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This Rare Spider Is Half-Female, Half-Male Split Down The Middle – Oh, And A New Species.....Their left side is female, the right side is male.
IFL Science ^ | October 08, 2025 | Tom Hale

Posted on 10/08/2025 10:42:21 AM PDT by Red Badger

This spider is a bilateral gynandromorph specimen, a rare organism whose two halves of the body appear to express different sexual characteristics.

Image courtesy of Varat Sivayyapram

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This pocket-sized new spider is rocking a unique look. Near perfectly split down the middle, its left legs are dark orange while its right is a whitish salt-and-pepper color. Remarkably, this is not just an aesthetic division: one side of the body is female and the other is male.

Scientists at Chulalongkorn University and Ubon Ratchathani University were recently surveying a forested area of Phanom Thuan in Western Thailand, not far from the capital, Bangkok, when they came across a new species of spider.

The species was particularly fascinating because it exhibited clear sexual dimorphism, a term used to describe when males and females of the same species appear visibly different.

Many animals show this trait, but the degree of difference varies widely. Consider the peacock, for example. The male has a flamboyant display of color and flashy feathers, while the female is comparatively plain. Or take the anglerfish, where the female is large and dominant, and the male is reduced to a shriveled, parasitic partner.

Another view of the bilateral gynandromorph specimen. Image courtesy of Surin Limrudee With the new species of spider, sexual dimorphism is very clear: females are predominantly a brown-orange color and males are a speckled white hue.

This difference was made wonderfully vivid when the team came across a member of the new species that was a bilateral gynandromorph whose two halves of the body appear to express different sexual characteristics.

Biological sex is determined by, among other things, the combination of sex chromosomes. For example, in humans and some other species, males have an X and a Y chromosome, while females have two X chromosomes. In insects, birds, and some other species, sex is determined by the combination of Z and W chromosomes, but we'll stick to X and Y in this explanation for simplicity's sake.

The new species of spider, Damarchus inazuma: A male (left) and a female (right). Image courtesy of Surin Limrudee

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It’s thought that the mechanisms leading to gynandromorphism occur during the earliest stages of development. Normally, as an organism’s cells divide, a male (XY) cell duplicates its chromosomes to form XXYY, then splits evenly into two XY cells. In gynandromorphs, however, this process goes slightly awry. Instead of dividing evenly, the cell may split into one X cell and one XYY cell, for example. If this occurs very early in development, large portions of the resulting organism can develop with both cell types, producing the remarkable half-male, half-female appearance seen in the specimen.

It’s a rare condition, but one that has been documented in dozens of species, from birds such as the rose-breasted grosbeak and northern cardinal to bugs like stick insects and nocturnal bees.

Since the spider is a new species, the researchers had the honor of giving it a scientific name. They called it Damarchus inazuma, named after a character from the Japanese manga “One Piece,” known for the ability to change sex between male and female.

The new study is published in the journal Zootaxa.


TOPICS: History; Outdoors; Pets/Animals; Weird Stuff
KEYWORDS: arachnophobia; chimerism; cryptobiology; godsgravesglyphs; ifhfakescience; spider; ziggystardust

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To: ladyjane

That’s it!!


21 posted on 10/08/2025 11:04:08 AM PDT by Larry Lucido (Donate! Don't just post clickbait.)
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To: Red Badger

Oh good, another transgender sex for the mentally ill to pretend


22 posted on 10/08/2025 11:13:29 AM PDT by Ronald77 ( )
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To: Red Badger

A spider “ladyboy”?


23 posted on 10/08/2025 11:15:33 AM PDT by kaktuskid
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To: Red Badger

This only counts if it can change the sex-sides at will.


24 posted on 10/08/2025 11:21:02 AM PDT by SaxxonWoods (Annnd....TRUMP IS RIGHT AGAIN.)
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To: Red Badger

...and whew! the fights it has with itself!!


25 posted on 10/08/2025 11:21:54 AM PDT by OrangeHoof (Always spay or neuter your liberal.)
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To: Red Badger

her·maph·ro·dite
/hərˈmafrədīt/
noun
an organism having sex organs or other sexual characteristics that are not clearly male or female, either abnormally or (in the case of some organisms) as the natural condition.


26 posted on 10/08/2025 11:22:30 AM PDT by Vaduz
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To: Red Badger

Wait a minute - what does the poor thing do for pronouns?


27 posted on 10/08/2025 11:23:14 AM PDT by Billthedrill
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To: Red Badger

It might survive if the male half is deaf.


28 posted on 10/08/2025 11:23:40 AM PDT by TangoLimaSierra (⭐⭐To the Left, the Truth is Right Wing Violence⭐⭐)
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To: Red Badger

Female, left; male, right. Makes sense.


29 posted on 10/08/2025 12:07:55 PM PDT by DPMD (u)
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To: Red Badger

We already have senator Linda Graham.


30 posted on 10/08/2025 12:12:27 PM PDT by Bobbyvotes (Work is worship! .... Bhagavad Geeta. )
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To: mikey_hates_everything

Basically the world of leftist politics today is an awful Ed Wood movie.


31 posted on 10/08/2025 12:23:55 PM PDT by xp38
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To: Red Badger

The article does not address the scientific question of whether or not the spider (A) only expresses the physical appearance of a male on one side of the body and female on the other side, or (B) if it also has both male and female reproductive organs.


32 posted on 10/08/2025 1:02:19 PM PDT by Wuli (uire)
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To: Red Badger

Don’t give them new ideas!!!


33 posted on 10/08/2025 1:12:05 PM PDT by logi_cal869 (-cynicus the "concern troll" a/o 10/03/2018 "/!i!! &@$%&*(@ -')
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To: Red Badger

Not to mention that in each photo of a male or half-male the right side has only 3 legs. Why am I thinking this is a photoshop or AI hoax?


34 posted on 10/08/2025 2:32:51 PM PDT by StAntKnee (Add your own danged sarc tag)
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To: Red Badger

Not to mention that in each photo of a male or half-male the right side has only 3 legs. Why am I thinking this is a photoshop or AI hoax?


35 posted on 10/08/2025 2:33:29 PM PDT by StAntKnee (Add your own danged sarc tag)
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To: Red Badger

Nice try gender benders.


36 posted on 10/08/2025 2:36:54 PM PDT by Bullish (My tagline ran off with another man, but it's ok---- I wasn't married to it.)
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To: Red Badger

Thailand, why am I not surprised?

There are lots of lady|boys in Thailand


37 posted on 10/08/2025 2:48:49 PM PDT by algore
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To: Red Badger; StayAt HomeMother; Ernest_at_the_Beach; 1ofmanyfree; 21twelve; 24Karet; ...

38 posted on 10/08/2025 11:49:05 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (NeverTrumpin' -- it's not just for DNC shills anymore -- oh, wait, yeah it is.)
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To: Red Badger

Thailand?!?

/iykyk


39 posted on 10/09/2025 2:21:11 AM PDT by Salamander (Please visit my profile page to help me go home again. https://www.givesendgo.com/GCRRD)
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To: Billthedrill

No worries about a weekend date.


40 posted on 10/09/2025 2:22:24 AM PDT by Salamander (Please visit my profile page to help me go home again. https://www.givesendgo.com/GCRRD)
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