Thermal models of TSD under laboratory and field conditions

A. Georges, S. Doody, K. Beggs and J. E. Young
Smithsonian Institute,

Recent studies have demonstrated a remarkable range of interactions between environmental conditions and developmental attributes and outcomes in reptilian eggs. If we look beyond the practical application of these models to ecological implications, the models discussed in this paper yield important insights. They explain why mixed sex ratios occur in more nests than would be expected from the very narrow pivotal temperature range of many species, even in the absence of gradients in mean temperature with depth. The models provide us with more scope for exploring how reptiles with TSD (Temperature-dependent sex determination) might respond to climatic change, latitudinal variation in climate, or other disturbances to the incubation environment, because they identify a range of additional parameters that shallow-nesting species can manipulate in order to compensate for climatic change or variation with latitude.
http://aerg.canberra.edu.au/cgi-bin/pubs_archive.cgi?target=G