<strong>Single-sex</strong>:<br /> <a target="_blank" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agamogenesis" title="Agamogenesis" class="mw-redirect ext"><font size="2" color="#800080">Agamogenesis</font></a>, <span class="toctext"><u><font size="2" color="#0066cc"><a target="_blank" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermaphroditic">Hermaphroditic</a></font><…; <span class="mw-headline" id="Autogamy"><span class="toctext"><font color="#0645ad"><a target="_blank" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autogamy#Autogamy">Autogamy</a></font></sp…; and<br /> other forms of <a target="_blank" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homothallic" title="Homothallic"><font color="#0066cc">Homothallic</font></a> reproduction, to<br /> name a couple.<br /> Many of these might be non-gametic or sologameteic,<br /> but I'll keep them lumped into one category for brevity.<br /><br /><strong>Digameteic</strong>:<br /> The many <a target="_blank" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heterothallic" title="Heterothallic"><font color="#800080">heterothallic</font></a> varients of -<br /> <a target="_blank" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polymorphism_(biology)" title="Polymorphism (biology)"><font color="#0645ad">Polymorphism</font></a>, and a few varients of<br /> <font size="2"><span class="toctext"><u><font color="#0066cc"><span class="toctext"><u><font size="2" color="#0066cc"><a target="_blank" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermaphroditic">Hermaphroditic</a></font><…; </font><a target="_blank" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homogamy" title="Homogamy" class="ext"><font size="2" color="#0645ad">homogamy</font></a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dichogamy" title="Dichogamy" class="mw-redirect"><font color="#0645ad">dichogamy</font></a><br /> Some may be <a target="_blank" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homothallic" title="Homothallic"><font color="#0066cc">homothallic</font></a>, but require a two <br /> gamete process.<br /> Even if it is same gendered gamete, this is<br /> really where <a target="_blank" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual_dimorphism" title="Sexual dimorphism"><font color="#0645ad">Sexual Dimorphism</font></a> starts to become<br /> a factor, creating recognizable '<em>gender physiques</em>',<br /> while below this such cosmetics would be possible,<br /> dimorphisim would be as superfluous as sex itself.<br /><br /><strong>Trimorphic - Digametism</strong>:<br /> Male - Female - <a target="_blank" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gestation" title="Gestation"><font color="#0645ad">Incubator</font></a><br /><br /> Adding a new '<em>gender physique</em>' doesn't require a new gamete,<br /> while adding a new gamete may be more tricky.<br /><br /><strong>Quadrimorphic - Digametism</strong>:<br /> Male -><br /> <a target="_blank" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syngamy" title="Syngamy" class="mw-redirect"><font color="#0645ad">Syngamier</font></a>-> <a target="_blank" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gestation" title="Gestation"><font color="#0645ad">Incubator</font></a><br /> Female -><br /><br /> Again, simply adding a new '<em>gender </em><em>physique</em>' doesn't<br /> require a new gamete.<br /><br /><strong>Quintemorphic - Quadrigametism</strong>:<br /> Male A -> <- Female B<br /> <a target="_blank" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syngamy" title="Syngamy" class="mw-redirect"><font color="#0645ad">Syngamier</font></a><br /> Female A -> | <- Male B<br /> V<br /> (Brooding Pool)<br /><br /> Multiple gamete and multiple '<em>gender physique</em>'<br /> variants, while adding automatic<br /> '<em>population rebalance</em>' methods solves many<br /> weak link issues.<br /><br /><strong>Sextegameteic - Dimorphisim:</strong><br /> Hermaphrodea A -|- Hermaphrodeo B<br /> Hermaphrodea C -|- Hermaphrodeo D<br /> Hermaphrodea E -|- Hermaphrodeo F<br /> V<br /> (Spawning Pool)<br /><br /> Including multiple '<em>gender physique</em>' and gamete doesn't<br /> necessitate complications, and can be eloquently<br /> simple.<br /> While methods to ensure automatic repopulating of<br /> depleted gamete providers is also possible, especially<br /> in advanced cultures.<br /><br /><strong>Septemorphic - Sextegametism:<br /></strong> Male-i<br /> Hermaphrodea A-i | Hermaphrodea B-i<br /> \ | /<br /> Incubator <br /> / | \ <br /> Hermaphrodeo A-ii | Hermaphrodeo B-ii<br /> Female-ii<br /><br /> Systems that appear complex in form, can be quite<br /> simple when inclusions of cultural structure are<br /> understood.<br /> Sapience, and the culture that is born of it, can<br /> reinforce safe-guards and adapt to reduce potential<br /> risks also.<br /><br /> And this only scratches the surface... why is there no awesome atomic-rocket powered website for this subject, or even so much as a serious wikipedia entry?<br /><br /> Anyway this is for general discussion of non-earth reproductive strategies of possibility, some note of 'how-likely' is of course welcome. The premise here isn't to discuss how likely, but to discuss mere viability of, and arrangements in, the biologically possible.<br /> I would say it's unlikely to be too far off of the 'earth-norms' which are already quite varied. I would think most species would use either a form of self-cloning, hermaphroditic stratagem, agamogenesis, or binary sexual reproduction. Using more than 2 gametes... or whatever form of information supply... I would say it's possible, in all honesty to have more, as humans have a lot more variation in genders on a biological level than we usually assume. But, when it comes to actual procreation it ultimately involves 2 gamete or their variants. I would expect that, if we saw hundreds of planets with life on them, that single and dual gender reproduction would account for the vast, vast majority of styles. Arrangements requiring more than 2 genders would probably be very low, and arrangements of Self-cloning, Agamogenesis, and outright Longevity Regeneration, would be higher than bisexual dimorphism (as has been commonly attributed to humans)...<br /> That said it should <em>not</em> be treated as <em>too serious </em>of a biological science discussion, but only to maintain a grounding in science for the sake of the fiction... the rule with "1 percent of approaching infinity" states; that if its possible, that's all that counts to be likely... nor am I looking for lots of hand-wavium to explain away impossibles... but I'm respectful of <em>any</em> ideas that have been used or seen, by anyone willing to drop a little inhibition and contribute to discussions of strange sexual tendencies in fictional alien species...<br /><br /> I have been trolling the nets for weeks now, looking for <a target="_blank" href="http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/vida_alien/xenology/12.0.htm">sex with aliens</a>... so far I have had little luck... *sigh*<br /> So, I have opened topic to a broader category than discussed in the <em>specific alien reproduction </em>threads, [imho] dealing with often overly reduced and '<em>humanized</em>' variants of their listed reproduction, just to see what comes up as different and alien among the mass minds of these forums.
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