Great Barrier Reef: rising temperatures turning green sea turtles female

Source: The Guardian

Great Barrier Reef: rising temperatures turning green sea turtles female

‘Complete feminisation’ of northern population is possible in near future, researchers find

Helen Davidson
Mon 8 Jan ‘18 17.00 GMT

Rising temperatures are turning almost all green sea turtles in a Great Barrier Reef population female, new research has found.

The scientific paper warned the skewed ratio could threaten the population’s future.

Sea turtles are among species with temperature dependent sex-determination and the proportion of female hatchlings increases when nests are in warmer sands.

Tuesday’s paper, from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, California State University and Worldwide Fund for Nature Australia, is published in Current Biology. It examined two genetically distinct populations of turtles on the reef, finding the northern group of about 200,000 animals was overwhelmingly female.

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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/jan/08/great-barrier-reef-rising-temperatures-turning-green-sea-turtles-female

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Releated:

Environmental Warming and Feminization of One of the Largest Sea Turtle Populations in the World (Current Biology via WWF)

Environmental Warming and Feminization of One of the Largest Sea Turtle Populations in the World (Current Biology)