Sex Determination in Sea Turtles
- Discuss environmental sex determination in sea turtles and emphasize the possible impact of climate change on sea turtle populations. You may briefly introduce the topic of climate change to your students now.
- Play the video to explain how an increase in Earth's temperature due to climate change might adversely alter the sex ratio of sea turtles and might subsequently impact sea turtle population.
- Sea turtles have been on the planet for about 110 million years. Animals like turtles, crocodiles, and alligators, rely on a concept called temperature-dependent sex determination (or TDS) to dictate the sex of their offspring.
- In the case of turtles, warming waters and sands are altering the TDS process and in turn their the sex ratio.
- Following video discusses how an increase in Earth's temperature due to climate change might adversely alter the sex ratio of sea turtles and might subsequently impact sea turtle population.
Sea Turtle Eggs
Video by PBS NewsHour