Choosing Sexes: Mechanisms and Adaptive Patterns of Sex Allocation in Vertebrates

Description

There is extensive evidence that vertebrates of all classes have the ability to control the sexes of the offspring they produce. Despite dramatic differences in the mechanisms by which different taxa determine the initial sex of offspring, each group has found its own way of adjusting offspring sex ratios in response to social and environmental cues. For example, stress is a well-known modulator of offspring sex in members of all groups studied to date. Food availability, and limitation in particular, is another common cue that stimulates biases in offspring sex ratios in a wide variety of species. Offspring sex can be adjusted at the primary level, which occurs prior to conception, or at the secondary level, during embryonic development. While the mechanistic pathways that ultimately result in sex ratio biases and the developmental time-points sensitive to those mechanisms likely differ among taxa, the key involvement of steroid hormones in the process of sex ratio adjustment appears to be pervasive throughout. This book reviews the systems of sex determination at play in different vertebrate groups, summarizes the evidence that members of all vertebrate taxa can facultatively adjust offspring sex, and discusses when and how these adjustments can take place. Front Matter ....Pages i-xii Introduction to Vertebrate Sex Ratio Adjustment (Kristen J. Navara)....Pages 1-11 It’s a Boy! Evidence for Sex Ratio Adjustment in Humans (Kristen J. Navara)....Pages 13-31 Facultative Sex Ratio Adjustment in Nonhuman Mammals (Kristen J. Navara)....Pages 33-54 Potential Mechanisms of Sex Ratio Adjustment in Humans and Nonhuman Mammals (Kristen J. Navara)....Pages 55-70 The Bees Do It, but What About the Birds? Evidence for Sex Ratio Adjustment in Birds (Kristen J. Navara)....Pages 71-97 Potential Mechanisms of Sex Ratio Adjustment in Birds (Kristen J. Navara)....Pages 99-121 Hormones Rule the Roost: Hormonal Influences on Sex Ratio Adjustment in Birds and Mammals (Kristen J. Navara)....Pages 123-154 What Went Wrong at Jurassic Park? Modes of Sex Determination and Adaptive Sex Allocation in Reptiles (Kristen J. Navara)....Pages 155-181 The Truth About Nemo’s Dad: Sex-Changing Behaviors in Fishes (Kristen J. Navara)....Pages 183-212 Mechanisms of Environmental Sex Determination in Fish, Amphibians, and Reptiles (Kristen J. Navara)....Pages 213-240