In arid parts of central Australia, temperature plays a big part in determining whether central bearded dragon embryos emerge from their eggs as male or female.
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While the sex of mammals and birds is determined solely by genetics, the dragons are like turtles and crocodiles in that incubation temperature plays a part in the process.
If incubated at 32 degrees Celsius (89.6 degrees Fahrenheit) or higher, some male embryos will emerge as female. If the temperature is cooler, genetics will determine the sex and these males will remain males.
Rising global temperatures could have profound implications for the lizards and other reptiles that rely on this system for reproduction.
The switch that caused that change was a mystery until scientists in China identified it using new sequencing technology called CycloneSEQ.
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In an article published in the peer-reviewed journal GigaScience in August, scientists from BGI Research said they were able to sequence longer DNA fragments to produce a near-complete genome of the lizard and identify the “master sex-determining gene”.