Female-biased sex ratio in adults of the turtle Emys orbicularis at the northern limit of its distribution in France: a probable consequence of interaction of temperature with genotypic sex determination

1989 ◽  
Vol 67 (5) ◽  
pp. 1279-1284 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Servan ◽  
P. Zaborski ◽  
M. Dorizzi ◽  
C. Pieau
Keyword(s):  
Sex Ratio ◽  
Sex Determination ◽  
Emys Orbicularis ◽  
Gonad Differentiation ◽  
Adult Sex Ratio ◽  
Probable Consequence ◽  
Genotypic Sex Determination ◽  
Female Genotype ◽  
Biased Sex Ratio ◽  
Female Bias

Adult sex ratio in the turtle Emys orbicularis was determined in populations from seven ponds in Brenne (Indre, France). In all populations, the sex ratio was biased toward females. Among 290 captured animals, the male:female ratio was close to 0.5. Among different demographic factors that could affect the adult sex ratio, the most influential was probably the sex ratio of hatchlings. In Emys orbicularis, a ZZ male/ZW female system of genotypic sex determination has been postulated. Moreover, gonad differentiation is dependent on temperature and sex-reversed individuals can occur. To evaluate the importance of sex reversal among adult females, the blood of 78 animals was typed for the serologically detectable H-Y antigen, used as a tool to identify sexual genotype. In 73 of them, the H-Y phenotype was positive, conforming with female genotype, but in the other 5 females, it was negative (as in genotypic males), revealing that the sexual phenotype of these animals had been inverted. As the percentage of these sex-reversed genotypic males is low, the influence of temperature would appear not to be the sole cause of the observed unbalanced sex ratio. The female bias can be partly explained by the interaction of temperature with the ZZ/ZW system of genotypic sex determination. Indeed, in this system, sexual inversion under the influence of an epigenetic factor increases the ratio of genotypic females (ZW and WW) in the progeny.

Sex-ratio bias across populations of a freshwater turtle (Testudines : Chelidae) with genotypic sex determination

2006 ◽  
Vol 33 (6) ◽  
pp. 475 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arthur Georges ◽  
Fiorenzo Guarino ◽  
Melissa White
Keyword(s):  
Sex Ratio ◽  
Sex Determination ◽  
Sex Ratios ◽  
Single Species ◽  
Freshwater Turtle ◽  
Freshwater Turtles ◽  
Ratio Data ◽  
Adult Sex Ratio ◽  
Genotypic Sex Determination ◽  
The Impact

Adult sex ratios vary considerably among populations of single species and across years, but the best evidence is drawn from species with temperature-dependent sex determination. It is difficult to disentangle the effects of bias in the production of the sexes and the effects of a range of other factors contributing to biased adult sex ratios. In this paper, we survey sex ratios across populations of a species constrained to produce 1 : 1 offspring sex ratios by genotypic sex determination and show considerable variation in adult sex ratios. Raw adult sex ratios of Emydura macquarii emmottii were significantly biased in nine of the 11 populations examined. In all but one case, the bias was strongly in favour of males. Part of the bias in sex ratio was attributed to the differing ages of maturity of males and females – males mature younger than females – which leads to more male cohorts being included in the calculations of sex ratio than female cohorts. However, correcting for this effect brought the sex ratios of the populations closer to parity, as expected, and accounted for an overall 62% of the male surplus evident in the adult sex ratio. Even so, it was insufficient to explain the strong male bias (1.2–2.9) in five of the nine populations initially showing such bias. This provides support to those who advise caution in interpreting adult sex ratio data for freshwater turtles in the context of demography, sex allocation or evaluating the impact of climate change.

Effects of phytoseiid predators on the sex ratio of the spider mite Panonychus ulmi

1991 ◽  
Vol 69 (1) ◽  
pp. 208-212 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dan L. Johnson ◽  
Heather C. Proctor
Keyword(s):  
Population Density ◽  
Sex Ratio ◽  
Spider Mite ◽  
Total Population ◽  
Panonychus Ulmi ◽  
Encounter Rate ◽  
Male Mortality ◽  
Adult Sex Ratio ◽  
Biased Sex Ratio ◽  
Male Activity

