Do Animals Know Their Gender?

Reproduction keeps every species going. For animals that reproduce sexually, telling males and females apart is a basic survival skill.

In many species, males and females also play different roles in courtship, mating and raising young.

Animals don't think about gender the way people do, but they reliably recognize sex. Courtship, mating and parenting behaviors are largely instinctive, and animals tell males from females using smell, sound, looks and behavior.

Here is how that works.

How Do Animals Tell The Gender Of Other Animals?

For lions, it is easy. Adult males usually have a mane and females don't, so the difference is visible from a distance.

But many animals, like dogs, cats, many birds and zebras, look much alike whether they are male or female. So how do two zebras meeting for the first time know who is who?

Animals tell the sex of other animals mainly through scent (body odors and pheromones), calls and songs, and behavior. Males and females often act differently, especially during the breeding season.

If animals couldn't recognize the opposite sex, they couldn't find mates. That ability is built in through evolution.

Do Pets Know The Gender Of Their Owner?

This is a harder question. There is some research on dogs, but very little on cats, so we can't say much about cats yet.

Dogs pick up many cues from people: voice pitch, smell and appearance. Some dogs seem to react differently to men and women, but personal stories can't tell us why.

In one study, researchers tested 51 dogs. A man and a woman stood on either side of the dog while a recording of a male or female voice played. The researchers wanted to see if dogs would look toward the person whose gender matched the voice.

What were the results? Many dogs looked toward the matching person, though not all did. Dogs from homes with three or more adults matched voices to people more reliably than dogs that lived with a single owner.

So do dogs know the gender of their owner? The evidence suggests many dogs can match human voices to men and women, and experience with several people seems to help. Research on cats is too thin to give a clear answer.

Final Words

Animals that reproduce sexually recognize males and females, and that shapes their roles in mating and family life. Some animals that can change their gender do so as part of their normal life cycle.

If you want to learn more about animals, click "fun facts" in the menu above.

Sources

• Cross-Modal Correspondences in Non-human Mammal Communication, Multisensory Research (via Europe PMC)
• Clown Anemonefish, Florida Museum of Natural History