Male: Difference between revisions

In humans, the word ''male'' can also be used into therefer context ofto [[gender]], in the social sense of [[gender role]] or [[gender identity]].<ref name=palazzani/>{{CitationBetter source needed|reason=The source does not directly state this information, and only uses the terms in passing.|date=MarchApril 2023}} The use of "male" in regard to sex and gender has been subject to [[Sex–gender distinction|discussion]].

The existence of separate sexes has evolved independently at different times and in different [[lineage (evolution)|lineages]], an example of [[convergent evolution]].<ref name=":1Berrill">{{Cite web |last=Berrill |first=N.J. |title=Sex |url=https://www.britannica.com/science/sex |access-date=2020-07-22 |website=Encyclopedia Britannica |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":0Klymkowsky-2016">{{Cite news |last1=Klymkowsky |first1=Michael W. |last2=Melanie M. |first2=Cooper |date=2016-06-04 |title=4.9: Sexual dimorphism |language=en |website=Biology LibreTexts |url=https://bio.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Introductory_and_General_Biology/Book%3A_Biofundamentals_(Klymkowsky_and_Cooper)/04%3A_Social_evolution_and_sexual_selection/4.09%3A_Sexual_dimorphism |access-date=2020-07-22}}</ref> The repeated pattern is sexual reproduction in [[isogamy|isogamous]] species with two or more [[mating type]]s with gametes of identical form and behavior (but different at the molecular level) to [[anisogamy|anisogamous]] species with [[gamete]]s of male and [[female]] types to [[oogamy|oogamous]] species in which the female gamete is very much larger than the male and has no ability to move. There is a good argument that this pattern was driven by the physical constraints on the mechanisms by which two gametes get together as required for [[sexual reproduction]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dusenbery |first=David B. |url=https://archive.org/details/livingatmicrosca0000duse |title=Living at Micro Scale |publisher=Harvard University Press |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-674-03116-6 |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |at=Chapter 20 |url-access=registration}}.</ref>{{Page needed|date=August 2021}}

Accordingly, sex is defined across species by the type of gametes produced (i.e.: spermatozoa vs. ova) and differences between males and females in one lineage are not always predictive of differences in another.<ref name=":0Klymkowsky-2016" /><ref>{{Cite news|last=Wilcox|first=Christie|title=Why Sex? Biologists Find New Explanations.|url=https://www.quantamagazine.org/why-sex-biologists-find-new-explanations-20200423/|access-date=2020-07-22|website=Quanta Magazine|date=23 April 2020|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|last=Lehtonen|first=Jussi|title=Gamete Size|date=2017|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science|pages=1–4|editor-last=Shackelford|editor-first=Todd K.|place=Cham|publisher=Springer International Publishing|language=en|doi=10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_3063-1|isbn=978-3-319-16999-6|editor2-last=Weekes-Shackelford|editor2-first=Viviana A.}}</ref>

