Doris the lady lizard now appears to be male, stunning scientists
Liam Mannix
December 17, 2020 — 7.30pm

A small reptile at Melbourne Aquarium appears to have changed its sex from female to male – a discovery which would be a world first, upending what we know about lizards.

In February, aquarium keepers noticed one of their female Boyd’s forest dragons – a green-grey lizard with a spiny crest that is native to Queensland’s tropical rainforests – change colour, grow a larger crest, and stop laying eggs.

On ultrasound, the team says it has confirmed the lizard has lost its ovarian tissue and developed mature testes.

A few lizard species are known to reverse sex in the egg but it is thought to be extremely rare. In fish, some adults can change sex in response to changes in their environment or other fish.

“If it can be verified, this is an astonishing discovery,” the University of Canberra’s Professor Arthur Georges, one of Australia’s leading reptile experts, said in an email. “This is the first time there is any suggestion of sex reversal in an adult reptile.”

Sarah Whiteley, a researcher studying the sexual development of dragons at the University of Canberra, said “such an unusual occurrence would require very convincing data”.

“Without having seen any of the data myself, I must remain sceptical, though very intrigued,” she said.

The aquarium keepers have had the lizard examined by a vet, who confirmed the presence of male genitals. They hope to soon publish findings in an academic journal.

The small creature, known as Doris, has been with the aquarium for six years, living quietly in the tropical forest exhibit alongside two other dragons – a male and a female. Doris spent her time hiding on logs, eating bugs, laying a cache of eggs every month. Several hatched into baby forest dragons.

Late last year, the male forest dragon – known as Old Mate – died, and the keepers moved the two females into a new exhibit.

The first sign of change was food. Most female dragons won’t eat until it’s time to lay eggs, when they binge. Doris started eating all the time, like a male dragon.

“Not long after, the secondary sex characteristics started changing, like a brighter colour, a thicker crest, and she started getting quite a lot bigger,” said Tom Fair, the reptiles’ keeper at Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium.

At her monthly weigh-in, Doris’s weight had shot up, from 112 grams to 159 – “which is normal for a male”, said Mr Fair. “It’s a massive difference.”

He took the dragon to the aquarium’s vet, who gave it an ultrasound, revealing ovaries and undeveloped eggs. A month later, they brought in a team of specialist vets who performed a more thorough ultrasound.

There, unmistakable on the screen, was the evidence: No eggs. No ovaries. “They confirmed Doris now has testicles,” said Mr Fair.

Skinks and central bearded dragons have shown the ability to reverse sex but only in eggs before they hatch.

Among fish, male clownfish living in a school can change gender to female when the alpha female dies, a process known as sequential hermaphroditism.

Independent experts were fascinated but sceptical.

“The most simple explanation is an endocrine issue – disease or an environmental endocrine disruptor, but this would need to be significant,” said Dr Jane Melville, senior curator of terrestrial vertebrates at Museums Victoria.

Or perhaps the aquarium had misidentified Doris’s sex in the first place.

Mr Fair considered that as well. “But really, once we have the confirmation the testes are there, it is a definite shift over. I personally have observed that individual laying eggs many, many times.”

His theory: Doris – who has not yet been given a new name – is displaying social gender switching, similar to clownfish, making the switch due to the absence of a male.

“But that’s just guesswork. There are more questions than answers,” Mr Fair said.

https://www.theage.com.au/national/doris-the-lady-lizard-now-appears-to-be-male-stunning-scientists-20201217-p56obk.html

Witty Rejoinder said:

Doris the lady lizard now appears to be male, stunning scientists
Liam Mannix
December 17, 2020 — 7.30pm

A small reptile at Melbourne Aquarium appears to have changed its sex from female to male – a discovery which would be a world first, upending what we know about lizards.

In February, aquarium keepers noticed one of their female Boyd’s forest dragons – a green-grey lizard with a spiny crest that is native to Queensland’s tropical rainforests – change colour, grow a larger crest, and stop laying eggs.

