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There’s a genetic explanation for why warmer nests turn turtles female

Scientists have ID’d a temperature-sensitive gene that controls young turtles’ sex fate

red-eared slider turtle

TURTLE TRICK  Scientists have identified a gene in the red-eared slider turtle, shown here, that makes embryonic turtles turn male or female depending on nest temperature.

jcapaldi/Flickr (CC BY 2.0)

By Laurel Hamers

- More than 2 years ago

Toastier nest temperatures, rather than sex chromosomes, turn baby turtles female.