The effect of predator presence on the adult sex ratio of a spider mite (Panonychus ulmi) was examined in a field experiment. Phytoseiid predators (chiefly Typhlodromus occidentalis) were removed from 32 trees harboring P. ulmi populations, and allowed to remain at natural levels on 32 other trees. Both total population density and proportion of males in the prey population were significantly higher in predator-free trees. Mechanisms that could explain the increase in the proportion of males are examined. The most probable is that greater male activity results in a higher encounter rate between predator and prey, and that subsequent higher male mortality when predators are present exaggerates the female-biased sex ratio. The theoretical effects of sex-biased predation on diplo-diploid and haplo-diploid organisms are discussed.

scholarly journals Unexpected resilience of species with temperature-dependent sex determination at the Cretaceous–Palaeogene boundary

2010 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 295-298 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sherman Silber ◽  
Jonathan H. Geisler ◽  
Minjin Bolortsetseg
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Sex Ratio ◽  
Sex Determination ◽  
Volcanic Eruptions ◽  
Egg Laying ◽  
Molecular Clocks ◽  
Temperature Dependent ◽  
Hell Creek Formation ◽  
Male Preponderance ◽  
Genotypic Sex Determination

It has been suggested that climate change at the Cretaceous–Palaeogene (K–Pg) boundary, initiated by a bolide impact or volcanic eruptions, caused species with temperature-dependent sex determination (TSD), including dinosaurs, to go extinct because of a skewed sex ratio towards all males. To test this hypothesis, the sex-determining mechanisms (SDMs) of Cretaceous tetrapods of the Hell Creek Formation (Montana, USA) were inferred using parsimony optimizations of SDMs on a tree, including Hell Creek species and their extant relatives. Although the SDMs of non-avian dinosaurs could not be inferred, we were able to determine the SDMs of 62 species; 46 had genotypic sex determination (GSD) and 16 had TSD. The TSD hypothesis for extinctions performed poorly, predicting between 32 and 34 per cent of survivals and extinctions. Most surprisingly, of the 16 species with TSD, 14 of them survived into the Early Palaeocene. In contrast, 61 per cent of species with GSD went extinct. Possible explanations include minimal climate change at the K–Pg, or if climate change did occur, TSD species that survived had egg-laying behaviour that prevented the skewing of sex ratios, or had a sex ratio skewed towards female rather than male preponderance. Application of molecular clocks may allow the SDMs of non-avian dinosaurs to be inferred, which would be an important test of the pattern discovered here.

Feral horse demography and population growth in the Kaimanawa Ranges, New Zealand

2004 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 119 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wayne L. Linklater ◽  
Elissa Z. Cameron ◽  
Ed O. Minot ◽  
Kevin J. Stafford
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Sex Ratio ◽  
Population Growth ◽  
Management Problem ◽  
Feral Horses ◽  
Sex Structure ◽  
Young Males ◽  
Feral Horse ◽  
Adult Sex Ratio ◽  
Female Bias

Although feral horses are a common management problem in numerous countries, detailed and long-term demographic studies are rare. We measured the age and sex structure, and pregnancy, birth and death rates in a population of 413 feral horses in New Zealand during 1994–98 and used them to construct a model simulating population growth. Survivorship increased with age (0–1 years old = 86.8%, 1–2 = 92.3%, 2–4 = 92.4%, ≥�4 years old = females 94%, males 97% per annum). Birth sex ratio parity, a slight female bias in the adult sex ratio (92 males per 100 females) and higher adult male survivorship indicated lower average survivorship for young males than females that was not detectable in mortality statistics. Pregnancy and foaling rates for mares ≥�2 years old averaged 79 and 49%, respectively. Foaling rates increased as mares matured (2–3-year-old mares = 1.9%, 3–4 = 20.0%, 4–5 = 42.1%, ≥�5 = 61.5% per annum). Young mares had higher rates of foetal and neonatal mortality (95% of pregnancies failed and/or were lost as neonatal foals in 2–3-year-old mares, 70.6% in 3–4, 43.2% in 4–5, and 31% in mares ≥�5 years old). Population growth was 9.6% per annum (9.5–9.8, 95% CI) without human-induced mortalities (i.e. r = 0.092). Our model, standardised aerial counts, and historical estimates of annual reproduction suggest that the historical sequence of counts since 1979 has overestimated growth by ~50% probably because of improvements in count effort and technique.

scholarly journals Sex Ratio of Small Hive Beetles: The Role of Pupation and Adult Longevity

Insects ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 133 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Papach ◽  
Jérémy Gonthier ◽  
Geoffrey R. Williams ◽  
Peter Neumann
Keyword(s):  
Sex Ratio ◽  
Field Studies ◽  
Differential Mortality ◽  
Adult Longevity ◽  
Published Data ◽  
Larval Feeding ◽  
Intraspecific Interactions ◽  
Adult Sex Ratio ◽  
Biased Sex Ratio ◽  
Small Hive Beetles

