Claim: ‘Climate Change is Making Bearded Dragons Switch Sex, Possibly Leading to Their Extinction’
http://www.natureworldnews.com/articles/24627/20160702/climate-change-making-species-switch-sex-possibly-leading-to-their-extinction.htm
Climate change is reportedly changing male reptiles into females, and this may lead to an all-male reptile population–and eventually extinction.
Last year, it was reported by several media outlets that Central bearded dragons (Pogona vitticeps) are undergoing instant sex reversal because of the unusual high temperature that they are experiencing within their habitat.
According to the study published in the journal Nature, the Australian species demonstrated transitioning from genotypic to temperature-dependent sex determination.
After studying 131 wild-caught bearded dragons in Queensland province, the researchers found that 11 of them were female who are able to produce offspring but had the ZZ chromosomes of a genetic male.
“Most mechanistic models of transitions invoke a role for sex reversal. Sex reversal has not yet been demonstrated in nature for any amniote, although it occurs in fish and rarely in amphibians,” the study said.…