Patterns Of Sexual Size Dimorphism Research Articles

The tale of the rattle: Using rattle size to understand growth and sexual dimorphism in an insular population of rattlesnakes (Crotalus oreganus caliginis).

Islands have played a key role in our understanding of rapid evolution. A large body of literature has examined morphological changes in response to insularity and isolation, which has yielded useful generalizations about how animals can adapt to live in very small geographic areas. However, understanding the evolution of morphological variation in insular populations often requires detailed data sets on longitudinal patterns of growth and development, and such studies typically necessitate long-term mark-recapture on a large sample of individuals. Rattlesnakes provide a unique opportunity to address some of these difficulties because the addition of rattle segments to the rattle string occurs with regular periodicity and their size directly correlates with the body size of the snake at the time of the ecdysis cycle generating the segment. Here, we used a large database of rattle segment sizes recorded from island (Isla Coronado Sur, Baja California, Mexico) and mainland (Camp Pendleton, California, United States) populations of Western Rattlesnakes (Crotalus oreganus and C. o. caliginis) that separated approximately 10,000 years ago to compare body sizes at different ecdysis cycles, which allowed us to assess differences in growth rates and patterns of sexual size dimorphism. Our results show that rattlesnakes on Isla Coronado Sur appear to be born smaller and grow more slowly than their mainland counterparts, resulting in a "dwarfed" island population. However, despite significant differences in body size, both populations exhibited the same degree of sexual dimorphism. Our study demonstrates the potential to use rattle characteristics to recover detailed estimates of fundamental demographic parameters.

The effect of miniaturization on the evolution of sexual size dimorphism in geckos.

The evolution of miniaturization can result in dramatic alterations of morphology, physiology, and behavior; however, the effects of miniaturization on sexual dimorphism remain largely unknown. Here we investigate how miniaturization influences patterns of sexual size dimorphism (SSD) in geckos. Measuring 1,875 individuals from 131 species, we characterized patterns of SSD relative to body size across two families. We found that miniaturized species were more female biased than non-miniaturized species. Additionally, one family that contained many miniaturized species (Sphaerodactylidae) displayed allometric patterns in SSD with body size, where larger species were male biased and smaller species were more female biased. Smaller species in this lineage also produced proportionally larger eggs. By contrast, another family containing few miniaturized species (Phyllodactylidae) displayed a more isometric trend. Together, these observations are consistent with the hypothesis that selection for increased reproductive success in small species of Sphaerodactylidae results in female-biased SSD in these taxa, which in turn drives the positive SSD allometry observed in this lineage. Thus, selection for increased miniaturization in the clade may be offset by selection on maintaining a female size in smaller taxa that ensures reproductive success.

Morphological variability or inter-observer bias? A methodological toolkit to improve data quality of multi-researcher datasets for the analysis of morphological variation.

The investigation of morphological variation in animals is widely used in taxonomy, ecology, and evolution. Using large datasets for meta-analyses has dramatically increased, raising concerns about dataset compatibilities and biases introduced by contributions of multiple researchers. We compiled morphological data on 13 variables for 3073 individual mouse lemurs (Cheirogaleidae, Microcebus spp.) from 25 taxa and 153 different sampling locations, measured by 48 different researchers. We introduced and applied a filtering pipeline and quantified improvements in data quality (Shapiro-Francia statistic, skewness, and excess kurtosis). The filtered dataset was then used to test for genus-wide sexual size dimorphism and the applicability of Rensch's, Allen's, and Bergmann's rules. Our pipeline reduced inter-observer bias (i.e., increased normality of data distributions). Inter-observer reliability of measurements was notably variable, highlighting the need to reduce data collection biases. Although subtle, we found a consistent pattern of sexual size dimorphism across Microcebus, with females being the larger (but not heavier) sex. Sexual size dimorphism was isometric, providing no support for Rensch's rule. Variations in tail length but not in ear size were consistent with the predictions of Allen's rule. Body mass and length followed a pattern contrary to predictions of Bergmann's rule. We highlighted the usefulness of large multi-researcher datasets for testing ecological hypotheses after correcting for inter-observer biases. Using genus-wide tests, we outlined generalizable patterns of morphological variability across all mouse lemurs. This new methodological toolkit aims to facilitate future large-scale morphological comparisons for a wide range of taxa and applications.

