Posted by:
FR
at Sun Aug 13 21:25:24 2006 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by FR ]
There is nothing wrong with those methods you mentioned, but, they are not totally accurate either, to many exceptions. Then consider, you can flip a coin and be 50% accurate. So, what percentage over 50% do this methods deliver???
With young to older adults, its very easy to sex monitors. Many of the characteristics you mentioned, plus popping(to evert the hemipenes) can be combined to be fairly accurate. In fact, most individuals of most species are very easy to determine by sight alone.
The problem is hatchlings to young monitors. This can be very difficult. Individuals of some species can be sexed within a month or two, others cannot.
As hatchlings both sexes have the same organs(who knows if this goes for all species), hemipene in males, hemiclitoris in females. As hatchlings, these are the same size in both sexes. So popping or probing, is problematic. Some individual males do not express secondary sexual characteristics, head shape, larger spurs, hemipene development, until they are full size. Yet members of their same clutch, can have fully developed functioning organs at half the lenght of full grown.
Also with X-ray or sonigrams, hatchlings are not sexable. The problem with many reports is what determines age catagories. For instance, those two methods can work with individuals as young as six months to a year. But those methods are more accurate with older individuals. Some people consider monitors under a year, as young or subadult. Unfortunately, we have bred all the species we have worked with in under a year. So for us, those methods have no value. We need to know at hatch, what sex they are. After six months, most of ours are laying eggs.
So at this time, an educated guess may be slighly better then flipping a coin. Combining a series of methods, may increase that percentage. But none are accurate all the time with all individuals of all age groups. Cheers
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RE: Sexual Dimorphism n Young Wat. Monitors? - FR, Sun Aug 13 21:25:24 2006