On ultrasound, the team says it has confirmed the lizard has lost its ovarian tissue and developed mature testes.

A few lizard species are known to reverse sex in the egg but it is thought to be extremely rare. In fish, some adults can change sex in response to changes in their environment or other fish.

“If it can be verified, this is an astonishing discovery,” the University of Canberra’s Professor Arthur Georges, one of Australia’s leading reptile experts, said in an email. “This is the first time there is any suggestion of sex reversal in an adult reptile.”

Sarah Whiteley, a researcher studying the sexual development of dragons at the University of Canberra, said “such an unusual occurrence would require very convincing data”.

“Without having seen any of the data myself, I must remain sceptical, though very intrigued,” she said.

The aquarium keepers have had the lizard examined by a vet, who confirmed the presence of male genitals. They hope to soon publish findings in an academic journal.

The small creature, known as Doris, has been with the aquarium for six years, living quietly in the tropical forest exhibit alongside two other dragons – a male and a female. Doris spent her time hiding on logs, eating bugs, laying a cache of eggs every month. Several hatched into baby forest dragons.

Late last year, the male forest dragon – known as Old Mate – died, and the keepers moved the two females into a new exhibit.

The first sign of change was food. Most female dragons won’t eat until it’s time to lay eggs, when they binge. Doris started eating all the time, like a male dragon.

“Not long after, the secondary sex characteristics started changing, like a brighter colour, a thicker crest, and she started getting quite a lot bigger,” said Tom Fair, the reptiles’ keeper at Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium.

At her monthly weigh-in, Doris’s weight had shot up, from 112 grams to 159 – “which is normal for a male”, said Mr Fair. “It’s a massive difference.”

He took the dragon to the aquarium’s vet, who gave it an ultrasound, revealing ovaries and undeveloped eggs. A month later, they brought in a team of specialist vets who performed a more thorough ultrasound.

There, unmistakable on the screen, was the evidence: No eggs. No ovaries. “They confirmed Doris now has testicles,” said Mr Fair.

Skinks and central bearded dragons have shown the ability to reverse sex but only in eggs before they hatch.

Among fish, male clownfish living in a school can change gender to female when the alpha female dies, a process known as sequential hermaphroditism.

Independent experts were fascinated but sceptical.

“The most simple explanation is an endocrine issue – disease or an environmental endocrine disruptor, but this would need to be significant,” said Dr Jane Melville, senior curator of terrestrial vertebrates at Museums Victoria.

Or perhaps the aquarium had misidentified Doris’s sex in the first place.

Mr Fair considered that as well. “But really, once we have the confirmation the testes are there, it is a definite shift over. I personally have observed that individual laying eggs many, many times.”

His theory: Doris – who has not yet been given a new name – is displaying social gender switching, similar to clownfish, making the switch due to the absence of a male.

“But that’s just guesswork. There are more questions than answers,” Mr Fair said.

https://www.theage.com.au/national/doris-the-lady-lizard-now-appears-to-be-male-stunning-scientists-20201217-p56obk.html

I was about to say. Lizards are one of the few that can evolve before our eyes if they are kept isolated from the outside world.

>Doris – who has not yet been given a new name – is displaying social gender switching

Sex-switching, not “gender”.

Bubblecar said:

>Doris – who has not yet been given a new name – is displaying social gender switching

Sex-switching, not “gender”.

I think gender switching is the correct description, especially as the lizard physically and behaviourally changed from a normal female to a normal male. The following extract from wiki supports that assumption.

>>The term “sex change” is sometimes also used for the whole process of changing gender role (“living as a woman” instead of living as a man, or vice versa), not limited to medical procedures. (This process is often much more important to transgender people than the medical procedures themselves, although medically induced changes and surgeries may be needed to make a change of gender role possible, both socially and legally; they can also have a very significant impact on the person’s well-being.)<<

PermeateFree said:

Bubblecar said:

>Doris – who has not yet been given a new name – is displaying social gender switching

Sex-switching, not “gender”.

