How turning down the heat makes a baby turtle male. Duke Today, May 10, 2018. Scientists have started to crack the 50-year-old puzzle of how temperature turns baby turtles male or female. In a study in the journal Science, researchers show that cooler egg incubation temperatures turn up a key gene called Kdm6b in the turtle’s immature sex organs. This in turn acts as a biological “on” switch, activating other genes that allow testes to develop without altering the underlying genetic code. Picked up by Science News and BBC News.
Category Archives: reptiles
Coping with climate change
Link
Coping with climate change. National Evolutionary Synthesis Center, May 11, 2011. Can we predict which species will be able to move far or fast enough to keep up with rising global temperatures? A new study says the secrets to success in the face of a warming world are still elusive.
Evolution drives many plants and animals to be bigger, faster
Link
Evolution drives many plants and animals to be bigger, faster. National Evolutionary Synthesis Center, March 7, 2011. For the vast majority of plants and animals, the ‘bigger is better’ view of evolution may not be far off the mark, says a new study of natural selection.
Competition puts the brakes on body evolution in island lizards
Link
Competition puts the brakes on body evolution in island lizards. National Evolutionary Synthesis Center, June 18, 2010. Anolis lizards compete in ways that shape their bodies over evolutionary time, says a new study in the journal Evolution.