Thermosensitive Period (TSP)
The thermosensitive, or temperature-sensitive, period (TSP) is the point during development at which sex determination occurs in temperature-dependent sex determination systems, such as those present in alligators and turtles. Occurring during the middle third of incubation, the TSP lasts for 7–15 days, species-dependent. The temperature must be maintained during this time for a certain sex to be determined; oftentimes the differences between temperatures required to produce each sex are very slight and during the TSP, sex is susceptible to change with temperature. After this period, however, sex cannot be reversed (see sex reversal).
Read more about this topic: Temperature-dependent Sex Determination
Famous quotes containing the word period:
“Adulthood is the ever-shrinking period between childhood and old age. It is the apparent aim of modern industrial societies to reduce this period to a minimum.”
—Thomas Szasz (b. 1920)