The [[Anisogamy#Evolution|evolution of anisogamy]] led to the evolution of male and female function.<ref name=Bachtrogetal>{{Cite journal|last1=Bachtrog|first1=Doris|last2=Mank|first2=Judith E.|last3=Peichel|first3=Catherine L.|last4=Kirkpatrick|first4=Mark|last5=Otto|first5=Sarah P.|last6=Ashman|first6=Tia-Lynn|last7=Hahn|first7=Matthew W.|last8=Kitano|first8=Jun|last9=Mayrose|first9=Itay|last10=Ming|first10=Ray|last11=Perrin|first11=Nicolas|date=2014-07-01|title=Sex Determination: Why So Many Ways of Doing It?|journal=PLOS Biology|language=en|volume=12|issue=7|pages=e1001899|doi=10.1371/journal.pbio.1001899|issn=1545-7885|pmc=4077654|pmid=24983465 |doi-access=free }}</ref> Before the evolution of anisogamy, [[Matingmating type|mating types]]s in a species were [[Isogamy|isogamous]]: the same size and both could move, catalogued only as "+" or "-" types.<ref>{{Cite book|last1name=Sawada|first1=Hitoshi|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Adm6BQAAQBAJ&q=isogamy+mating+types>{{rp|title=Sexual Reproduction in Animals and Plants|last2=Inoue|first2=Naokazu|last3=Iwano|first3=Megumi|date=2014-02-07|publisher=Springer |isbn=978-4-431-54589-7|pages=216|language=en}}</ref> In anisogamy, the mating type is called a gamete. The male gamete is smaller than the female gamete, and usually mobile.<ref name="Kumar-20192">{{Cite encyclopedia|entry=Anisogamy|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Animal Cognition and Behavior|publisher=Springer International Publishing|place=Cham |date=2019|pages=1–5|doi=10.1007/978-3-319-47829-6_340-1|isbn=978-3-319-47829-6 |vauthors=Kumar R, Meena M, Swapnil P|title=Anisogamy |veditors=Vonk J, Shackelford T}}</ref> Anisogamy remains poorly understood, as there is no fossil record of its emergence. Numerous theories exist as to why anisogamy emerged. Many share a common thread, in that larger female gametes are more likely to survive, and that smaller male gametes are more likely to find other gametes because they can travel faster. Current models often fail to account for why isogamy remains in a few species.<ref name=":02Togashi-2011">{{Cite book |last1=Togashi |first1=Tatsuya |url=https://wwwbooks.google.com/books/edition/The_Evolution_of_Anisogamy/5eOvRTIuLXMC?hlid=en&gbpv=15eOvRTIuLXMC&pg=PA1&printsec=frontcover |title=The Evolution of Anisogamy: A Fundamental Phenomenon Underlying Sexual Selection |last2=Cox |first2=Paul Alan |date=2011-04-14 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-139-50082-1 |pages=1–15 |language=en}}</ref> Anisogamy appears to have evolved multiple times from isogamy; for example, female [[Volvocales]] (a type of green algae) evolved from the plus mating type.<ref name=":02Togashi-2011" /><ref name=Sawada>{{Cite book |last1=Sawada |first1=Hitoshi |url=https://wwwbooks.google.com/books/edition/Sexual_Reproduction_in_Animals_and_Plant/Adm6BQAAQBAJ?hlid=en&gbpv=1Adm6BQAAQBAJ&pg=PA222&printsec=frontcover |title=Sexual Reproduction in Animals and Plants |last2=Inoue |first2=Naokazu |last3=Iwano |first3=Megumi |date=2014-02-07 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-4-431-54589-7 |pages=222 |language=en}}</ref>{{rp|222}} Although sexual evolution emerged at least 1.2 billion years ago, the lack of anisogamous fossil records make it hard to pinpoint when males evolved.<ref name="PB-2000">{{cite journal|last=Butterfield|first=Nicholas J.|date=2000|title=Bangiomorpha pubescens n. gen., n. sp.: implications for the evolution of sex, multicellularity, and the Mesoproterozoic/Neoproterozoic radiation of eukaryotes|url=http://mr.crossref.org/iPage?doi=10.1666%2F0094-8373%282000%29026%3C0386%3ABPNGNS%3E2.0.CO%3B2|journal=[[Paleobiology (journal)|Paleobiology]]|volume=26|issue=3|page=386|doi=10.1666/0094-8373(2000)026<0386:BPNGNS>2.0.CO;2|bibcode=2000Pbio...26..386B |s2cid=36648568 |access-date=12 April 2021}}</ref> One theory suggests male evolved from the dominant mating type (called mating type minus).<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Togashi|first1=Tatsuya|last2=Bartelt|first2=John L.|last3=Yoshimura|first3=Jin|last4=Tainaka|first4=Kei-ichi|last5=Cox|first5=Paul Alan|date=2012-08-21|title=Evolutionary trajectories explain the diversified evolution of isogamy and anisogamy in marine green algae|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America|volume=109|issue=34|pages=13692–13697|doi=10.1073/pnas.1203495109|issn=0027-8424|pmc=3427103|pmid=22869736|bibcode=2012PNAS..10913692T|doi-access=free}}</ref>

