Same sex reptiles

A reptile’s sex depends upon temperature. That’s why tuatara (Sphenodon spp.) in New Zealand are pretty much done for.

According to researchers at the University of Western Australia in Perth, rising temperatures are shaping up to produce male-only offspring of the tuatara, a type of reptile whose relatives shared the earth with dinosaurs 200 million years ago. The researchers say the reptiles are basically trapped on 30 small islands in New Zealand and have no chance of adapting to flee to cooler areas. Their computer modeling predicts the tuatara will be extinct by 2085.