Sequential alternation of offspring sex from successive eggs by female green anoles, Anolis carolinensis

2002 ◽  
Vol 80 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-82 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew B Lovern ◽  
Kelly M Passek
Keyword(s):  
Breeding Season ◽  
Sex Ratios ◽  
Female Offspring ◽  
Anolis Carolinensis ◽  
Sequential Alternation ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
Hormone Levels ◽  
Maternal Size ◽  
Offspring Production ◽  
Offspring Sex

We examined the relationships between maternal size, breeding season stage, and offspring sex at hatching for the oviparous lizard Anolis carolinensis. Specifically, we tested two hypotheses: (1) large females produce offspring with male-biased sex ratios and small females produce offspring with female-biased sex ratios; and (2) females, regardless of size, produce offspring with male-biased sex ratios early in the breeding season and female-biased sex ratios late in the breeding season. We found no support for either hypothesis. Rather, we found that individual females of all sizes and throughout the breeding season alternated offspring sex of sequentially laid eggs. Because female anoles also alternate the ovary that produces successive eggs, we tested a third hypothesis: females produce eggs of only one sex with each ovary. Both palpation to track which ovary produced which eggs, and unilateral ovariectomies, leaving females with only one functioning ovary, failed to support this hypothesis. Regardless of whether an ovary was removed, females were capable of producing both male and female offspring from either ovary. To account for this and potentially other unusual patterns of offspring production, we provide evidence that maternal hormone levels around the time of fertilization may affect offspring sex.

scholarly journals Evidence that mammalian sex ratios at birth are partially controlled by parental hormone levels around the time of conception

2007 ◽  
Vol 198 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
William H James
Keyword(s):  
Sex Ratios ◽  
Hormone Levels ◽  
Offspring Sex ◽  
Almost All

An attempt is made to summarize the evidence that the offspring sex ratios (proportions male at birth) of mammals (including man) are causally related to the hormone levels of both parents around the time of conception. Almost all of the cited studies were reported by non-endocrinologists. This being so, it would seem desirable to have comments of endocrinologists on this topic. The purpose of this article is to elicit such comment. Readers are requested to read the accompanying editorial (Clark & Davis 2008) to gain a better perspective of this hypothesis article.

scholarly journals Reproduction and Offspring Sex Ratios Differ Markedly among Closely Related Hyperparasitoids Living in the Same Microhabitats

2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 243-251 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey A. Harvey ◽  
Lucas de Haan ◽  
Oriol Verdeny-Vilalta ◽  
Bertanne Visser ◽  
Rieta Gols
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Sex Ratios ◽  
Reproductive Traits ◽  
Female Offspring ◽  
Forest Edge ◽  
Cotesia Glomerata ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Lifetime Reproductive Success ◽  
Closely Related Species ◽  
Offspring Sex

Abstract Closely related species in nature usually exhibit very similar phylogenetically conserved traits, such as reproduction, behavior and development. Here, we compared fecundity schedules, lifetime reproductive success and offspring sex ratios in three congeneric facultative hyperparasitoid wasps that exhibit several overlapping traits and which co-occur in the same small-scale habitats. Gelis agilis, G. proximus and G. hortensis are abundant in meadows and forest edge habitats in the Netherlands. Gelis agilis is asexual (all female), whereas the other two species reproduce sexually. Here they developed on cocoons of the primary parasitoid Cotesia glomerata. When provided with unlimited hosts, lifetime reproductive success was three times higher in G. proximus than in G. agilis with G. hortensis producing intermediate numbers of offspring. All three species depleted their teneral reserves during their lives. Females of G. proximus and G. hortensis lived significantly longer than females of G. agilis. Offspring sex ratios in young G. proximus mothers were female-biased and marginally male-biased in G. hortensis. As mothers aged, however, the ratio of male:female progeny produced rapidly increased until no daughters emerged later in life. Our results reveal significant differences in reproductive traits among the three species despite them co-occurring in the same microhabitats, being very closely related and morphologically similar. The increase in the production of male progeny by Gelis mothers over time suggests a depletion in sperm number or viability with age. This is especially interesting, given that Gelis species are among the least fecund parasitoids thus far studied. It is likely that in the field most Gelis mothers are probably only able to parasitize a few hosts and to maintain the production of female offspring.

scholarly journals Sperm sex ratio adjustment in a mammal: perceived male competition leads to elevated proportions of female-producing sperm

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (6) ◽  
pp. 20190929
Author(s):  
Renée C. Firman ◽  
Jamie N. Tedeschi ◽  
Francisco Garcia-Gonzalez
Keyword(s):  
Sex Ratio ◽  
Sex Allocation ◽  
Sex Ratios ◽  
Female Offspring ◽  
Male Competition ◽  
Offspring Sex ◽  
Sex Ratio Adjustment ◽  
Adaptive Adjustment ◽  
Male House