== Symbol, etymology, and usage <span class="anchor" id="Symbol and usage"></span>==

In additionhumans, the toword its''male'' can be meaningused in the context of biology[[gender]], ''male''such canas alsofor refergender torole or gender identity of a [[genderman]] or [[boy]].<ref name=palazzani>{{cite book |authorlast1=Palazzani |firstfirst1=Laura |url=https://wwwbooks.google.com/books/edition/Gender_in_Philosophy_and_Law/w8bbP6D7U2UC?hlid=en&gbpv=1w8bbP6D7U2UC&pg=PA5&printsec=frontcover |title=Gender in Philosophy and Law |last2=Bailes |first2=Victoria |last3=Fella |first3=Marina |publisher=Dordrecht : Springer |year=2012 |isbn=9789400749917 |series=SpringerBriefs in law |page=v |quote='gender' means human gender, male/female gender}} (eBook)</ref> orFor [[genderexample, ofaccording connectorsto andMerriam-Webster, "male" can refer to "having fasteners|a shapegender identity that is the opposite of connectors]]female".<ref>{{citeCite book| authorweb |title=J.Definition Richardof JohnsonMALE | titleurl= How to Build Electronic Equipmenthttps://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/male | year access-date=19622023-03-22 | pagewebsite=167Merriam-Webster | quotelanguage=Toen}}</ref> minimizeAccording confusion,to the connectorCambridge portionsDictionary, with projecting prongs are referred to as the '"male'" portion,can andmean the"belonging socketsor asrelating theto 'female' portionmen".| publisher = Rider | location = New York}}</ref><ref>{{citeCite bookweb | author =Richard Ferncase | title =Film and Video Lighting Terms and Conceptsmale | yearurl=2013 | page=96 | quote= female[https:] Refers to a socket type connector, which must receive a //dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/male connector | isbnwebsite=Cambridge 9780240801575 | publisher = Hoboken Taylor and FrancisDictionary}}</ref>

Species that are divided into females and males are classified as [[Gonochorism|gonochoric]] in animals, as [[Dioecy|dioecious]] in [[seed plants]]<ref>{{Cite book|last1name=Fusco|first1=Giuseppe|url=https:Fusco2019//books.google.com/books?id=AKGsDwAAQBAJ&q=gonochorism+biology+of+reproduction|title=The Biology of Reproduction|last2=Minelli|first2=Alessandro|date=2019-10-10|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-108-49985-9|pages=115–116|language=en}}</ref> and as [[MonoicousDioicy|dioicous]] in [[cryptogam]]s.<ref name="ShawGoffinet">{{cite book |author=Buck WR |url=https://wwwbooks.google.com/books/edition/Bryophyte_Biology/fuOKCOlRngkC?hlid=enfuOKCOlRngkC |title=Bryophyte Biology |last2=Goffinet |first2=B |date=August 2000 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-66794-4 |editor=Shaw AJ & Goffinet B |location=New York |chapter=Morphology and classification of mosses}}</ref>{{rp|82}}

Males can coexist with hermaphrodites, a [[sexual system]] called [[androdioecy]]. They can also coexist with females and hermaphrodites, a sexual system called [[trioecy]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Leonard |first=Janet L. |url=https://wwwbooks.google.com/books/edition/Transitions_Between_Sexual_Systems/0rWZDwAAQBAJ?hlid=en&gbpv=10rWZDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA1&printsec=frontcover |title=Transitions Between Sexual Systems: Understanding the Mechanisms of, and Pathways Between, Dioecy, Hermaphroditism and Other Sexual Systems |date=2019-05-21 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-3-319-94139-4 |pages=1–3 |language=en}}</ref>

