Sex of gator eggs affected by slight temperature changes, UGA researchers say

The future of the alligator species come depend on a small change in temperature, University of Georgia researchers say.

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Whether a gator develops as a male or female could come down to small temperature deviations. Spells of cool or hot weather produce more female gators, while more moderate temperatures lead to more males, according to the study.

The laboratory experiments used 146 alligator eggs collected from seven nests in South Carolina.

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The eggs were incubated under five different temperatures, from 86 to 93 degrees. Small daily fluctuations were added to reflect realistic nest conditions.

Eggs start to swap to female at around 93 degrees, a lower threshold than expected.

Researchers also found that short spurts of high temperatures didn’t harm the embryonic gators. It made them more likely to develop as females.

The model is the first to determine how a creature’s incubation temperature can influence its gender. It also could potentially help scientists determine what gender other species’ eggs are likely to be based on weather patterns.

“For population health and stability, I think it means that those small differences are really important,” said Benjamin Parrott, senior author of the study and an associate professor in UGA’s Savannah River Ecology Laboratory and Odum School of Ecology. “Whenever a population is out of balance, it can impact population growth. Whenever you start to lose females, then the population can really get in trouble.”

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