Andorians are able to reproduce only for 5 years after puberty; they are unique for having completely retractable sexual organs and 4 sexes; the males Chan and Thaan each have ¼ of the chromosomes; the female Shen has 1/2 of the chromosomes and a transfering organ for the female Zhen who carries the pregnancy within a marsupial like pouch with four teats inside it to nurture the embryo. Twins, triplets and quadruplets were more common in ancient times.
Females are generally taller than males and sexually much more aggressive. All subspecies are sexually and genetically totally compatible between themselves... but, because of their unique ghelnoid biology and reproductive mode, not at all with other humanoids... unless drastic and complex genetic manipulation would be involved in the manufacture and developpement of the embryo.
For my round robin installment I fudged a little, since Shran is obviously more than 5 years past puberty and thus would be sterile according to this, but otherwise I tried to take it all into account as I wrote.
Does anyone know where all this stuff came from? Is it fanon? Maybe from novels? Because I’m pretty sure I’ve seen practically every episode of ST featuring Andorians and it was the first I’d heard of it.
Anyway, after reading all of that I got to thinking about how “quads” would form. I would think that Andorian youngsters would date in gangs just like our younger kids do, but instead of pairing off they’d form groups of four. So the usual pattern would be four partners of roughly the same age who meet at puberty or just before (or more traditionally are introduced by their respective families in an arranged marriage), set up housekeeping right after puberty, have their kids, and then leave the kids with the childbearing/childrearing parent (the female Zhen) and go their separate ways. They remain mates for life, but they don’t cohabitate for life.
If Andorians remained single into adulthood their choices would be more limited and they might pair off with a lover but be stuck without offspring unless the lovers as a pair continued to “date” to find compatible spouses. The female Zhens would likely be scarce off planet since they’re the ones that traditionally bear and raise the children. That was my thought, anyway. Andorians might pair off initially just for sex, but a more permanent and stable family would require more effort. In my story I’m thinking that Jhamel is a Zhen. She seems so nurturing and non-warlike compared to someone like Talas who I see as more the Shen type.
As far as the mechanics go, I’m not sure what the difference between the two male-type sexes would be. If they both contribute 25% of the genetic material then they’d both have to have the same equipment in order to impregnate the Shen. Maybe it’s a personality thing. Perhaps each quad has an alpha and a beta male, one to go out and make war and one to stay home and protect/nurture the kids. And the difference is so pronounced genetically that the two look different or smell different or “feel” different in some way when tlasped (that’s the term for sensing with antennae) and so are identified as different sexes.
Anyway, the Shen in turn would have to have both receptive equipment and insertive equipment (possibly different in structure from the males) in order to first get pregnant and then to transfer the embryo to the Zhen. This could be explained evolutionarily I guess by the fact that during war time someone’s got to stay home and raise the babies and somebody’s got to fight. If both males and the Shen are all off to war then the Shen can get pregnant right there on the battlefield, run home to bring messages, get supplies, and transfer the embryo to the Zhen, and then go back, leaving both males free to concentrate on fighting and the babies safe at home. It works.
Psychologically what it would mean would be that Andorian males would be warlike and attracted mostly to strong and tough females (the Shen type), although perhaps the beta males might have a stronger paternal/home-making instinct and be more protective of and attracted to the Zhen. The Shen would normally be bisexual and possessed of a strong need to wander, and the Zhen would be nurturing, maternal, and generally also attracted mostly to strong and tough females. : )
So, since I see Shran as an alpha male, both Shran and Jhamel in my story are unusual Andorians in that they’re attracted to each other and not to someone like Talas, the type of partner that both of them traditionally would be most attracted to. I can see them having a tough time finding another couple to complete their quad because they need a beta male and a Shen, a non-traditional combination. Too bad Talas is dead. They’d both adore her. : )
Any comments on my logic? Anybody disagree or have anything to add?
). Anyway: