AI Article Synopsis
- Sea turtles exhibit a high level of multiple paternity, with studies showing up to ten fathers per clutch and over 90% of clutches having multiple paternities, making them the most researched reptiles in this area.
- The adaptive significance of multiple paternity in sea turtles remains uncertain, especially as environmental factors like climate change may overshadow its effects.
- As climate warming threatens to decrease male sea turtle populations due to increased incubation temperatures, research into multiple paternity could guide management efforts to ensure more male hatchlings are produced.
Article Abstract
There have been multiple paternity studies across many taxa, including birds, reptiles and insects, for many decades. Sea turtles are by far the most studied of any group of reptiles with up to ten fathers recorded for a clutch and multiple paternity in over 90% of clutches in some populations. Whether multiple paternity has any adaptive significance remains a key question in sea turtles, since the impact of environmental conditions often seems to swamp any impact of the incidence of multiple paternity. Climate warming and the resulting threat of feminisation of sea turtle populations is set to provide an intense new focus for studies. If male turtles become increasingly scarce as a result of warming incubation temperatures, then management intervention will be needed to promote male hatchling production. Multiple paternity studies may help inform when intervention is needed, with the expectation that the incidence of multiple paternity will decline as breeding males become scarce.
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| http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/bs.amb.2024.07.002 | DOI Listing |
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