What unisex really means to the spotted hyena
Crocuta crocuta © botswanadreams
The spotted hyena has been described as sexually monomorphic because the female possesses a phallus and at puberty can look identical to the male. However, this is misleading because, in this species, phallic erection shows a lack of confidence, social dominance or libido. Because a normal meaning of phallic display has been inverted in the spotted hyena, the male has become behaviourally feminised even as the female has become morphologically masculinised.
Robin and the Honey Badger, 22 March 2016
Photographs:
http://www.remnantbride.com/images/hyena-m_and_f_sm.jpg
