I can tell from experience that female mouse embryos sport the same fallus as their male counterparts upto a quite advanced stage. I never checked on human embryos.
Spurious Monkey: In primates, the embryonic tissue that becomes the penis in males becomes the clitoris in females. Now, back to the original thread. Sex determination in reptiles is reportedly determined by temperature and/or other environmental conditions, which turn on/off certain gene(s). However, I also read that in circumstances such as the Komodo dragon above, that the offspring are all expected to be male, though I'm not certain why (need to research more). This supposedly allows for a lone female to colonize an island and produce male offspring, which can then mate with the female thereafter to renew sexual reproduction.
In fact, the clitoris is approximately the same size as the penis, only most of it is inside the body.
Ddovala: Thanks for the post. That now explains for me why the offspring would be male, and why that sexual strategy works for reptiles of some species, allowing for an isolated female to nonetheless reproduce. As for the mis-translation of the Hebrew word for "young-woman" into the Greek word for "virgin", I've heard that too (from a young Jewish woman I once carpooled with). However, that still does not explain other aspects of that text that relates to the virgin birth story, which were presumptively all written about the same time circa 70-100 A.D. That rather reminds me of the German phrase "Junge Maenner immer steigen auf die Jungfrau" pertaining to mountain climbing.
ZW/WW sex system: all ZZ male, all ZW female. Presumably a self-fertilizing ZW female uses the W gamete to activate the Z gamete, with the W nuclear material (which in ZW individuals means female, there being no WW individuals presumably) being dumped after activation across the cell membrane. Or somesuch. Been a while since Devel Bio. The sick bastards.
arousal for reproduction and finally to the very purpose - feeding. other purposes are ephemeral fancies like piercing, so thinks someone's girl friend. but what purpose you have for your nipple, sir.
