Data from: Tree of sex: a database of sexual systems

The vast majority of eukaryotic organisms reproduce sexually, yet the nature of the sexual system and the mechanism of sex determination often vary remarkably, even among closely related species. Some species of animals and plants change sex across their lifespan, some contain hermaphrodites as well as males and females, some determine sex with highly differentiated chromosomes, while others determine sex according to their environment. Testing evolutionary hypotheses regarding the causes and consequences of this diversity requires interspecific data placed in a phylogenetic context. Such comparative studies have been hampered by the lack of accessible data listing sexual systems and sex determination mechanisms across the eukaryotic tree of life. Here, we describe a database developed to facilitate access to sexual system and sex chromosome information, with data on sexual systems from 11038 plant, 709 fish, 173 amphibian, 593 non-avian reptilian, 195 avian, 479 mammalian, and 11556 invertebrate species.绝大多数真核生物（eukaryotic organism）均以有性生殖方式繁衍，但即便在亲缘关系较近的类群中，其有性生殖系统（sexual system）与性别决定机制（sex determination mechanism）也往往存在显著差异。部分动植物类群会在生命周期中发生性逆转，部分类群同时存在雌雄同体（hermaphrodite）个体与雄性、雌性个体；部分类群通过高度分化的染色体（chromosome）完成性别决定，另有部分类群则依据环境因素确定性别。要验证针对这一多样性的成因与演化后果所提出的演化假说，需将跨物种数据纳入系统发育（phylogenetic）框架开展分析。此前这类比较研究因缺乏可便捷获取的、覆盖整个真核生物生命树的有性生殖系统与性别决定机制汇总数据而受到掣肘。本研究介绍一款专为便捷查询有性生殖系统与性染色体（sex chromosome）信息开发的数据库，其收录的有性生殖系统数据涵盖11038种植物（plant）、709种鱼类（fish）、173种两栖动物（amphibian）、593种非鸟类爬行动物（non-avian reptilian）、195种鸟类（avian）、479种哺乳动物（mammalian）以及11556种无脊椎动物（invertebrate）。