Long-Term Incubation Duration Decline Indicates Climate-Change Driven Feminization of Three Sea Turtle Species in Florida, USA.

ABSTRACT: Climate change is altering the thermal environment of nesting beaches worldwide, threatening species with temperature-dependent sex determination (TSD) such as sea turtles. While models have predicted feminization of primary sex ratios-that is, a progressive increase in the proportion of females-empirical, population-scale evidence across multiple species remains rare. Here we present the first broad-scale, multi-species evidence of long-term changes in incubation duration (ID)-used as a proxy for temperature and primary sex ratio-across genetically distinct Management Units (MUs) of loggerhead (Caretta caretta), green (Chelonia mydas), and leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea) turtles nesting in Florida, USA. We introduce a simple, scalable method to assess population-level feminization tren

SUBMITTER: Ceriani SA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12522085 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature