Effects Of Operational Sex Ratio On Offspring Sex Ratio And Phenotypes In A Viviparous Lizard Eremias Multiocellata

Reptiles exhibit both environment-dependent sex determinations (ESD) and gene dependent sex determination (GSD). Temperature-dependent sex determination (TSD) is the most common mechanism in reptile. The sex ratio of reptile with TSD could be influenced by climate temperature. Sex allocation theory predicts that maternal sex specific investment in the rare sex should be favored by natural selection. Operational sex ratio (OSR) is defined as the number of potentially mating males divided by the number of fertilizable females. It is unclear whether or not OSR influence sex allocation, and recent studies on lizards have reached conflicting conclusions. Here we selected a viviparous lizard Eremias multiocellata to test whether pregnant females could adjust the sex ratio of their offspring in response to OSR. Our results showed that mothers did not adjust sex ratios or any other phenotypes of neonates in the laboratory and field-based experiments. However, the OSRs did affect subsequent growth in both mass and SVLs of the offspring in laboratory experiments, while in the semi-nature experiments only the mass was affected. Therefore, proposed that the total effects of OSRs on offspring of this lizard should not be assessed or assumed based solely on the phenotype of neonates at birth.