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Sex of incubation neighbours influences hatchling sexual phenotypes in an oviparous lizard

  • Physiological Ecology - Original Paper
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Abstract

In many litter-bearing mammals and in a few viviparous reptiles the sex ratio of the entire brood or the sex of the adjacent fetuses induces sex-specific differences in the hatchling’s phenotype. This study examines whether the sex of incubation neighbours affects hatchling characteristics in oviparous common lizards (Lacerta vivipara). Oviparous common lizards lay eggs with thin eggshells and, therefore, are an optimal model organism for studying the effects of hormone leakage among developing embryos since the strongest evidence for prenatal sex ratio effects on offspring development comes from viviparous populations of the same species. Groups of three eggs were incubated together and were categorised according to the sex of the resulting hatchlings as either homosex (three hatchlings of the same sex) or heterosex (one male or one female hatchling plus two siblings of the opposite sex). Hatchlings incubated adjacent to siblings of the same sex had larger body mass and body condition. Males tended to have lower ventral scale counts when incubated with other males. Conversely, females tended to have more ventral scales when incubated with other females, indicative of a more feminised phenotype. There was also a significant interaction between hatchling sex and incubation environment with respect to the length of the fourth digit of the hindlimb, likely indicative of masculinisation in heterosex females. This study suggests steroid diffusion between adjacent eggs in a minimally manipulative experiment and provides the first evidence for developmental effects of the exogenous hormonal environment in near natural conditions in an oviparous amniote. Implications of these results for the evolution of within-clutch sex ratio are discussed.

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Acknowledgements

I am grateful to Félix González for help with collecting the animals and for assistance in the laboratory and to Tania Iglesias for assistance in measuring hatchlings. Francis Juanes and Kiersten Madden provided valuable comments on the manuscript. This work was supported by grants from the Spanish MEC, projects CGL2004-00262 and CGL2007-60187/BOS. Lizards were collected under permits EP 115/2003 (Consejería de Medio Ambiente; Junta de Castilla y León) and reg. 2003-6583 (Consejería de Medio Ambiente; Gobierno del Principado de Asturias). This study was approved by the Ethical Committee of the University of Oviedo.

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  1. Departamento de Biología de Organismos y Sistemas, Facultad de Biología, Universidad de Oviedo, 33071, Oviedo, Spain

    Florentino Braña

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  1. Florentino Braña
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Correspondence to Florentino Braña.

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Communicated by Anssi Laurila.

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Braña, F. Sex of incubation neighbours influences hatchling sexual phenotypes in an oviparous lizard. Oecologia 156, 275–280 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-008-0996-z

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