Male agility in relation to mating success in two non‐territorial damselflies

AbstractMale body size is usually correlated with mating success in insects. For non‐territorial species, the small male advantage hypothesis predicts that smaller males may be favoured in sexual selection because small body size may predict agility and manoeuvrability. Consequently, selection for male size may drive the evolution of female‐biased sexual size dimorphism (SSD). Nevertheless, recent evidence shows that non‐territorial male damselflies that actively search for females may be larger and more agile than those that perch and wait for females to appear. Thus, here we addressed whether the male size is an indicator of male agility and if it may be used to predict male reproductive success in two non‐territorial damselflies. To this end, we conducted a field study with Acanthagrion truncatum Selys, 1876 and A. lancea Selys, 1876 (Zygoptera, Coenagrionidae). Males of A. truncatum adopt a sit‐and‐wait mating strategy, while the males actively search for females in A. lancea. Hence, we expected different selective forces acting on male body size and agility in these species. We compared the body size and wing length of mated and unmated males, and between sexes, to describe their patterns of SSD. Our results suggest that wing length can be used as a proxy for male body size and agility in both species. However, we have found no evidence for the small male advantage that could explain wing dimorphism in A. truncatum, nor selection for larger males in A. lancea. In conclusion, this study corroborates other studies that suggest agility cannot explain SSD in non‐territorial damselflies and fail to support the small male advantage hypothesis.

Sexual size dimorphism and male reproductive traits vary across populations of a tropical rainforest dung beetle species (Onthophagus babirussa).

Sexual size dimorphism (SSD) arises when natural selection and sexual selection act differently on males and females. Male‐biased SSD is rarer in insects and usually indicates strong sexual selection pressure on male body size in a species. Patterns of SSD can also vary between populations of species that are exposed to different environmental conditions, such as differing resource availability and diversity. Here, we investigate intraspecific variation in SSD as well as relative investment in precopulatory (horn length) and postcopulatory traits (sperm length and testes weight) in a tropical rainforest dung beetle Onthophagus babirussa across Singapore and Peninsular Malaysia. Overall, three out of four populations displayed significant male‐biased SSD, and SSD was greater in populations with smaller overall body size. Average male body size was similar across all populations while female body size was significantly smaller in Singapore, suggesting that the pronounced SSD may also be due to stronger sexual selection on male body size in Singapore populations. All populations showed significant investment in horns as a weapon likely used in male‐male competition, while postcopulatory traits showed no clear scaling relationship with body size, suggesting a higher priority on precopulatory sexual traits in the mating system of this species.

Species-Specific Expression of Growth-Regulatory Genes in 2 Anoles with Divergent Patterns of Sexual Size Dimorphism.

SynopsisSexual size dimorphism is widespread in nature and often develops through sexual divergence in growth trajectories. In vertebrates, the growth hormone/insulin-like growth factor (GH/IGF) network is an important regulator of growth, and components of this network are often regulated in sex-specific fashion during the development of sexual size dimorphism. However, expression of the GH/IGF network is not well characterized outside of mammalian model systems, and the extent to which species differences in sexual size dimorphism are related to differences in GH/IGF network expression is unclear. To begin bridging this gap, we compared GH/IGF network expression in liver and muscle from 2 lizard congeners, one with extreme male-biased sexual size dimorphism (brown anole, Anolis sagrei), and one that is sexually monomorphic in size (slender anole, A. apletophallus). Specifically, we tested whether GH/IGF network expression in adult slender anoles resembles the highly sex-biased expression observed in adult brown anoles or the relatively unbiased expression observed in juvenile brown anoles. We found that adults of the 2 species differed significantly in the strength of sex-biased expression for several key upstream genes in the GH/IGF network, including insulin-like growth factors 1 and 2. However, species differences in sex-biased expression were minor when comparing adult slender anoles to juvenile brown anoles. Moreover, the multivariate expression of the entire GH/IGF network (as represented by the first two principal components describing network expression) was sex-biased for the liver and muscle of adult brown anoles, but not for either tissue in juvenile brown anoles or adult slender anoles. Our work suggests that species differences in sex-biased expression of genes in the GH/IGF network (particularly in the liver) may contribute to the evolution of species differences in sexual size dimorphism.

