the__itis t1_jactczc wrote on February 28, 2023 at 2:51 PM

Reply to comment by fletch44 in Why does temperature determine the sex of certain egg laying animals like crocodiles? by insink2300

It would seem to me that current climate conditions at the time of birth would change survivability rates dynamically.

Higher survivability rates should equate to a higher ratio of females as they would subsequently reproduce the overall population in higher numbers.

I believe mammals (Great apes specifically) have a similar “quirk” where older male age and higher average calorie diets lead to more female births.

The_Magic_Tortoise t1_jadphyt wrote on February 28, 2023 at 6:20 PM

This may be ad hoc, but I could see warmer temps being a signal for environmental instability, therefore more males equals more genetic variability (more alligators), giving the population a better chance of adapting.

Cooler temps, creating more females, so as to "lock in" certain traits into the population.

IMO, systems seem to fluctuate between "searching" patterns and "chasing" patterns; robustness and efficiency, community and hierarchy, public square and tower, or as the alchemists said: solve et coagula.

You see this too in society: certain segments of society seem to follow either r or k patterns. Poorer people have more children, less neoteny shorter lives, etc.