The sex of a particular organism may be determined by a number of factors. These may be genetic or environmental, or may naturally change during the course of an organism's life. Although most species have only two sexes (either male or female),<ref name=":1Berrill" /><ref name=":0Klymkowsky-2016" /><ref>{{Cite book|last1=Fusco|first1=Giuseppe|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AKGsDwAAQBAJ&q=Number+of+sexes|title=The Biology of Reproduction|last2name=Minelli|first2=Alessandro|date=2019-10-10|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-108-49985-9|language=en}}<Fusco2019/ref> [[Hermaphrodite|hermaphroditic]] animals, such as [[worm]]s, have both male and female reproductive organs.<ref>{{Cite web|title=hermaphroditism {{!}} Definition, Types, & Effects|url=https://www.britannica.com/science/hermaphroditism|access-date=2020-07-22|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en}}</ref>

Most [[mammal]]s, including [[human]]s, are genetically determined as such by the [[XY sex-determination system]] where males have an XY (as opposed to XX) sexin females) [[chromosomesex chromosomes]]. It is also possible in a variety of species, including humans, to be [[XX male]] or have other [[karyotypes]]. During [[reproduction]], a male can give either an X sperm or a Y sperm, while a female can only give an X egg. A Y sperm and an X egg produce a male, while an X sperm and an X egg produce a [[female]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=2018-07-17|title=43.1C: Sex Determination|url=https://bio.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Introductory_and_General_Biology/Book%3A_General_Biology_(Boundless)/43%3A_Animal_Reproduction_and_Development/43.1%3A_Reproduction_Methods/43.1C%3A_Sex_Determination|access-date=2020-07-22|website=Biology LibreTexts|language=en}}</ref>

The [[ZW sex-determination system]], where males have a ZZ (as opposed to ZW in females) sex chromosomechromosomes, may be found in [[bird]]s and some [[insect]]s (mostly [[Lepidoptera|butterflies and moths]]) and other organisms. Members of the insect order [[Hymenoptera]], such as [[ant]]s and [[bee]]s, are often determined by [[haplodiploidy]],<ref name="zw">{{cite journal |last1=Bachtrog |first1=Doris |title=Sex Determination: Why So Many Ways of Doing It? |journal=PLOS Biology |date=1 July 2014 |volume=12 |issue=7 |pages=e1001899 |doi=10.1371Bachtrogetal/journal.pbio.1001899 |pmid=24983465 |pmc=4077654 }}</ref> where most males are [[haploid]] and females and some sterile males are [[diploid]]. However, fertile diploid males may still appear in some species, such as ''[[Cataglyphis cursor]]''.<ref name="dip">{{cite journal |last1=Doums |first1=Claudie |title=Fertile diploid males in the ant Cataglyphis cursor: a potential cost of thelytoky? |url=https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00265-013-1606-6 |journal=Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology |year=2013 |volume=67 |issue=12 |pages=1983–1993 |access-date=2 October 2021 |doi=10.1007/s00265-013-1606-6|s2cid=18141328 |hdl=10261/88167 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>

In many species, males differ from females in more ways than just the production of sperm. For example, in some insects and fish, the male is smaller than the female. In seed plants, the [[flower|sporophyte sex organ]] of a single organism includes both the male and female parts.

Birds, on the other hand, often exhibit colorful [[plumage]] that attracts females.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=switze|first1=International Conference on Comparative Physiology 1992 Crans|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zunYrumtsR8C&q=sex+differences+in+birds&pg=PA303|title=The Differences Between the Sexes|last2=Bassau|first2=Short &|date=1994-08-04|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-44878-9|language=en}}</ref>{{Page needed|date=August 2021}} This is true for many species of birds where the male displays more vibrant colors than the female, making them more noticeable to potential mates. These characteristics have evolved over time as a result of sexual selection, as males who exhibited these traits were more successful in attracting mates and passing on their genes.

[[Category:MenTerms for men| ]]