Sex reversal explains some, but not all, climate-mediated sex ratio variation within a viviparous reptile.

ABSTRACT: Evolutionary transitions in sex-determining systems have occurred frequently yet understanding how they occur remains a major challenge. In reptiles, transitions from genetic to temperature-dependent sex determination can occur if the gene products that determine sex evolve thermal sensitivity, resulting in sex-reversed individuals. However, evidence of sex reversal is limited to oviparous reptiles. Here we used thermal experiments to test whether sex reversal is responsible for differences in sex determination in a viviparous reptile, Carinascincus ocellatus, a species with XY sex chromosomes and population-specific sex ratio response to temperature. We show that sex reversal is occurring and that its frequency is related to temperature. Sex reversal was unidirectional (phenotypic

SUBMITTER: Hill P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9156933 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature