How many animals are hermaphrodites?
Hermaphrodite
A rough estimate of the number of hermaphroditic animal species is 65,000. Since the estimated total number of animal species is 8.6 million, the percentage of animal species that are hermaphroditic is about 0.7%. Arthropods are the phylum with the largest number of species. Most hermaphroditic species exhibit some degree of self-fertilization. The distribution of self-fertilization rates among animals is similar to that of plants, suggesting that similar processes are operating to direct the evolution of selfing in animals and plants.
The Hermaphrodite
The Hermaphrodite is an incomplete novel by Julia Ward Howe about an intersex individual raised as a male in the United States in the first half of the nineteenth century, who in adulthood lives sometimes as a female and sometimes as a male. Its date of composition is uncertain, but estimated to be between 1846 and 1847. The term "hermaphrodite" was used until the mid-20th century to identify someone having reproductive organs normally associated with both male and female sexes..