Applying computer vision to digitised natural history collections for climate change research: Temperature‐size responses in British butterflies

Abstract Natural history collections are invaluable resources for understanding biotic response to global change. Museums around the world are currently imaging specimens, capturing specimen data and making them freely available online. In parallel to the digitisation effort, there have been great advancements in computer vision: the computer trained automated recognition/detection, and measurement of features in digital images. Applying computer vision to digitised natural history collections has the potential to greatly accelerate the use of these collections for biotic response to global change research. In this paper, we apply computer vision to a very large, digitised collection to test hypotheses in an established area of biotic response to climate change research: temperature‐size responses. We develop a computer vision pipeline (Mothra) and apply it to the NHM collection of British butterflies (>180,000 imaged specimens). Mothra automatically detects the specimen and other objects in the image, sets the scale, measures wing features (e.g. forewing length), determines the orientation of the specimen (pinned ventrally or dorsally) and identifies the sex. We pair these measurements and specimen collection data with temperature records for 17,726 specimens across a subset of 24 species to test how adult size varies with temperature during the immature stages of species. We also assess patterns of sexual size dimorphism across species and families for 32 species trained for automated sex ID. Mothra accurately measures the forewing lengths of butterfly specimens compared to manual measurements and accurately determines the sex of specimens, with females as the larger sex in most species. An increase in adult body size with warmer monthly temperatures during the late larval stages is the most common temperature‐size response. These results confirm suspected patterns and support hypotheses based on recent studies using a smaller dataset of manually measured specimens. We show that computer vision can be a powerful tool to efficiently and accurately extract phenotypic data from a very large collection of digital natural history collections. In the future, computer vision will become widely applied to digital collections to advance ecological and evolutionary research and to accelerate their use to investigate biotic response to global change.

Sexual dimorphism and morphometrics in two populations of the Neotropical freshwater turtle Mesoclemmys vanderhaegei (Testudines, Chelidae)

ABSTRACT As commonly observed in turtles, sexual size dimorphism (SSD) is pronounced in the Neotropical freshwater turtle Mesoclemmys vanderhaegei (Bour, 1973), a species in which females are usually larger than males. We studied SSD in two populations of M. vanderhaegei from the Brazilian Cerrado savannah, based on 245 specimens captured between November 2010 and August 2013. The carapace length of the largest male was 201 mm (9.15% shorter than that of the largest female, 220 mm). The mean sizes of males and females did not differ in the two populations. However, a comparison of eight selected morphological variables revealed that the size distribution pattern differed between the populations. Using model selection, seven out of 34 morphometric variables - from the head, plastron, bridge, and tail - were selected as the most suitable ones to distinguish between males and females. The pattern of SSD found in M. vanderhaegei is similar to that found in other chelonian species and may be the result of natural selection rather than ecological factors, since individuals of both sexes use the same habitats.

Evolution of sexual dimorphism in an endemic toad of the Qinghai–Tibet plateau fails to obey Rensch’s rule

According to Rensch's rule, sexual size dimorphism (SSD) decreases with increasing body size in species where females are larger than males, whereas SSD increases with body size when males are larger than females. In this study, we examined body size from 15 populations of Bufo minshanicus in the Qinghai–Tibet plateau in China. We estimated the age of the individuals from eight populations to evaluate Rensch's rule and possible causes of variation in SSD. After or before correcting male and female body size for age differences, the patterns of SSD failed to obey Rensch's rule or its inverse, even though fecundity selection in toads tends to favor larger female body size. We also found that the degree of SSD was positively correlated with the operational sex ratio in the field across B. minshanicus populations. Thus, sexual and fecundity selection play an equal role driving the evolution of SSD within toads. In addition, sex-specific growth rate and age structure explain part of the variation observed in SSD across populations.

