Gynecophorous

/ˌdʒɪnɪˈkɒfərəs/ adjective

Definition

Bearing or carrying females, used specifically to describe male parasitic worms with the special groove.

Etymology

From Greek 'gyne' (woman) + 'phoros' (bearing, carrying) + '-ous' (characterized by). A variant form of gynecophoric using the '-ous' suffix instead of '-ic'.

Kelly Says

Marine biologists studying tropical diseases were amazed to discover that male schistosomes are essentially biological 'sperm delivery vehicles' that must carry females to reproduce—the female can't survive alone, completely dependent on her mate's physical body structure.

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