Feeling the Heat? Substantial Variation in Temperatures Does Not Affect the Proportion of Males Born in Australia

Barnaby J W Dixson; John Haywood; Philip J Lester; Diane K Ormsby

doi:10.3378/027.085.0506

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Feeling the Heat? Substantial Variation in Temperatures Does Not Affect the Proportion of Males Born in Australia

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Feeling the Heat? Substantial Variation in Temperatures Does Not Affect the Proportion of Males Born in Australia

Barnaby J W Dixson, John Haywood, Philip J Lester and Diane K Ormsby

Human Biology, Vol.85(5), pp.757-768

2013

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3378/027.085.0506

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Abstract

ambient temperature

tropical climate

secondary sex ratio

stress

time series

Australia

The global proportion of male births has been shown to vary with climate, with a higher proportion of male births documented in colder climates. Here we examined the hypothesis that ambient temperature predicts fluctuations in the proportion of male births in Australia and within seven Australian states using historical annual data spanning 1910-2009. We predicted that within states with tropical ambient temperatures the proportion of male births would decrease when ambient temperatures are higher. First, considering the national composite births for the whole of Australia, the proportion of males bom ranged only from 0.510 to 0.517. We observed no relationship between the proportion of male births and the mean annual temperature in the concurrent or previous years for Australia as a whole. Second, the analyses for the seven Australian regions provided a total of 14 estimated relationships. We found no association between ambient temperature in the previous or concurrent year and the proportion of males bom for all 14 comparisons. Thus, we found no evidence of a negative relationship between ambient temperatures in the concurrent or previous year and the proportion of males bom in the tropical regions of Australia, and no evidence of any relationship in the more temperate Australian regions or in Australia as a whole. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]

Details

Title: Feeling the Heat? Substantial Variation in Temperatures Does Not Affect the Proportion of Males Born in Australia
Authors: Barnaby J W Dixson (Author) - UNSW Australia
John Haywood (Author) - Victoria University of Wellington
Philip J Lester (Author) - Victoria University of Wellington
Diane K Ormsby (Author) - Victoria University of Wellington
Publication details: Human Biology, Vol.85(5), pp.757-768
Publisher: Wayne State University Press
Date published: 2013
DOI: 10.3378/027.085.0506
ISSN: 1534-6617
Copyright note: This is a pre-copyedited version of an article accepted for publication in Human Biology, October 2013, v. 85, no. 5, pp. 757–767, following peer review. The definitive publisher-authenticated version is available from Wayne State University Press.
Organisation Unit: Australian Centre for Pacific Islands Research; University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; School of Health - Psychology; School of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Legacy
Language: English
Record Identifier: 99629735902621
Output Type: Journal article

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