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Dryad

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

Cite this dataset

Consortium, The Tree of Sex et al. (2015). Data from: Tree of sex: a database of sexual systems [Dataset]. Dryad. https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.v1908

Abstract

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.

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