Sex dimorphism in European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax L.): New insights into sex-related growth patterns during very early life stages.

The European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) exhibits female-biased sexual size dimorphism (SSD) early in development. New tagging techniques provide the opportunity to monitor individual sex-related growth during the post-larval and juvenile stages. We produced an experimental population through artificial fertilization and followed a rearing-temperature protocol (~16°C from hatching to 112 days post-hatching, dph; ~20°C from 117 to 358 dph) targeting a roughly balanced sex ratio. The fish were tagged with microchips between 61 and 96 dph in five tagging trials of 50 fish each; individual standard length (SL) was recorded through repeated biometric measurements performed between 83 to 110 dph via image analyses. Body weight (BW) was modelled using the traits measured on the digital pictures (i.e. area, perimeter and volume). At 117 dph, the fish were tagged with microtags and regularly measured for SL and BW until 335 dph. The experiment ended at 358 dph with the sexing of the fish. The sex-ratio at the end of the experiment was significantly in favor of the females (65.6% vs. 34.4%). The females were significantly longer and heavier than the males from 103 dph (~30 mm SL, ~0.44 g BW) to 165 dph, but the modeling of the growth curves suggests that differences in size already existed at 83 dph. A significant difference in the daily growth coefficient (DGC) was observed only between 96 and 103 dph, suggesting a physiological or biological change occurring during this period. The female-biased SSD pattern in European sea bass is thus strongly influenced by very early growth differences between sexes, as already shown in previous studies, and in any case long before gonadal sex differentiation has been started, and thus probably before sex has been determined. This leads to the hypothesis that early growth might be a cause rather than a consequence of sex differentiation in sea bass.

Reproductive Biology and Sexual Dimorphism in Bokermannohyla alvarengai (Anura: Hylidae)

The general pattern of sexual size dimorphism (SSD) in amphibians is characterized by females being larger than males. However, the reverse pattern, a male-biased SSD, may be widespread within some particular groups, as seems to be the case for the Neotropical treefrog genus Bokermannohyla. Although SSD is commonly associated with factors influential to breeding success, the evolutionary determinants of SSD remain controversial. Thus, the study of SSD, particularly on lesser-known species, remains critical to advance our understanding of the evolution of body size and other traits associated with the reproductive biology of amphibians. Herein, we examined the occurrence of sexual dimorphism in body size and other morphometric attributes in Bokermannohyla alvarengai and provided a detailed account of its reproductive biology. This species is endemic to a threatened habitat, occurs at low densities, and has a poorly documented natural history. We found that, at maturity, males of B. alvarengai were larger than females, with hypertrophied forelimbs and larger prepollex spines. This set of features, common to other Bokermannohyla species, is often attributed to the occurrence of male territorial defense and aggression between males. We found that B. alvarengai has a prolonged breeding season that extends from the middle of the dry season to the middle of the rainy season. Adult males did not form breeding aggregations and seemed to establish and defend territories; these males often had skin scars indicative of male–male combat. However, alternative interpretations for differences in body size and secondary sexual characters cannot be ruled out and are discussed.