I think gender switching is the correct description, especially as the lizard physically and behaviourally changed from a normal female to a normal male. The following extract from wiki supports that assumption.

>>The term “sex change” is sometimes also used for the whole process of changing gender role (“living as a woman” instead of living as a man, or vice versa), not limited to medical procedures. (This process is often much more important to transgender people than the medical procedures themselves, although medically induced changes and surgeries may be needed to make a change of gender role possible, both socially and legally; they can also have a very significant impact on the person’s well-being.)<<

Au contraire, the term is used in relation to humans precisely because humans can’t actually change sex. They “change gender”, i.e., it’s a matter of cosmetic presentation, not a genuine sex change.

Lizards can genuinely change sex, so that’s what we’re discussing here.

PermeateFree said:

Bubblecar said:

>Doris – who has not yet been given a new name – is displaying social gender switching

Sex-switching, not “gender”.

I think gender switching is the correct description, especially as the lizard physically and behaviourally changed from a normal female to a normal male. The following extract from wiki supports that assumption.

>>The term “sex change” is sometimes also used for the whole process of changing gender role (“living as a woman” instead of living as a man, or vice versa), not limited to medical procedures. (This process is often much more important to transgender people than the medical procedures themselves, although medically induced changes and surgeries may be needed to make a change of gender role possible, both socially and legally; they can also have a very significant impact on the person’s well-being.)<<

I’m not sure that having a sex change is the same as changing sex. Sure, he becomes a she and vice versa but the new sexual organs are not fully functioning like in the case of the clown fish, or this lizard…

furious said:

PermeateFree said:

Bubblecar said:

>Doris – who has not yet been given a new name – is displaying social gender switching

Sex-switching, not “gender”.

I think gender switching is the correct description, especially as the lizard physically and behaviourally changed from a normal female to a normal male. The following extract from wiki supports that assumption.

>>The term “sex change” is sometimes also used for the whole process of changing gender role (“living as a woman” instead of living as a man, or vice versa), not limited to medical procedures. (This process is often much more important to transgender people than the medical procedures themselves, although medically induced changes and surgeries may be needed to make a change of gender role possible, both socially and legally; they can also have a very significant impact on the person’s well-being.)<<

I’m not sure that having a sex change is the same as changing sex. Sure, he becomes a she and vice versa but the new sexual organs are not fully functioning like in the case of the clown fish, or this lizard…

Yes, human “transition” of this kind is “gender reassignment”, a social custom, not a sex change.

Bubblecar said:

PermeateFree said:

Bubblecar said:

>Doris – who has not yet been given a new name – is displaying social gender switching

Sex-switching, not “gender”.

I think gender switching is the correct description, especially as the lizard physically and behaviourally changed from a normal female to a normal male. The following extract from wiki supports that assumption.

>>The term “sex change” is sometimes also used for the whole process of changing gender role (“living as a woman” instead of living as a man, or vice versa), not limited to medical procedures. (This process is often much more important to transgender people than the medical procedures themselves, although medically induced changes and surgeries may be needed to make a change of gender role possible, both socially and legally; they can also have a very significant impact on the person’s well-being.)<<

Au contraire, the term is used in relation to humans precisely because humans can’t actually change sex. They “change gender”, i.e., it’s a matter of cosmetic presentation, not a genuine sex change.

I see where you are coming from, but it is apparently not accepted by all including a transgender person.

Do animals have gender? Over the past few years I have objected to the substitution of the phrase “gender differences” for “sex differences” in biological writing. When asked, my colleagues in the Department of Gender Studies agreed that the term gender could be properly applied only to humans, because it involves one’s self-concept as man or woman. Sex is a biological concept; gender is a human social and cultural concept. But Roughgarden defines it this way: “Gender is the appearance, behavior, and life history of a sexed body” (p. 27).

https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/article/55/2/178/221485

PermeateFree said:

Bubblecar said:

PermeateFree said:

I think gender switching is the correct description, especially as the lizard physically and behaviourally changed from a normal female to a normal male. The following extract from wiki supports that assumption.

