Warming Climate Reverses Sex of Lizards

[Kadie]

Warming Climate Reverses Sex of Lizards
Jeanna Bryner
LiveScience Staff Writer
LiveScience.com
Sat Apr 21, 9:55 AM ET


High temperatures can reverse the sex of dragon lizards before they hatch, turning males into females.

The finding, detailed in the April 20 issue of the journal Science, could have implications for the development of life as the planet's climate warms.

The research reveals that extreme temperatures could inactivate a gene on the male sex chromosomes of dragon lizards and thus turn male embryos into females. The sex-reversed lizards look female and have female organs but genetically they are male, said lead author Alexander Quinn of the University of Canberra in Australia.

snip...
To test this, Quinn and his colleagues from the Australian National University incubated Pogona vitticeps eggs at constant temperatures, ranging from 68 to 99 degrees Fahrenheit (20 to 37 degrees Celsius).

No embryos survived at the coldest temperature. In ideal conditions, between 72 to 90 degrees Fahrenheit (22 and 32 degrees Celsius), an equal mix of male and female lizards developed. However, when the mercury soared to between 93 and 99 degrees Fahrenheit (34 and 37 degrees Celsius), significantly more females resulted, indicating that temperature trumped gene-controlled sex determination.

more...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20070421/sc_livescience/warmingclimatereversessexoflizards;_ylt=Anu6olk4ClgOpBRjuIfnFiPMWM0F

[lonestarnot]

1. Now that is

interesting.

[Subdivisions]

2. Yes...

interesting just how delicate the balance of nature, and life, truly are.

[nilram]

9. yeah, and you have to wonder what evolutionary purpose that serves...

If there are more females, then there can be more dragon lizard babies per unit of population. Dragon lizards will fight the cockroaches for the earth?

[slackmaster]

12. I'll take the lizards over cockroaches any day

:scared:

[Swamp Rat]

13. Are you sure?

:D

[Wiley50]

3. Maybe it can change the brains of reptilian republicans too

It's a thought

[Double T]

4. The male populations of the earth are doomed.

Maybe nature is trying to tell 'US' something.....

[slackmaster]

11. No, it means we are on the cusp of a massive proliferation of reptiles

The same kind of temperature-dependent expression of sex happens in many reptile species, including the desert tortoise. Under typical conditions you get about nine males for every female hatched, which limits the growth of the population.

[ThomWV]

5. A good warm day will change a lizard's sex. Its as powerfully ingrained as ethics in a Republican.

[pitohui]

8. heh good one!

i've heard that alligators can do the same, depending on the temperature, more males or more females will hatch

[undeterred]

6. Well, if it means I can stop wearing pantyhose in the summer

I just might change mine too.

[Spinzonner]

7. Nah, it's part of the transexual agenda

:sarcasm:

[Bozita]

10. Freeper Alert: Next year, you're gonna be gay!

It's obvious.

[lutefisk]

14. Bush