scholarly journals Temperature-related birth sex ratio bias in historical Sami: warm years bring more sons

2007 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 60-62 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuli Helle ◽  
Samuli Helama ◽  
Jukka Jokela
Keyword(s):  
Sex Ratio ◽  
Environmental Temperature ◽  
Environmental Variability ◽  
Offspring Sex Ratio ◽  
Sex Ratio Bias ◽  
Parental Fitness ◽  
Biased Sex Ratio ◽  
Ecological Mechanisms ◽  
Evolutionary Consequences ◽  
Human Birth

The birth sex ratio of vertebrates with chromosomal sex determination has been shown to respond to environmental variability, such as temperature. However, in humans the few previous studies on environmental temperature and birth sex ratios have produced mixed results. We examined whether reconstructed annual mean temperatures were associated with annual offspring sex ratio at birth in the eighteenth to nineteenth century Sami from northern Finland. We found that warm years correlated with a male-biased sex ratio, whereas a warm previous year skewed sex ratio towards females. The net effect of one degree Celsius increase in mean temperature during these 2 years corresponded to approximately 1% more sons born annually. Although the physiological and ecological mechanisms mediating these effects and their evolutionary consequences on parental fitness remain unknown, our results show that environmental temperature may affect human birth sex ratio.

scholarly journals Consistent sex ratio bias of individual female dragon lizards

2006 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 569-572 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tobias Uller ◽  
Beth Mott ◽  
Gaetano Odierna ◽  
Mats Olsson
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Variation ◽  
Sex Ratio ◽  
Incubation Temperature ◽  
Sex Ratios ◽  
Phenotypic Traits ◽  
Female Size ◽  
Offspring Sex Ratio ◽  
Phenotypic Differences ◽  
Sex Ratio Bias ◽  
Offspring Sex

Sex ratio evolution relies on genetic variation in either the phenotypic traits that influence sex ratios or sex-determining mechanisms. However, consistent variation among females in offspring sex ratio is rarely investigated. Here, we show that female painted dragons ( Ctenophorus pictus ) have highly repeatable sex ratios among clutches within years. A consistent effect of female identity could represent stable phenotypic differences among females or genetic variation in sex-determining mechanisms. Sex ratios were not correlated with female size, body condition or coloration. Furthermore, sex ratios were not influenced by incubation temperature. However, the variation among females resulted in female-biased mean population sex ratios at hatching both within and among years.

The Effects of Polygyny and Domicility on Offspring Sex Ratio in Ghana

2007 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 431-456
Author(s):  
Adansi Amankwaa
Keyword(s):  
Sex Ratio ◽  
Family Structure ◽  
Living Arrangements ◽  
Living Arrangement ◽  
Demographic And Health Surveys ◽  
Offspring Sex Ratio ◽  
Ratio Bias ◽  
Sex Ratio Bias ◽  
Offspring Sex ◽  
The Relationship

AbstractThis article explores how family structure and domicility influences offspring sex ratio bias, specifically living arrangements of husband in polygynous unions. Data from three Ghana Demographic and Health Surveys were used to examine the relationship between family structure and offspring sex ratio at birth, something that previous studies have not been able to do. This study estimate models of sex ratio offspring if the wives live together with husband present and wives live in separate dwellings and are visited by husband in turn. The results suggest that within polygynous marriages there are more male births, especially when husbands reside in the same dwelling as wives, than when husbands reside in separate dwellings from their wives. The analyses show that offspring sex ratio is related to the structure of living arrangement of husbands in polygynous unions. Indeed, the findings suggest that living arrangements and family structure among humans are important factors in predicting offspring sex ratio bias.

scholarly journals Breeding ecology and bias in offspring sex ratio in little grassbirds (Megalurus gramineus)

2003 ◽  
Vol 51 (5) ◽  
pp. 505 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca R. McIntosh ◽  
Romke Kats ◽  
Mathew Berg ◽  
Jan Komdeur ◽  
Mark A. Elgar
Keyword(s):  
Sex Ratio ◽  
Breeding Season ◽  
Salt Marshes ◽  
Sex Allocation ◽  
Breeding Ecology ◽  
Offspring Sex Ratio ◽  
Reed Beds ◽  
Primary Sex Ratio ◽  
Sex Ratio Bias ◽  
Offspring Sex

