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Choosing Sexes

Mechanisms and Adaptive Patterns of Sex Allocation in Vertebrates

Authors:

  • Summarizes the latest studies on sex determination in vertebrates
  • Maximizes readers insights into how animals and humans can adjust the sexes of offspring
  • Illustrates the detailed mechanisms of how sex adjustment can be achieved

Part of the book series: Fascinating Life Sciences (FLS)

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About this book

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 adjustmentappears 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.

Reviews

“For over a century, biologists have understood that many vertebrates have an ability to allocate the sex of their offspring in response to a wide variety of genetic, environmental, and social factors. … The purpose of this book is to provide a comprehensive review of the literature concerning these topics, and Navara (Univ. of Georgia) achieves this goal admirably. … Summing Up: Recommended. Graduate students, researchers, and faculty.” (R. K. Harris, Choice, Vol. 56 (03), November, 2018)​

Authors and Affiliations

  • Department of Poultry Science, The University of Georgia, Athens, USA

    Kristen J. Navara

About the author

Kristen J. Navara

Associate Professor & Graduate Coordinator
Department of Poultry Science
The University of Georgia
Athens, Georgia, USA

 Education

Postdoctoral Fellow, The Ohio State University
Ph.D, Biological Sciences, Auburn University
B.S. Biology, The Pennsylvania State University 

 Research Interests

Sex ratio manipulation and ovarian follicular dynamics in female birds, Mechanistic bases of yolk androgen deposition, links between maternal immunity and the manipulation of offspring phenotype

 

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Choosing Sexes

  • Book Subtitle: Mechanisms and Adaptive Patterns of Sex Allocation in Vertebrates

  • Authors: Kristen J. Navara

  • Series Title: Fascinating Life Sciences

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71271-0

  • Publisher: Springer Cham

  • eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life Sciences, Biomedical and Life Sciences (R0)

  • Copyright Information: Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature 2018

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-319-71269-7Published: 12 February 2018

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-3-319-89057-9Published: 04 June 2019

  • eBook ISBN: 978-3-319-71271-0Published: 01 February 2018

  • Series ISSN: 2509-6745

  • Series E-ISSN: 2509-6753

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XII, 240

  • Number of Illustrations: 10 b/w illustrations, 61 illustrations in colour

  • Topics: Animal Physiology, Animal Genetics and Genomics, Developmental Biology, Behavioral Sciences

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 74.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 99.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 99.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access