Ever wonder why things are the way they are?

[Mistral]

Ah, I found what I was looking for. The term for this is sequential hermaphroditism, either as protandry (male to female) or protogyny (female to male). Clownfish are protandrous, and form very stable breeding societies of 4-6 clownfish with a single female at the head (but not, strictly, polyandrous, as only the most senior male gets reproductive rights); if the female dies, the next-senior becomes female to replace her. Wrasses are protogynous or protandrous based on age, and strictly speaking, many plants have a practical form of this where their sexual organs are not active simultaneously to prevent interference with the pollenation cycle (i.e. accidentally accepting its own pollen, whether or not it can self-fertilize). The Frog example in Jurassic Park is also not entirely inaccurate, in that it does actually occur in the common frog. It's just that it is very rare, due in part to the energy cost that makes it prohibitive to grow a new set of gonads. Most wrasses, for instance, don't bother, and maintain an ovarian genetic structure despite their biological gender role; the ovaries just atrophy while peripheral spermatogenic crypts appear.

[Andy_Jerk]

Sexual energy does indeed have the power to change a great many things. I for one have always possessed far too much and have subsequently ended up quite unhappy, paradoxically. Too much of a good thing is not necessarily a good thing.

[ianhyphen]

Off topic (animal trannies)
In a Bio class, we learned about a specific frog in the US. A few secluded populations saw a drastic drop in females. And a couple guys started to develop the egg making kits. http://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/l...-85972692.html
I don't think that was the study in our textbooks, though.
I also found a Cambridge research scientist claiming that atrazine (chem in certain weed killers?) actually causes amphibians to swap gametes. Please don't try reproducing these results at home on any genus/species.

On topic:
Why do we drink cow's milk almost exclusively? Further, is there a committee in place to taste-test the milk of other mammals and, if so, how do I join?

[Drageuth]

Why do we drink cow's milk almost exclusively? Further, is there a committee in place to taste-test the milk of other mammals and, if so, how do I join?

Other cultures drink goat's milk.

[MarianoRyu]

Other cultures drink goat's milk.

They also make cheese from it. Goat cheese is awesome! My grandpa used to eat and give me some too.

[DoomKefka]

sometimes your just better off not knowing and leaving it be...we look at other cultures and think eww thats gross when the eat snakes and do crazy things but they look at us watching tv and eating hot dogs thinking were whacked out....

[xarra]

1] Why do humans need religion?
2] Why can't humans get along all the time?
3] Why are people gay?