Why Do We Have Males and Females?
CrowdScience
BBC
4.8 • 1K Ratings
🗓️ 5 May 2017
⏱️ 28 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Sex is responsible for the large variety of life on earth. Without the two sexes there is no sexual reproduction which means no shuffling of the genetic make-up – and no survival in a changing environment. But why do we have two sexes in the first place and does nature determine your sex? It’s with these questions and more that listener Du from Singapore persuaded the CrowdScience team to investigate the weird and wonderful world of sex. You might think that Nature would have standardised something as important as ensuring the continuation of the species. Far from it – species do sex in many different ways – some stranger than others.
Presenter Marnie Chesterton unpicks the zoological oddities of sex and along the way learns about her own sex chromosomes. We also meet an unlikely bird keeper, who is the proud owner of a female duck that is morphing into a male. Will her boyfriend, a male mandarin duck, mind the change?
Do you have a question we can turn into a programme? Email us at crowdscience@bbc.co.uk
Presenter: Marnie Chesterton Producer: Louisa Field
(Image: Male and female mandarin ducks. Credit: Getty Images)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | You're about to listen to a BBC podcast and maybe it's when I had a hand in. |
| 0:04.0 | I'm Tammy Walker and I produce podcasts for the BBC. |
| 0:08.0 | My role is to give new and diverse creators a voice with the opportunity to build a career. |
| 0:12.0 | That's the thing I love about podcasts. |
| 0:14.4 | You start with just a good idea, but then you have the space to see where it goes. |
| 0:18.4 | And doing that at the BBC means we can really run with the best stories |
| 0:21.9 | while developing the most unique audio talent. |
| 0:24.8 | So if you like what you hear, why not check out the huge range of podcast we've got on BBC sounds? |
| 0:30.9 | Hello Nini. |
| 0:35.0 | Mani's having a bit of bonding with the Nie's. Ow, that's the nail. |
| 0:37.0 | No, that's grass. |
| 0:39.0 | Not the nail, not the finger. |
| 0:41.0 | Go on. |
| 0:42.0 | Eat the grass. So on. Eat the grass. |
| 0:43.0 | So this is an aviary and there are these Hawaiian geese called Ninis that are really friendly. |
| 0:51.0 | I should probably say that you are listening to crowd science |
| 0:56.4 | from the BBC World Service and this show each week takes your question about |
| 1:00.5 | whatever to do with science and hunts the world to try and find the |
| 1:04.0 | best answers which is why producer Louisa and I are currently hanging out with this |
| 1:08.3 | bunch of lovely ducks and geese because that Mandarin duck over there might provide a clue to answering this question. |
| 1:20.1 | Hi, 12thines on the BBC World 7. |
| 1:25.0 | I'm Lou and I'm calling you from Civil War. |
... |
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