>>The term “sex change” is sometimes also used for the whole process of changing gender role (“living as a woman” instead of living as a man, or vice versa), not limited to medical procedures. (This process is often much more important to transgender people than the medical procedures themselves, although medically induced changes and surgeries may be needed to make a change of gender role possible, both socially and legally; they can also have a very significant impact on the person’s well-being.)<<

Au contraire, the term is used in relation to humans precisely because humans can’t actually change sex. They “change gender”, i.e., it’s a matter of cosmetic presentation, not a genuine sex change.

I see where you are coming from, but it is apparently not accepted by all including a transgender person.

Do animals have gender? Over the past few years I have objected to the substitution of the phrase “gender differences” for “sex differences” in biological writing. When asked, my colleagues in the Department of Gender Studies agreed that the term gender could be properly applied only to humans, because it involves one’s self-concept as man or woman. Sex is a biological concept; gender is a human social and cultural concept. But Roughgarden defines it this way: “Gender is the appearance, behavior, and life history of a sexed body” (p. 27).

https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/article/55/2/178/221485

>Sex is a biological concept; gender is a human social and cultural concept.

That’s what I said.

Bubblecar said:

PermeateFree said:

Bubblecar said:

Au contraire, the term is used in relation to humans precisely because humans can’t actually change sex. They “change gender”, i.e., it’s a matter of cosmetic presentation, not a genuine sex change.

I see where you are coming from, but it is apparently not accepted by all including a transgender person.

Do animals have gender? Over the past few years I have objected to the substitution of the phrase “gender differences” for “sex differences” in biological writing. When asked, my colleagues in the Department of Gender Studies agreed that the term gender could be properly applied only to humans, because it involves one’s self-concept as man or woman. Sex is a biological concept; gender is a human social and cultural concept. But Roughgarden defines it this way: “Gender is the appearance, behavior, and life history of a sexed body” (p. 27).

https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/article/55/2/178/221485

>Sex is a biological concept; gender is a human social and cultural concept.

That’s what I said.

True, but that is not the opinion of the transgender woman (last line).

PermeateFree said:

Bubblecar said:

PermeateFree said:

I see where you are coming from, but it is apparently not accepted by all including a transgender person.

Do animals have gender? Over the past few years I have objected to the substitution of the phrase “gender differences” for “sex differences” in biological writing. When asked, my colleagues in the Department of Gender Studies agreed that the term gender could be properly applied only to humans, because it involves one’s self-concept as man or woman. Sex is a biological concept; gender is a human social and cultural concept. But Roughgarden defines it this way: “Gender is the appearance, behavior, and life history of a sexed body” (p. 27).

https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/article/55/2/178/221485

>Sex is a biological concept; gender is a human social and cultural concept.

That’s what I said.

True, but that is not the opinion of the transgender woman (last line).

Transgender ideology is often at odds with science.

PermeateFree said:

Bubblecar said:

PermeateFree said:

I see where you are coming from, but it is apparently not accepted by all including a transgender person.

Do animals have gender? Over the past few years I have objected to the substitution of the phrase “gender differences” for “sex differences” in biological writing. When asked, my colleagues in the Department of Gender Studies agreed that the term gender could be properly applied only to humans, because it involves one’s self-concept as man or woman. Sex is a biological concept; gender is a human social and cultural concept. But Roughgarden defines it this way: “Gender is the appearance, behavior, and life history of a sexed body” (p. 27).

https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/article/55/2/178/221485

>Sex is a biological concept; gender is a human social and cultural concept.

That’s what I said.

True, but that is not the opinion of the transgender woman (last line).

Soon after transitioning as a transgendered woman, Joan Roughgarden, professor of biological sciences at Stanford University, undertook a book-writing project to celebrate and explain diversity in sexual presentation. To do so, she explored all aspects of sexual reproduction, including the sexual behavior of animals, the development of human sex differences, and the varied role that gender plays in world cultures.