Little grassbirds (Megalurus gramineus) are small, sexually monomorphic passerines that live in reed beds, lignum swamps and salt marshes in southern Australia. The breeding biology and patterns of sex allocation of the little grassbird were investigated over a single breeding season. Our observations of this species in the Edithvale Wetland Reserve revealed a highly male-biased population sex ratio, with some breeding territories containing several additional males. Nevertheless, there was little compelling evidence that little grassbirds breed cooperatively. The growth rates of male and female nestlings were similar and, as predicted by theory, there was no overall primary sex ratio bias. However, the primary sex ratio was female-biased early in the breeding season and became increasingly male-biased later in the breeding season.

Skewed Sex-Ratio, Monogeny, and Maternal Sex Determination in Two Geographical Populations of Asellus Aquaticus (L., 1758) (Isopoda)

Crustaceana ◽  
1996 ◽  
Vol 69 (4) ◽  
pp. 455-475 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giovanna Vitagliano ◽  
Enzo Marchetti ◽  
Eleonora Vitagliano
Keyword(s):  
Sex Ratio ◽  
Sex Determination ◽  
The Other ◽  
Italian Population ◽  
Asellus Aquaticus ◽  
Offspring Sex Ratio ◽  
New Born ◽  
Offspring Sex ◽  
Geographical Populations ◽  
Biased Sex Ratio

AbstractFor the great majority of the amphipods and isopods a biased sex ratio is attributed to photoperiod or to micro-organisms present in the cytoplasm of the oocytes. Since monogenous pairs are found in orders and species phylogenetically very far from each other, in order to try and clarify this phenomenon, two geographical populations of Asellus aquaticus (Isopoda) were collected in the Netherlands and in Italy, where the duration of the cold season and the photoperiods are very different. From these parental (P) populations, 200 females and 200 males per population were randomly subsampled and bred under standard conditions of temperature and nutrition. One half of each P generation was subjected to 18 hours light per day, the other to 14 hours light per day. New-born of each pair (laboratory F1) were grown up to differentiation of external sexual characters under the same photoperiod experienced by the parents. Also, hybrid F1 generation, born from mating between the two populations, was conceived in both photoperiods, but, after birth, one half of the new-born was maintained in the same photoperiod in which they were conceived, the other half was grown under the other photoperiod. No significant difference between the sex ratios was found in the two photoperiods, neither between Italian nor between Dutch Asellus. The sex ratio of Dutch F1 is female biased, while it is male biased in Italian Asellus. The female- or male-biased sex ratio can be ascribed to the high proportion of monogenous pairs in which offspring sex ratio is significantly biased towards females (in the Dutch population) and/or in which offspring sex ratio is significantly biased towards males (in the Italian population). On the basis of these results we can rule out the influence of photoperiod in sex determination for this species. The results shown by the hybrids suggest some form of maternal inheritance. In fact, the hybrids' sex ratio as indeed the frequency of pairs breeding one sex alone, was skewed towards the same sex for which the maternal population showed a bias. We therefore consider the possibility of sex determination associated with a cytoplasmic factor (a mitochondrial DNA?), which would inactivate only one of the two sets of genes governing sex determination.

scholarly journals Maternal corticosterone exposure has transgenerational effects on grand-offspring

2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 20160627 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicola Khan ◽  
Richard A. Peters ◽  
Emily Richardson ◽  
Kylie A. Robert
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Sex Ratio ◽  
Hatching Success ◽  
First Record ◽  
Female Offspring ◽  
Adaptive Mechanism ◽  
Offspring Sex Ratio ◽  
Sex Ratio Bias ◽  
Offspring Sex ◽  
Unstable Environment

