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Reproductive and Developmental Strategies pp 367–390Cite as

Environmental Control of Sex Determination and Differentiation in Reptiles

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Part of the book series: Diversity and Commonality in Animals ((DCA))

Abstract

Most vertebrates use a genetic sex determination system, whereas a diverse set of reptile taxa use an environmental sex determination system – more specifically, a temperature-dependent sex determination (TSD) system. The TSD system is where sex is established by the incubation temperature during a critical stage of embryonic development. It has been almost a half century since the first TSD system was found in a lizard species. Thermal effects on sex determination have been described in many other reptile species since then. TSD has been found in all crocodilians and tuataras examined and in most turtles and some lizards. However, clarification is needed about this unique mode of sex determination in reptiles, in particular, factors triggering the intrinsic genetic cascade, which leads either to development of a testis or ovary. In several instances, TSD has evolved separately in reptilian lineage and, therefore, the adaptive significance of TSD is an attractive topic from an evolutionary view. In this chapter, the general background and recent advancements for TSD research in reptiles is discussed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Okazaki Institute for Integrative Bioscience, National Institute for Basic Biology, National Institutes of Natural Sciences, SOKENDAI (The Graduate University for Advanced Studies), Okazaki, Aichi, Japan

    Shinichi Miyagawa, Ryohei Yatsu & Taisen Iguchi

  2. Department of Biological Science and Technology, Tokyo University of Science, Katsushika, Tokyo, Japan

    Shinichi Miyagawa

  3. Department of Integrative Biology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA

    Ryohei Yatsu

  4. Graduate School of Nanobioscience, Yokohama City University, Yokohama, Japan

    Taisen Iguchi

Authors
  1. Shinichi Miyagawa
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  2. Ryohei Yatsu
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  3. Taisen Iguchi
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Taisen Iguchi .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, Faculty of Agriculture and Life Science, Hirosaki University, Hirosaki, Japan

    Kazuya Kobayashi

  2. Department of Biological Sciences, Graduate School of Science and Technology Kumamoto University, Kumamoto, Japan

    Takeshi Kitano

  3. Laboratory of Reproductive Developmental Biology, Division of Earth Sciences, Biology, and Chemistry, Graduate School of Sciences and Technology for Innovation Yamaguchi University, Yamaguchi, Japan

    Yasuhiro Iwao

  4. Misaki Marine Biological Station, Graduate School of Science The University of Tokyo, Miura, Japan

    Mariko Kondo

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Miyagawa, S., Yatsu, R., Iguchi, T. (2018). Environmental Control of Sex Determination and Differentiation in Reptiles. In: Kobayashi, K., Kitano, T., Iwao, Y., Kondo, M. (eds) Reproductive and Developmental Strategies. Diversity and Commonality in Animals. Springer, Tokyo. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-56609-0_18

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