REVIEW article
Front. Pediatr.
Sec. Pediatric Urology
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fped.2025.1430983
This article is part of the Research TopicReviews in Pediatric Urology 2024View all 15 articles
Exploring Diversity: A Review of Animal Models for Investigating Variations in Sex Characteristics
Provisionally accepted
- 1WNPRC and Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, United States
- 2Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, United States
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This review examines mechanisms across various organisms to enhance comprehension of Variations in Sex Characteristics (VSCs) and suggests suitable models for investigation. VSCs are the result of a collection of congenital conditions characterized by atypical development of both internal and external reproductive structures. These conditions may arise from variations in genes, developmental processes, and hormonal influences. Animal models are crucial for studying VSCs due to their ability to provide valuable insights into the underlying mechanisms in which sexual differentiation exists. Comparative research across species has further emphasized the nature of certain sex-determining genes and pathways, providing a broader understanding of the evolutionary conservation of sexual differentiation mechanisms. By integrating findings from diverse animal models, encompassing the genetic, molecular, and comparative perspective, this review seeks to provide a cohesive understanding of the complex 1 processes underlying VSCs in animals, with implications for translational research and potential treatments.
Keywords: sex differences, Animal Models, Sex Characteristics, sexual differentiation, VSCs
Received: 10 May 2024; Accepted: 13 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 de Faria Oliveira, Niepsuj, Gupta and Auger. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Gabriela de Faria Oliveira, gabriela.oliveira@wisc.edu
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