Sex determination is triggered by factors ranging from genotypic (GSD) to environmental (ESD), or both GSD + EE (GSD susceptible to environmental effects), and its evolution remains enigmatic. The presence/absence of sex chromosomes purportedly separates species at the ESD end of the continuum from the rest (GSD and GSD + EE) because the evolutionary dynamics of sex chromosomes and autosomes di...

There exists extraordinary variation among species in the degree and nature of sex chromosome divergence. However, much of our knowledge about sex chromosomes is based on comparisons between deeply diverged species with different ancestral sex chromosomes, making it difficult to establish how fast and why sex chromosomes acquire variable levels of divergence. To address this problem, we studied...

Many species groups, including mammals and many insects, determine sex using heteromorphic sex chromosomes. Diptera flies, which include the model Drosophila melanogaster, generally have XY sex chromosomes and a conserved karyotype consisting of six chromosomal arms (five large rods and a small dot), but superficially similar karyotypes may conceal the true extent of sex chromosome variation. H...

In addition to initial sex determination, genes on the sex chromosomes are theorized to play a particularly important role in phenotypic differences between males and females. Sex chromosomes in many species display molecular signatures consistent with these theoretical predictions, particularly through sex-specific gene expression. However, the phenotypic implications of this molecular signatu...

Sex chromosomes can evolve when recombination is halted between a pair of chromosomes, and this can lead to degeneration of the sex-limited chromosome. In the early stages of differentiation sex chromosomes are homomorphic, and even though homomorphic sex chromosomes are very common throughout animals and plants, we know little about the evolutionary forces shaping these types of sex chromosome...

Intralocus sexual conflict and intragenomic conflict both affect sex chromosome evolution and can in extreme cases even cause the complete turnover of sex chromosomes. Additionally, established sex chromosomes often become the focus of heightened conflict. This creates a tangled relationship between sex chromosomes and conflict with respect to cause and effect. To further complicate matters, se...

Sex chromosomes undergo rapid turnover in certain taxonomic groups. One of the mechanisms of sex chromosome turnover involves fusions between sex chromosomes and autosomes. Sexual antagonism, heterozygote advantage, and genetic drift have been proposed as the drivers for the fixation of this evolutionary event. However, all empirical patterns of the prevalence of multiple sex chromosome systems...