Female-biased primary sex ratio of the green turtle, Chelonia mydas, estimated through sand temperatures at Akyatan, Turkey

Subsurface sand temperatures were recorded at nest depth at Akyatan, the main nesting beach of Chelonia mydas in the Mediterranean Sea, and correlated with spatio-temporal nest distribution. This was to estimate primary sex ratio, which is dependent on the temperature of the environment of the eggs. On the basis of these data, the likelihood of metabolic warming during the thermosensitive period, and the pivotal temperature of C. mydas estimated from another Mediterranean nesting site (Cyprus), it is concluded that a majority of females is produced in the study area. This conclusion is also supported by data on incubation periods.