Male: Difference between revisions

'''Male''' ([[MarsPlanet symbolsymbols|symbol]]: [[♂]]) is the [[sex]] of an [[organism]] that produces the [[gamete]] (sex cell) known as [[sperm]], which fuses with the larger [[female]] gamete,<ref name=Lehtonen2014>{{Cite journal|last1=Lehtonen|first1=Jussi|last2=Parker|first2=Geoff A.|date=2014-12-01|title=Gamete competition, gamete limitation, and the evolution of the two sexes|url=https://academic.oup.com/molehr/article/20/12/1161/1062990|journal=Molecular Human Reproduction|language=en|volume=20|issue=12|pages=1161–1168|doi=10.1093/molehr/gau068|pmid=25323972|issn=1360-9947|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name=Fusco2019>{{Cite book|last1=Fusco|first1=Giuseppe|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AKGsDwAAQBAJ&q=the+biology+of+reproduction+define+sex|title=The Biology of Reproduction|last2=Minelli|first2=Alessandro|date=2019-10-10|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-108-49985-9|pages=111–113|language=en}}</ref><ref name=Hine2015>{{Cite book |last1=Hine |first1=Robert |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gMf9CAAAQBAJ&pg=PA354 |title=A Dictionary of Biology |last2=Martin |first2=Elizabeth |date=2015 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-871437-8 |page=354 |language=en}}</ref> or [[Egg cell|ovum]], in the process of [[fertilizationfertilisation]]. A male organism cannot [[sexual reproduction|reproduce sexually]] without access to at least one ovum from a female, but some organisms can reproduce both sexually and [[Asexual reproduction|asexually]].<ref name=Curtis2010>{{Cite journal|last=Lively|first=Curtis M.|date=2010-03-01|title=A Review of Red Queen Models for the Persistence of Obligate Sexual Reproduction|url=https://academic.oup.com/jhered/article/101/suppl_1/S13/757712|journal=Journal of Heredity|language=en|volume=101|issue=suppl_1|pages=S13–S20|doi=10.1093/jhered/esq010|pmid=20421322|issn=0022-1503|doi-access=free}}</ref> Most male [[mammal]]s, including male humans, have a [[Y chromosome]],<ref>{{Cite web|last=Reference|first=Genetics Home|title=Y chromosome|url=https://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/chromosome/Y|access-date=2020-07-22|website=Genetics Home Reference|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Y Chromosome|url=https://www.genome.gov/genetics-glossary/Y-Chromosome|access-date=2020-09-07|website=Genome.gov|language=en}}</ref> which codes for the production of larger amounts of [[testosterone]] to develop [[male reproductive organs]].

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

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, [[Mating type|mating typestype]]s in a species were [[Isogamy|isogamous]]: the same size and both could move, catalogued only as "+" or "-" types.<ref name=Sawada/>{{rp|216}} 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="Togashi-2011">{{Cite book |last1=Togashi |first1=Tatsuya |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5eOvRTIuLXMC&pg=PA1 |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="Togashi-2011" /><ref name=Sawada>{{Cite book |last1=Sawada |first1=Hitoshi |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Adm6BQAAQBAJ&pg=PA222 |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 |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 humans, the word ''male'' can be used in the context of [[gender]], such as for gender role or gender identity of a [[man]] or [[boy]].<ref name=palazzani>{{cite book |authorlast1=Palazzani |firstfirst1=Laura |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w8bbP6D7U2UC&pg=PA5 |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> For example, according to Merriam-Webster, "male" can refer to "having a gender identity that is the opposite of female".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Definition of MALE |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/male |access-date=2023-03-22 |website=www.merriamMerriam-webster.comWebster |language=en}}</ref> According to the Cambridge Dictionary, "male" can mean "belonging or relating to men".<ref>{{Cite web |title=male |url=https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/male |website=Cambridge Dictionary}}</ref>

Species that are divided into females and males are classified as [[Gonochorism|gonochoric]] in animals, as [[Dioecy|dioecious]] in [[seed plants]]<ref name=Fusco2019/> and as [[MonoicousDioicy|dioicous]] in [[cryptogam]]s.<ref name="ShawGoffinet">{{cite book |author=Buck WR |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fuOKCOlRngkC |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}}

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=Bachtrogetal/> 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.

[[Category:MenTerms for men| ]]