Evidence for a male-biased sex ratio in the offspring of a large herbivore: The role of environmental conditions in the sex ratio variation.

ABSTRACT: Numerous studies have examined whether the primary and/or secondary sex ratio in mammals, including humans, deviates from an equilibrium of 1:1. Although effect size in the sex ratio variation is expected to be low, a large sample size allows the identification of even small deviations from parity. In this study, we investigated whether the sex ratio of roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) offspring at birth approaches parity, using a large data set from roe deer offspring tagged in Baden-Württemberg (Germany, 1972-2019, N = 12,437). In addition, a systematic re-analysis of available data on the secondary sex ratios of roe deer was conducted to test whether our finding withstood the accumulation of further data. The null hypothesis that the sex ratio of roe deer (prenatal sex ratio

SUBMITTER: Hagen R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9120210 | biostudies-literature | 2022 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature