The Australian Bearded Lizard: Sex Change

The Australian Bearded Lizard, usually found basking in the sun on boulders in Australia, has amazed scientists and challenged the concepts of sex.

Over recent years the males of this species, which have the ZZ chromosome (similar to a human male's XY chromosome), have experienced natural sex changes. Causing the alteration of their chromosomes, resulting in the once male lizards becoming genetically and biologically female. 

Although this specific case has just recently been discovered, this sex reversal has also been seen in other species including the clown fish, hawk fish, parrot fish, and reed frog

Through observation, it has been determined that this ability to change sex is not natural magic, but rather a reaction to warmer temperatures due to numerous biological factors. Also, temperatures also determine sex of offspring, therefore, high temperatures produce female offspring

As a result, both this reaction to warmer temperatures and global warming has threatened the species as it there is a large imbalance between males and females, leading to an inability for the species to reproduce at a healthy replacement rate. 

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