Abstract
Sex differentiation can be defined as the process leading to the development of phenotypically dimorphic individuals within a species. This allows sexual reproduction, with its attached evolutionary advantages of meiosis and syngamy which increase individual variability, upon which natural selection acts. Although to achieve this purpose, sex differentiation could be limited to the gonads, in higher organisms it is a far more extensive process, affecting the morphology and function of the internal genital tract, bodily appearance, neuroendocrine relationships and social behavior. However, gonadal differentiation is the most important step, being the only one subject to direct genetic regulation, all subsequent steps are induced by hormones produced by the gonads themselves. This statement must be qualified, however: ovarian hormones do play an important role in postnatal sex differentiation; however, prior to birth, sex orientation is determined by the presence or absence of male-determining genes or hormones, which act to impose masculinity upon an organism which otherwise would become female (Jost, 1972). Thus is verified the theory put forward by Aristotle (cited by Chan and O, 1981): “A male is a male in virtue of a particular ability, and a female is a female in virtue of a particular inability.”
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Josso, N. (1987). Sex Differentiation. In: Leung, P.C.K., Armstrong, D.T., Ruf, K.B., Moger, W.H., Friesen, H.G. (eds) Endocrinology and Physiology of Reproduction. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-1971-7_22
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