Brooke Yanaga’s Reviews > Forest Euphoria: The Abounding Queerness of Nature > Status Update

“During my deep dives into mycological papers, I kept encountering examples of fungi that were, quite literally, queer. It is common for a fungus to have more than two biological sexes, and some fungi, such as Schizophyllum commune, have as many as twenty-three thousand mating types.”

“Other associated traits, structures, or behaviors vary tremendously based on the organisms in question and should not be broadly assumed…not all ‘females’ are penetrated, not all ‘males’ have a phallus, not all ‘females’ care for their young, not all ‘males’ are somehow behaviorally dominant. The seeming binary of ‘male’ and ‘female’ is belied by…overwhelming evidence for…diversity”

“In [slipper snails], all juveniles start out as male. Then, at some point in their life cycle, the snails start to pile on top of one another, forming mounds. Every individual’s sex is determined by their relative position within these mounds. Writhing, the snails grip one another’s bodies, sensing the sex of those closest to them and either remaining male or transitioning to female as a result.” HUH!!