keough / Getty Images
Animals
For Mother Nature, biological sex isn’t always an either-or proposition. Some species come with simultaneously functioning female and male organs. Others change from female to male or vice versa
, depending on need or surrounding conditions.
The reasons behind this fluid mobility are varied: Some are natural processes that offer a species reproductive flexibility, while others aren’t so natural, often
sparked by rising global temperatures.
Here are 11 creatures that offer a fascinating glimpse into the many ways sex can develop and change.
Why This Matters to Treehugger
Understanding the biology and lifecycles of our fellow creatures is key to protecting biodiversity and habitat conservation. We hope that the more we learn about amazing species like the ones on this list, the more motivated we’ll all be to help protect them.
1
of 11
Clownfish
© RAZVAN CIUCA / Getty Images
Bright orange with three white bars, clownfish are
sequential hermaphrodites, born one sex but able to switch to the other if necessary. In this case, the about-face, which is called protandry, runs from male to female.
Clownfish live in groups where only two members are sexually mature: a large male and an even larger female. The rest are smaller, sexually immature males. If something happens to the female in the breeding pair, her male mate transforms into a female and selects the next biggest male in the group to become her new partner.
2
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Hawkfish
atese / Getty Images
These vibrantly colored harem dwellers are protogynous, starting off as females that can morph into males when conditions call for it.1 Typically, this happens when the harem’s male leader takes on too many females, prompting the largest female to turn into a male hawkfish and split away with half the harem.
But that’s not the hawkfish’s only trick. Unlike most other sequential hermaphrodites that make the switch and stick with it, hawkfish can
switch back again. Female-turned-male hawkfish may revert to female if, say, their new harem loses too many females or if a larger male challenges them.
3
of 11
Sea Bass
Gerard Soury / Getty Images
Black sea bass, found throughout the U.S. from
Maine to the Florida Keys, are protogynous hermaphrodites, animals that can change from female to male. Because the sea bass population is spread over a large range, it is difficult for scientists to observe their reproductive behavior in their natural habitat.2 However, research on sea bass in tanks has revealed that the
sex change may be related to supply and demand. When female sea bass observes a decrease in the male population in an adjacent tank, they switch.
4
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Humphead Wrasse
Vladimir Mladenovic / Getty Images
Another protogynous hermaphrodite is the humphead wrasse. Beginning at about 9 years of age, the humphead wrasse is able to change from female to male.3 Along with sex, the
coloration of the humphead wrasse will change from reddish orange (female) to blue-green (male). Although they can live for 30 years,
humphead wrasse are endangered due to overfishing, export trade, and threats to their coral reef habitat.4
5
of 11
Banana Slugs
Ed Reschke / Getty Images
Bright yellow and up to 10 inches long, these wormlike mollusks are simultaneous hermaphrodites, meaning they don't change back and forth, but use their male and female reproductive organs at the same time. Although capable of self-fertilization, most
banana slugs prefer to find a partner. When it comes time to mate, two slugs curl around one another and engage in a reciprocal exchange of sperm that fertilizes each slug's eggs.5
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Butterflies
Burkhard Hinnersmann / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0
In some creatures, like butterflies, the split is visible over their entire bodies. Some Lycaeides butterflies display a rare dual condition called gynandromorphism that can cause male and female traits to be arranged either haphazardly or bilaterally with one side male and the other equally female.6 Gynandromorphism is found in crustaceans, insects, birds, and perhaps most spectacularly, in butterflies. This unique phenomenon occurs in approximately
one in 10,000 butterflies.
14 Incredibly Rare Types of Butterflies
7
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Cardinals
Courtesy of Shirley Caldwell
Bilateral gynandromorphism also occasionally shows up in northern cardinals. Since male and female cardinals have different coloration, it’s easy to spot a gynandromorph—which has brown-gray "female" feathers on one half and bright red "male" feathers on the other. According to a study, gynandromorph cardinals not only look different, but they also act differently, at least the one researchers observed from 2008 to 2010.7 During that time, the “half-sider” was never seen vocalizing or mating. On the plus side, other cardinals seemed to accept it, and the researchers never witnessed it being mistreated.
8
of 11
Frogs
Contrabaroness / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0
For years, researchers have observed frogs spontaneously changing sex in the lab; now they have done the same studies in the wild. Their work suggests that sex change, complete with fully functioning reproductive organs, may be fairly commonplace among green frog populations. While prior research indicated that sex reversal in frogs may be related to pollution introduced by humans, the same scientists’ current research suggests that the change may be a natural occurrence in amphibians.8
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Copperhead Snakes
Joe McDonald / Getty Images
Some female snakes, such as copperheads, are capable of virgin birth, or parthenogenesis, meaning the female fertilizes their own eggs without a male sexual partner.9 While not technically a reversal, this is an ability to carry out the reproductive functions of both sexes at once — and not as a hermaphrodite. With facultative parthenogenesis, a special cell called a polar body that’s produced with an egg sometimes acts like a sperm to “fertilize” it.
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of 11
Bearded Dragons
jjron / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0
The delightful bearded dragons actually perform a sex reversal in the egg. Studies show that when warm temperatures occur during egg incubation, male bearded dragons often reverse course to become female.10 But it’s not a complete switch. They actually remain male genetically, but act and reproduce like females. What's more, these non-binary lizards lay twice as many eggs as normal females. Male bearded dragons are currently undergoing sex reversal at a rising rate, likely due to the spike in global temperatures.
11
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Green Sea Turtles
Brocken Inaglory / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0
Like bearded dragons, green sea turtle embryos are also temperature-sensitive. The warmer the sand where eggs are laid, the more females are born. In fact, according to a study, sea turtle hatchlings from beaches near Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, where global warming is particularly intense, were 86.8% to 99.8% female.11 On cooler beaches to the south, female hatchlings ranged from 65% to 69%.
What impact might this dramatic sex imbalance have? The researchers conclude that females may seek mates in cooler climates so reproduction continues. However, if too many females can’t find a mate, sea turtle populations, which are already endangered, could severely decline.12
