The power of touch: Sex-changing snails switch sooner when together

Tuesday, December 29, 2015 - 21:02 in Biology & Nature

Many animals change sex at some point in their lives, often after reaching a certain size. Snails called slipper limpets begin life as males, and become female as they grow. A new study shows that when two males are kept together and can touch one another, the larger one changes to female sooner, and the smaller one later. Contact, rather than chemicals released into the water, is necessary for the effect.

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