How did sex pop up? (Introduction)

by dhw, Sunday, September 20, 2009, 20:15 (5334 days ago) @ George Jelliss

George has answered David's question: "How Did Sex Pop Up?" by quoting what he calls a "lucid account" by "Sprite" on the Dawkins forum. The problem we are grappling with is the likelihood of chance mutations creating these sexual mechanisms, particularly when they need to be simultaneous. "Sprite" seems to think that by repeatedly using the word "evolve" he explains everything. I am therefore reproducing the article (asexually of course) below, but have taken the liberty of substituting "pop up" for "evolve" wherever possible.
 
Sexual reproduction popped up before the separate sexes popped up. The first sexual organisms [no indication as to how they popped up] would have produced first just one type of sex cell and later there popped up the two types - eggs and sperm.These would have been produced by the same body.
In time, some bodies specialized in producing either one or the other sex cell.
Then the body evolved to best serve its particular sex cell so males and females would have diverged to some degree within the same species.
Sex cells were first expelled into the sea.
Animals first on land would also have returned to water to spawn.
Some different ways popped up to transfer sperm more directly to females eg via a spermatophore or via a 'cloacal kiss' where the two openings briefly meet and sperm is transfered.
Once you have internal fertilization, intromittent organs in the male would have popped up to deposit sperm nearer to the eggs for a reproductive advantage over the sperm of other males.
Various intromittent organs and various internal female structures popped up across species.-In short, the "lucid" answer to the question: "How Did Sex Pop Up?" seems to be that the first bits popped up, and as time went by various new twiddly bits popped up as well.-The other websites don't offer explanations either. At least the "Pharyngula" one is honest in its vagina monologue: "There is a great deal to be done...We also are a long ways from figuring out...The important thing, though, is that there are these questions waiting to be answered..." There are indeed.-(A note to Matt: first, congratulations on your internship, which is brilliant news. Second, thank you for your stimulating posts under "Two sides" and ID. I'm struggling to keep up at the moment, but I'll get there eventually.)