🤯 Did You Know (click to read)
In many crocodilian species, pivotal incubation temperatures determine the proportion of males and females.
Gharials exhibit temperature-dependent sex determination, meaning nest temperature dictates whether hatchlings develop as male or female. Even small sustained increases in sand temperature can skew sex ratios dramatically. As regional climates warm, incubation environments become hotter during critical developmental windows. If temperatures consistently favor one sex, breeding capacity declines within a generation. This is not speculative biology but a documented reptilian phenomenon. Dams and altered river flows can also change sand exposure and thermal properties. The reproductive system of the species is directly tied to microclimate stability.
💥 Impact (click to read)
Unlike mammals with chromosomal sex determination, gharials cannot buffer against thermal extremes genetically. Their demographic balance depends on precise environmental conditions. A series of unusually hot seasons could produce cohorts dominated by one sex. Over time, mating opportunities decrease even if total population numbers appear stable. The imbalance is demographic erosion disguised as continuity.
This mechanism transforms climate change from abstract global trend into biological arithmetic. Each degree of warming becomes a reproductive variable. Conservation now involves monitoring sand temperatures as carefully as counting adults. Without intervention, climate shifts could reshape entire generations before visible population crashes occur. The threat is subtle, silent, and mathematically devastating.
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