Data from: Parental thermal environment alters offspring sex ratio and fitness in an oviparous lizard

The environment experienced by parents can impact the phenotype of their offspring (parental effects), a critical component of organismal ecology and evolution in variable or changing environments. Although temperature is a central feature of the environment for ectotherms, its role in parental effects has been little explored until recently. Here, parental basking opportunity was manipulated in an oviparous lizard with temperature-dependent sex determination, the jacky dragon (Amphibolurus muricatus). Eggs were incubated at a temperature that typically produces a 50:50 sex ratio, and hatchlings were reared in a standard thermal environment. Offspring of parents in short bask conditions appeared to have better fitness outcomes in captive conditions than those of parents in long bask conditions – they had greater growth and survival as a function of their mass. In addition, the sex of offspring (male or female) depended on the interaction between parental treatment and egg mass, and treatment impacted whether sons or daughters grew larger in their first season. The interactive effects of treatment on offspring sex and growth are consistent with adaptive explanations for the existence of temperature-dependent sex determination in this species. Moreover, the greater performance recorded in short bask offspring may represent an anticipatory parental effect to aid offspring in predicted conditions of restricted thermal opportunity. Together, these responses constitute a crucial component of the population response to spatial or temporal variation in temperature.亲本所处的环境可对子代的表型产生影响，即亲本效应（parental effects）——该过程是可变或变化环境中生物生态学与进化研究的核心组成部分。尽管温度是外温动物（ectotherms）生存环境的核心特征，但直到近年，其在亲本效应中的作用仍未得到充分探索。本研究针对具温度依赖型性别决定（temperature-dependent sex determination）的卵生蜥蜴——杰氏龙蜥（Amphibolurus muricatus）的亲本晒背机会进行了操控处理。所有卵均在通常可产生1:1性比的温度下孵化，幼体则在标准化热环境中饲养。相较于亲本处于长晒背条件的子代，短晒背组亲本的子代在圈养环境中表现出更优的适合度（fitness）：其生长速率与存活率均随体重提升而升高。此外，子代性别（雄性/雌性）取决于亲本处理与卵重的交互作用，而亲本处理还会影响子代首个生长季中体型更大的性别类型。亲本处理对子代性别与生长的交互效应，与该物种温度依赖型性别决定的适应性演化解释相符。进一步而言，短晒背组子代所记录到的更优性能，或代表一种预见性亲本效应，可帮助子代适应预测中受限的热机会环境。综上，这些响应共同构成了种群应对温度空间或时间变异的关键组分。