The hormone fluctuations that an animal experiences during ovulation can have lifelong effects on developing offspring. These hormones may act as an adaptive mechanism, allowing offspring to be ‘pre-programmed’ to survive in an unstable environment. Here, we used a transgenerational approach to examine the effects of elevated maternal corticosterone (CORT) on the future reproductive success of female offspring. We show that female zebra finches ( Taeniopygia guttata ) exposed to embryonic CORT produce daughters that have equal reproductive success (clutch sizes, fertility, hatching success) compared with the daughters produced from untreated mothers, but their offspring had accelerated post-hatching growth rates and were significantly heavier by nutritional independence. Although there was no significant effect on primary offspring sex ratio, females from CORT-treated mothers produced significantly female-biased clutches by nutritional independence. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first record of a transgenerational sex ratio bias in response to elevated maternal CORT in any avian species.

The genetic basis of sex ratio in Silene alba (= S. latifolia).

Genetics ◽  
1994 ◽  
Vol 136 (2) ◽  
pp. 641-651
Author(s):  
D R Taylor
Keyword(s):  
Sex Ratio ◽  
Sex Ratios ◽  
Natural Populations ◽  
Sex Ratio Bias ◽  
Deleterious Alleles ◽  
Silene Alba ◽  
Biased Sex Ratio ◽  
Paternal Parent ◽  
Reciprocal Crossing ◽  
Female Bias

Abstract A survey of maternal families collected from natural populations showed that the sex ratio in Silene alba was slightly female biased. Sex ratio varied among populations and among families within a female biased population. Crosses among plants from the most female biased population and the most male biased population showed that the sex ratio polymorphism was inherited through or expressed in the male parent. Males from one family in particular exhibited a severe female bias, characterized by less than 20% male progeny. The inheritance of sex ratio was investigated using a reciprocal crossing design. Sex ratios from reciprocal crosses were significantly different, indicating either sex-linkage or cytoplasmic inheritance of sex ratio. The sex ratios produced by males generally resembled the sex ratios produced by their male parents, indicating that the sex ratio modifier was Y linked. The maternal parent also significantly influenced sex ratio through an interaction with the genotype of the paternal parent. Sex ratio, therefore, is apparently controlled by several loci. Although sex ratio bias in this species may be due to deleterious alleles on the Y chromosome, it is more likely to involve an interaction between loci that cause the female bias and a Y-linked locus that enhances the proportion of males in the progeny.

EFFECTS OF MATERNAL DENSITY AND AGE ON THE DAILY FECUNDITY AND OFFSPRING SEX RATIO IN TETRANYCHUS URTICAE KOCH

1993 ◽  
Vol 125 (3) ◽  
pp. 633-635 ◽  
Author(s):  
S.Y. Li ◽  
R. Harmsen
Keyword(s):  
Sex Ratio ◽  
Tetranychus Urticae ◽  
Female Offspring ◽  
Spider Mites ◽  
Offspring Sex Ratio ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Offspring Sex ◽  
Biased Sex Ratio ◽  
Two Spotted Spider Mite ◽  
Tetranychus Urticae Koch

The two-spotted spider mite, Tetranychus urticae Koch, is an arrhenotokous species (Helle and Bolland 1967). Mated females produce both male and female offspring; unmated females produce only sons. Although there is no “normal” sex ratio for spider mites, a ratio of one male to approximately three females is often found in many tetranychid species (Wrensch 1985). The exact mechanism of the female-biased sex ratio is not fully understood, but previous studies have demonstrated several factors affecting the sex ratio in spider mites. In this report, we analyze the effects of maternal density, age, and the interaction between these factors on female daily fecundity and offspring sex ratio in T. urticae.

scholarly journals Sex Ratio Is Synergistically Modulated by Local Resource Competition and Enhancement: the Case of a Primitively Eusocial Wasp Under Female Philopatry

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Koji Tsuchida ◽  
Norio Ishiguro ◽  
Fuki Saito-Morooka ◽  
Jun-Ichi Kojima ◽  
Philip Spradbery
Keyword(s):  
Sex Ratio ◽  
Resource Competition ◽  
Female Competition ◽  
Offspring Sex Ratio ◽  
Local Resource Competition ◽  
Local Resource ◽  
Female Philopatry ◽  
Primitively Eusocial Wasp ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Biased Sex Ratio

