GYNANDROMORPH

About:

• What is it? A gynandromorph is an organism that contains both male and female characteristics.
  
  
• Examples: Notable gynandromorphic organisms are butterflies, moths and other insects, wherein both types of body part can be distinguished physically due to sexual dimorphism.
  
  
• Pattern of distribution of male and female tissues in a single organism: A gynandromorph can have bilateral asymmetry—one side female and one side male. Alternatively, the distribution of male and female tissue can be more haphazard.
  
  
• Causes: It is caused by an event in mitosis during early development. While the organism contains only a few cells, one of the dividing cells does not split its sex chromosomes typically. This leads to one of the two cells having sex chromosomes that cause male development and the other cell having chromosomes that cause female development.