Mutual Data Reveals Variation In Temperature-dependent Sex Determination In Response To Environmental Fluctuation, Lifespan And Selection

Main Category: Veterinary
Also Included In: Biology / Biochemistry
Article Date: 23 Jul 2008 - 3:00 PDT

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In many reptiles, the sex of an individual is determined early in development by incubation temperature (temperature-dependent sex determination, TSD).

But what determines the relationship between sex and temperature? Schwanz and Proulx address this question by simulating the evolution of TSD.

They introduce a new measure of TSD, mutual information (MI), that incorporates the sex-temperature relationship and natural temperatures in the environment.

They find that lifespan, strength of selection, and annual fluctuations in the environment influence the evolved sex-temperature relationship, and that mutation will reduce a population's mean MI.

The results can inform analyses of the evolution TSD across species.

Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences

Proceedings B is the Royal Society's flagship biological research journal, dedicated to the rapid publication and broad dissemination of high-quality research papers, reviews and comment and reply papers. The scope of journal is diverse and is especially strong in organismal biology.

www.publishing.royalsociety.org/proceedingsb