Abstract BackgroundIn animals, the offspring sex ratio is modulated by kin conflict and cooperation, and determining the ratio is a main concern in evolutionary biology. Male competition for access to local mates is predictive of a female-biased sex ratio in the offspring (local mate competition; LMC). Conversely, female competition for access to local resources is predictive of a male-biased sex ratio in the offspring (local resource competition; LRC). However, several factors other than competition should synergistically operate in real-world populations. In the Australian paper wasp Ropalidia plebeiana, LRC and local resource enhancement (LRE) may operate simultaneously. To determine whether this is the case, we evaluated colony sex ratios and examined whether competition and/or enhancement operates at the population level in this species. ResultsIn spring, many foundress queens started their colonies by comb-cutting, in which nest combs from the previous season were divided into several combs to be reused. Genetic relatedness among foundresses did not differ before and after comb-cutting. Relatedness among foundresses was 0.339, whereas relatedness among new foundresses was 0.589, revealing nearly functional monogyny. The global FST value calculated with mtDNA markers was higher than that calculated with microsatellite markers, even after we corrected for differences in effective population sizes between sexes. This finding indicates female philopatry, which was also confirmed by mark–release–recapture before and after the hibernation of new foundresses. The colony sex ratio of reproductives became slightly biased toward males in larger colonies. In addition, both the number of foundresses and number of workers were positively associated with the number of reproductives, which indicates that LRE was also operating.ConclusionsOur results suggest that although the population structure seems to meet the requirements of LRC, the sex ratio is not modulated solely by LRC. Instead, the availability of female helpers at the founding stage likely mitigates the sex ratio predicted by LRC through LRE. Thus, LRC at the founding stage and LRE at the reproductive stage synergistically modulate the colony sex ratio in R. plebeiana.

scholarly journals A father effect explains sex-ratio bias

2017 ◽  
Vol 284 (1861) ◽  
pp. 20171159 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aurelio F. Malo ◽  
Felipe Martinez-Pastor ◽  
Francisco Garcia-Gonzalez ◽  
Julián Garde ◽  
Jonathan D. Ballou ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Variation ◽  
Sex Ratio ◽  
Sex Chromosome ◽  
Sex Ratios ◽  
Sperm Nucleus ◽  
Equal Proportion ◽  
Offspring Sex Ratio ◽  
Ratio Bias ◽  
Sex Ratio Bias ◽  
Offspring Sex

Sex ratio allocation has important fitness consequences, and theory predicts that parents should adjust offspring sex ratio in cases where the fitness returns of producing male and female offspring vary. The ability of fathers to bias offspring sex ratios has traditionally been dismissed given the expectation of an equal proportion of X- and Y-chromosome-bearing sperm (CBS) in ejaculates due to segregation of sex chromosomes at meiosis. This expectation has been recently refuted. Here we used Peromyscus leucopus to demonstrate that sex ratio is explained by an exclusive effect of the father, and suggest a likely mechanism by which male-driven sex-ratio bias is attained. We identified a male sperm morphological marker that is associated with the mechanism leading to sex ratio bias; differences among males in the sperm nucleus area (a proxy for the sex chromosome that the sperm contains) explain 22% variation in litter sex ratio. We further show the role played by the sperm nucleus area as a mediator in the relationship between individual genetic variation and sex-ratio bias. Fathers with high levels of genetic variation had ejaculates with a higher proportion of sperm with small nuclei area. This, in turn, led to siring a higher proportion of sons (25% increase in sons per 0.1 decrease in the inbreeding coefficient). Our results reveal a plausible mechanism underlying unexplored male-driven sex-ratio biases. We also discuss why this pattern of paternal bias can be adaptive. This research puts to rest the idea that father contribution to sex ratio variation should be disregarded in vertebrates, and will stimulate research on evolutionary constraints to sex ratios—for example, whether fathers and mothers have divergent, coinciding, or neutral sex allocation interests. Finally, these results offer a potential explanation for those intriguing cases in which there are sex ratio biases, such as in humans.

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