Research Type 1:
Diversity of sex and reproduction across life
Modern biological research has identified a multiplicity of ways sex is organized into bodies and in reproductive strategies. This diversity has not found its way into many textbooks, so we are assembling a bibliography which will be updated as new literature emerges.
Below we feature two recent articles on this diversity from our network.
Article 1:
Warkentin, K. M., Falk, J. J., & Casper, A. M. A. (2026). Evolution, development, and the incoherence of sex: A framework for multiple sex concepts. Integrative and Comparative Biology, 66, icag113. https://doi.org/10.1093/icb/icag113
This article synthesizes the different ways scientists conceptualize sex and the variation that exists even within those categories.
Article 2
Casper, A. M. A., & Warkentin, K. M. (2026). Synthesizing sex/es across scales and lineages: Centering plants, algae, fungi, protists, and modular metazoans. Integrative and Comparative Biology, 66, icag127. https://doi.org/10.1093/icb/icag127
The way we teach about sex is often animal centric. This article explores what we can learn from systems that are often ignored.
Research Type 2
Research at the science and society interface
When researching or teaching topics that intersect with human identities it is critical that we take a little more care to understand the impact of bias and history on this research and teaching.
Article 1
Massa, M. G. (2026). Sexed politics, histories, and futures. Integrative and Comparative Biology, 66, icag105. https://doi.org/10.1093/icb/icag105.
An exploration of how the concept of sex limits biological imagination.
More to Come…
Starting Points
Books
Below are representative books that are good starting points for exploring the diversity of reproduction, sex, gender, sexual behavior, and orientation.
Beukeboom, L. W., & Perrin, N. (2014). The Evolution of Sex Determination (1st ed). Oxford University Press.
An in-depth discussion of different pathways of sex determination, with an excellent glossary of definitions.
Fusco, G., & Minelli, A. (2019). The Biology of Reproduction (1st ed.). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108758970
An accessible, yet fairly comprehensive overview of the diversity of the biology of reproduction. A great resource for teaching reproductive complexity, even at the introductory undergraduate level.
Leonard, J. L. (Ed.). (2018). Transitions Between Sexual Systems: Understanding the Mechanisms of, and Pathways Between, Dioecy, Hermaphroditism and Other Sexual Systems. Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-94139-4
An accessible text that explains evolutionary pathways between sexual systems. The book first provides an overarching perspective, and then delves into clade-specific chapters.
Viloria, H., & Nieto, M. (2020). The Spectrum of Sex: The Science of Male, Female, and Intersex. Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
A guide to our current understanding of sex and gender diversity in humans.
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