Mammal sex allocation research has focused almost exclusively on maternal traits, but it is now apparent that fathers can also influence offspring sex ratios. Parents that produce female offspring under conditions of intense male–male competition can benefit with greater assurance of maximized grand-parentage. Adaptive adjustment in the sperm sex ratio, for example with an increase in the production of X-chromosome bearing sperm (CBS), is one potential paternal mechanism for achieving female-biased sex ratios. Here, we tested this mechanistic hypothesis by varying the risk of male–male competition that male house mice perceived during development, and quantifying sperm sex ratios at sexual maturity. Our analyses revealed that males exposed to a competitive ‘risk’ produced lower proportions of Y-CBS compared to males that matured under ‘no risk’ of competition. We also explored whether testosterone production was linked to sperm sex ratio variation, but found no evidence to support this. We discuss our findings in relation to the adaptive value of sperm sex ratio adjustments and the role of steroid hormones in socially induced sex allocation.

Parental HLA Genes, Hormone Levels and Offspring Sex Ratios

1997 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 60-60
Author(s):  
William H. James
Keyword(s):  
Sex Ratios ◽  
Hormone Levels ◽  
Hla Genes ◽  
Offspring Sex

FURTHER SUPPORT FOR THE HYPOTHESIS THAT PARENTAL HORMONE LEVELS AROUND THE TIME OF CONCEPTION ARE ASSOCIATED WITH HUMAN SEX RATIOS AT BIRTH

2008 ◽  
Vol 40 (6) ◽  
pp. 855-861 ◽  
Author(s):  
WILLIAM H. JAMES
Keyword(s):  
Breast Cancer ◽  
Hepatitis B ◽  
Present Note ◽  
Sex Ratios ◽  
Hormone Levels ◽  
The Past ◽  
Offspring Sex ◽  
Post Menopausal ◽  
Hormonal Treatments

SummaryDuring the past year, data have been published on the offspring sex ratios of people diagnosed with toxoplasmosis, hepatitis B, and pre- and post-menopausal breast cancer. It is shown here how these offspring sex ratios constitute further support for the hypothesis that mammalian (including human) parental hormone concentrations around the time of conception partially control the sexes of the resulting infants. If this interpretation were correct, then hormonal treatments might be considered for some or all of these conditions. It is intended that anyone who has read the present note and my two previous papers (James, 1996, 2004) should be aware of all the data relating to the hypothesis.

Parental behaviour of prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster) and meadow voles (M. pennsylvanicus) in relation to sex of offspring

Behaviour ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 151 (4) ◽  
pp. 535-553 ◽  
Author(s):  
Betty McGuire ◽  
William E. Bemis ◽  
Francoise Vermeylen
Keyword(s):  
Litter Size ◽  
Female Offspring ◽  
Prairie Vole ◽  
Microtus Ochrogaster ◽  
Meadow Vole ◽  
Prairie Voles ◽  
Meadow Voles ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
Mothers And Fathers ◽  
Offspring Sex

Monogamous parents are predicted to invest equally in male and female offspring whereas polygynous parents in good condition are predicted to invest more in male than female offspring. Sex-biased parental investment can occur in three ways: (1) mothers and fathers invest different amounts of care in their offspring (effect of parent sex); (2) parents invest different amounts of care in male and female offspring (effect of offspring sex); and (3) one parent, but not the other, invests different amounts of care in male and female offspring (interaction between parent sex and offspring sex). Studies of parent–offspring interactions in rodents have focused on either effect of parent sex or effect of offspring sex, but not the interaction between parent sex and offspring sex, and most studies have examined only one species. We studied prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster), a monogamous species, and meadow voles (M. pennsylvanicus), a polygynous (or promiscuous) species, under laboratory conditions designed to simulate field conditions. For each species, we recorded the frequency and duration with which mothers and fathers licked their male and female offspring. We found that meadow vole fathers licked male offspring for longer durations than female offspring. However, prairie vole fathers, prairie vole mothers, and meadow vole mothers did not lick male and female pups for different durations. From the standpoint of the pups, male prairie vole pups, female prairie vole pups, and female meadow vole pups were licked for longer durations by their mothers than by their fathers. In contrast, for male meadow vole pups there was no difference in the duration with which they were licked by mothers and fathers. We also detected effects of litter size: as litter size increased, the frequency and duration of pup licking decreased for mothers and increased for fathers. For duration (but not frequency) of pup licking, these changes were more dramatic in meadow voles than in prairie voles. Our data are generally consistent with predictions that monogamous parents, such as prairie voles, should invest equally in male and female offspring whereas polygynous (or promiscuous) parents, such as meadow voles, should invest more in male offspring when conditions are favourable. Our data also highlight the complexity of parent–offspring interactions in rodents and emphasize the need to examine whether male and female offspring within a species differ in their behaviour or ability to obtain parental care.

