Current Zoology (Dec 2013)
The sex ratio of wild Chinese alligators Alligator sinensis
Abstract
The Chinese alligator Alligator sinensis is one of the most endangered crocodilian species, and typically exhibits temperature-dependent sex determination. It is extremely important to clarify the sex structure of Chinese alligators to implement recovery projects successfully. However, the sex ratio of wild Chinese alligators remains unknown. In this study, we collected 28 years of sex ratio data from Chinese alligators residing in the natural and artificial habitats of Changxing Nature Reserve, China, and examined the differences in the sex ratio dynamics between these two populations.We observed that the sex ratio of wild Chinese alligators is 1 male to 4.507 females, which was significantly lower compared to that of the captive population (1 to 2.040; P 0.05). Overall, this study indicates that the stabilized female-biased sex ratio of Changxing Chinese alligators might result from selection pressure caused by local mate competition and major inbreeding [Current Zoology 59 (6) : 725–731, 2013 ].