The sex ratio of sexually reproducing animal species tends to be 1:1, which is known as Fisher’s principle. However, differential mortality and intraspecific competition during pupation can result in a biased adult sex ratio in insects. The female-biased sex ratio of small hive beetles (SHBs) is known from both laboratory and field studies, but the underlying reasons are not well understood. Here, we used laboratory mass and individual pupation to test if differential mortality between sexes and/or intraspecific interactions can explain this sex ratio. The data show a significant female-biased adult sex ratio in both mass and individual rearing, even when assuming that all dead individuals were males. Our results therefore suggest that neither differential mortality during pupation nor intraspecific interactions are likely to explain the female-biased sex ratio of freshly emerged adult SHBs. We regard it as more likely that either competition during the larval feeding stage or genetic mechanisms are involved. In addition, we compared our data with previously published data on the sex ratio of both freshly emerged and field-collected SHBs to investigate possible gender differences in adult longevity. The data show a significantly greater female bias in the sex ratio upon emergence, compared to field-collected SHBs, suggesting that adult females have a shorter longevity.

Temperature-Sensitive Period of Sex Determination in the Atlantic Silverside, Menidia menidia

1986 ◽  
Vol 43 (3) ◽  
pp. 514-520 ◽  
Author(s):  
David O. Conover ◽  
Mark H. Fleisher
Keyword(s):  
Sex Ratio ◽  
Sex Determination ◽  
Sex Differentiation ◽  
Sensitive Period ◽  
Temperature Sensitive ◽  
Measurable Effect ◽  
Menidia Menidia ◽  
Atlantic Silverside ◽  
Gonad Differentiation ◽  
Hormone Sensitive

We investigated the timing and duration of the temperature-sensitive period of development in the Atlantic silverside, Menidia menidia, by measuring the sex ratio in groups of larvae shifted reciprocally among low and high temperatures as development progressed. The sensitive period of sex determination was dependent on body size, rather than age, and occurred during the middle to later stages of larval development when fish were between 8 and 21 mm in total length. Sex determination was irreversibly fixed earlier in development (i.e. at 15 mm in length) at higher than at lower temperatures. Higher, male-producing temperatures therefore appear to more strongly effect sex determination than do lower, female-producing temperatures. Temperature prior to, or after, the sensitive period had no measurable effect on sex ratio. From histological examination we suggest that gonad differentiation coincided with the end of the temperature-sensitive period. The timing and duration of the temperature-sensitive period in M. menidia is generally similar to the hormone-sensitive period identified in other fishes. Both phenomena reveal a specific developmental period during which the course of primary sex differentiation in fishes is labile.

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.

A natural population of the butterfly Eurema hecabe with Wolbachia-induced female-biased sex ratio not by feminization

Genome ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 50 (4) ◽  
pp. 365-372 ◽  
Author(s):  
Satoko Narita ◽  
Masashi Nomura ◽  
Daisuke Kageyama
Keyword(s):  
Sex Ratio ◽  
Underlying Mechanism ◽  
Single Nucleotide ◽  
Egg Hatch ◽  
Single Strain ◽  
Eurema Hecabe ◽  
Adult Sex Ratio ◽  
Ratio Distortion ◽  
Biased Sex Ratio ◽  
Sex Ratio Distortion

In butterflies, the adult sex ratio observed in the field is usually male-biased, although the sex ratio of their progeny is 1:1. This is due to the higher motility and larger behavioral range of males than females. As expected, the sex ratio of Eurema hecabe butterflies collected at 6 localities throughout Japan was male-biased. However, in Tsukuba, located in the central part of Japan, the sex ratio was found to be biased toward females. Their progeny reared in the laboratory also exhibited a female-biased sex ratio. A single strain of Wolbachia is considered to be the cause of the sex-ratio distortion, because antibiotic treatment reversed the sex ratio to 1:1, and only a single nucleotide sequence of wsp, a highly variable Wolbachia gene, was detected by molecular analysis. Cytogenetic analysis excluded the possibility of feminization as the underlying mechanism. In addition, when the wild-caught females that had already mated in nature were treated with antibiotics before oviposition, egg-hatch rates were extremely low, suggesting that the same Wolbachia strain also caused cytoplasmic incompatibility. Our findings suggest the possibility that a single strain of Wolbachia induces 2 distinct reproductive manipulations in the same host.

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