scholarly journals Host and symbiont genetic contributions to fitness in a Trichogramma–Wolbachia symbiosis

PeerJ ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. e4655 ◽  
Author(s):  
James E. Russell ◽  
Leonard Nunney ◽  
Michael Saum ◽  
Richard Stouthamer
Keyword(s):  
Host Species ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Female Offspring ◽  
Egg Parasitoid ◽  
Relative Influence ◽  
Offspring Sex Ratio ◽  
Offspring Production ◽  
Evolutionary Conflict ◽  
Offspring Sex ◽  
Parthenogenetic Reproduction

The fitness effects associated with Wolbachia infection have wide-ranging ecological and evolutionary consequences for host species. How these effects are modulated by the relative influence of host and Wolbachia genomes has been described as a balancing act of genomic cooperation and conflict. For vertically transmitted symbionts, like cytoplasmic Wolbachia, concordant host–symbiont fitness interests would seem to select for genomic cooperation. However, Wolbachia’s ability to manipulate host reproductive systems and distort offspring sex ratios presents an evolutionary conflict of interest with infected hosts. In the parthenogenesis-inducing (PI) form of Wolbachia found in many haplodiploid insects, Wolbachia fitness is realized through females and is enhanced by their feminization of male embryos and subsequent parthenogenetic reproduction. In contrast, as long as Wolbachia is not fixed in a population and sexual reproduction persists, fitness for the host species is realized through both male and female offspring production. How these cooperating and competing interests interact and the relative influence of host and Wolbachia genomes were investigated in the egg parasitoid Trichogramma kaykai, where Wolbachia infection has remained at a low frequency in the field. A factorial design in which laboratory cultures of Wolbachia-infected T. kaykai were cured and re-infected with alternative Wolbachia strains was used to determine the relative influence of host and Wolbachia genomes on host fitness values. Our results suggest fitness variation is largely a function of host genetic background, except in the case of offspring sex ratio where a significant interaction between host and Wolbachia genomes was found. We also find a significant effect associated with the horizontal transfer of Wolbachia strains, which we discuss in terms of the potential for coadaptation in PI-Wolbachia symbioses.

scholarly journals A sex allocation cost to polyandry in a parasitoid wasp

2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 20150205 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca A. Boulton ◽  
David M. Shuker
Keyword(s):  
Sex Allocation ◽  
Multiple Mating ◽  
Sex Ratios ◽  
Parasitoid Wasp ◽  
Laboratory Culture ◽  
Culture Conditions ◽  
Costs And Benefits ◽  
Offspring Production ◽  
Offspring Sex ◽  
In The Wild

The costs and benefits of polyandry are central to understanding the near-ubiquity of female multiple mating. Here, we present evidence of a novel cost of polyandry: disrupted sex allocation. In Nasonia vitripennis , a species that is monandrous in the wild but engages in polyandry under laboratory culture conditions, sexual harassment during oviposition results in increased production of sons under conditions that favour female-biased sex ratios. In addition, females more likely to re-mate under harassment produce the least female-biased sex ratios, and these females are unable to mitigate this cost by increasing offspring production. Our results therefore argue that polyandry does not serve to mitigate the costs of harassment (convenience polyandry) in Nasonia . Furthermore, because males benefit from female-biased offspring sex ratios, harassment of ovipositing females also creates a novel cost of that harassment for males.

THE CATEGORIES OF EVIDENCE RELATING TO THE HYPOTHESIS THAT MAMMALIAN SEX RATIOS AT BIRTH ARE CAUSALLY RELATED TO THE HORMONE CONCENTRATIONS OF BOTH PARENTS AROUND THE TIME OF CONCEPTION

2010 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 167-184 ◽  
Author(s):  
WILLIAM H. JAMES
Keyword(s):  
Causal Inference ◽  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Sex Ratios ◽  
Nazi Germany ◽  
Hormone Levels ◽  
Offspring Sex ◽  
Firm Basis ◽  
Soviet Russia

SummaryThis note categorizes the evidence for the hypothesis that mammalian offspring sex ratios (proportions male) are causally related to the hormone levels of both parents around the time of conception. Most of the evidence may be acknowledged to be correlational and observational. As such it might be suspected of having been selected; or of having been subject to other forms of bias or confounding; or, at any rate, of being inadequate as a firm basis for causal inference. However, there are other types of evidence that are not vulnerable to these types of criticism. These are from the following sources: (1) previously neglected data from Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia; (2) fulfilled predictions; (3) genetics; and (4) a network of logically (mathematically) related propositions, for some of which there is overwhelming empirical evidence. It is suggested that this variety of evidence confers greater overall credibility on the hypothesis than would be the case if all the evidence were of the same observational/correlational status. This observational/correlational evidence is tabulated to illustrate its consistency.

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