Did you know that the sex of many reptiles is not determined by genetics? So, how do these animals differentiate sexually? Sexual differentiation is determined by temperature; usually, above or below a certain temperature, females tend to differentiate, while intermediate values lead to males. The molecular mechanisms governing this differentiation are still unknown.

So far, sex classification must be performed through laparoscopy, which is invasive and can pose health risks to these animals. Therefore, finding a biomarker that allows for the classification of males and females would be particularly interesting for the conservation of this species.

With this goal, the complete metabolome of 24 males and females from two different physiological stages was analyzed. It was observed that the metabolomic profile changed completely between males and females, and efforts were made to identify the metabolites that remained more or less constant between sexes and physiological stages. In this way, they are proposed as biomarkers, including carboxylic acid esters.

This work has been carried out thanks to the international collaboration of Aarhus University, the University of Florida, Oceanogràfic, the Polytechnic University of Valencia, and CEU Cardenal-Herrera.

This work has been published in the journal Communications Biology and presented at the “International Sea Turtle Symposium” and “Ecological Society of Australia” conferences held in Pattaya (Thailand) and Melbourne (Australia), respectively.