Constraints on temperature-dependent sex determination in the leopard gecko (Eublepharis macularius): response to Kratochvil et al.

Abstract

Kratochvil et al. (Naturwissenschaften 95:209-215, 2008) reported recently that in the leopard gecko (Eublepharis macularius) of the family Eublepharidae with temperature-dependent sex determination (TSD), clutches in which eggs were incubated at the same temperature produce only same-sex siblings. Interpreting this result in light of studies of sex steroid hormone involvement in sex determination, they suggested that maternally derived yolk steroid hormones could constrain sex-determining mechanisms in TSD reptiles. We have worked extensively with this species and have routinely incubated clutches at constant temperatures. To test the consistency of high frequency same-sex clutches across different incubation temperatures, we examined our records of clutches at the University of Texas at Austin from 1992 to 2001. We observed that clutches in which eggs were incubated at the same incubation temperature produced mixed-sex clutches as well as same-sex clutches. Furthermore, cases in which eggs within a clutch were separated and incubated at different temperatures produced the expected number of mixed-sex clutches. These results suggest that maternal influences on sex determination are secondary relative to incubation temperature effects.