The multiple origins of sexual size dimorphism in global amphibians

AbstractAimBody size explains most of the variation in fitness within animal populations and is therefore under constant selection from ecological and reproductive pressures, which often promote its evolution in sex‐specific directions, leading to sexual size dimorphism (SSD). Several hypotheses have been proposed to explain the vast diversity of SSD across species. These hypotheses emphasize: (a) the mate competition benefits to larger male size (sexual selection); (b) the benefits of larger female size for fecundity (fecundity selection); (c) the simultaneous benefits of niche divergence for males and females to reduce intersexual competition for ecological resources (natural selection); and (d) the underlying impact of geographical variation in climatic pressures expected to shape large‐scale patterns of SSD in synergy with the above selection pressures (e.g., intensification of fecundity selection as breeding seasons shorten). Based on a new, global‐scale amphibian dataset, we address the shortage of large‐scale, integrative tests of these four hypotheses.LocationGlobal.Time periodExtant.Major taxa studiedClass Amphibia.MethodsUsing a > 3,500 species dataset spanning body size, ecological, life‐history, geographical and climatic data, we performed phylogenetic linear models to address the sexual, fecundity, ecological and climatic hypotheses of SSD.ResultsEvolution of SSD is discordant between anurans and salamanders. Anuran SSD is shaped by climate (male‐biased SSD increases with temperature seasonality) and by nesting site. In salamanders, SSD converges across species that occupy the same types of microhabitats (“ecodimorphs”), whereas reproductive or climatic pressures have no effects on their SSD. These contrasts are associated with latitudinal gradients of SSD in anurans, but not in salamanders.Main conclusionsAmphibian SSD is driven by ecological and climatic pressures, whereas no roles for sexual or fecundity selection were detected. We show that macroevolutionary processes determined by different forms of selection lead to latitudinal patterns of trait diversity, and the lack of them.

Macroevolutionary Patterns of Sexual Size Dimorphism Among African Tree Frogs (Family: Hyperoliidae).

Sexual size dimorphism (SSD) is shaped by multiple selective forces that drive the evolution of sex-specific body size, resulting in male or female-biased SSD. Stronger selection on one sex can result in an allometric body size scaling relationship consistent with Rensch's rule or its converse. Anurans (frogs and toads) generally display female-biased SSD, but there is variation across clades and the mechanisms driving the evolution of SSD remain poorly understood. We investigated these topics in a diverse family of African treefrogs (Hyperoliidae). Hyperoliids display traits considered rare among amphibians, including sexual dichromatism and protogynous sex change. Using phylogenetic comparative methods, we tested if adult ecology, sexual dichromatism, and sex change were predictors of body size or SSD. We also tested whether hyperoliids displayed allometric interspecific body size scaling relationships. We found a majority of hyperoliid taxa display female-biased SSD, but that adult ecology and sexual dichromatism are poor predictors of sex-specific body size and SSD. Regardless of the groupings analyzed (partitioned by clades or traits), we found support for isometric body size scaling. However, we found that sex change is a significant predictor of SSD variation. Species in the Hyperolius viridiflavus complex, which putatively display this trait, show a significant reduction in SSD and are frequently sexually monomorphic in size. Although protogynous sex change needs to be validated for several of these species, we tentatively propose this trait is a novel mechanism influencing anuran body size evolution. Beyond this association, additional factors that shape the evolution of anuran body size and SSD remain elusive.

Sexual size dimorphism of the freshwater shrimp Macrobrachium jelskii (Miers, 1877) (Decapoda: Palaemonidae) and its relationship to Rensch’s rule

ABSTRACT Rensch’s rule attempts to explain the evolutionary processes that have resulted in the current patterns of sexual size dimorphism of several taxa. This rule predicts that sexual size dimorphism increases according to the average body size, when males are larger, decreasing when females are the largest sex. In decapod crustaceans, the general pattern of sexual size dimorphism is males with hypertrophied structures used in agonistic disputes, and females with a greater expansion of the abdominal chamber. We analyzed sexual size dimorphism of the freshwater shrimp Macrobrachium jelskii and its relationship to Rensch’s rule, as well as the relative growth between the sexes, for subpopulations from the Rosário reservoir in Ceará state, Brazil. The results of sexual size dimorphism show that females are morphometrically larger than males. Such a pattern of sexual dimorphism probably results from the selection of female fecundity, giving them greatest fecundity. This pattern indicates a female-biased SSD for this species, supported by what is proposed in Rensch’s rule. In the relative growth analysis, the males and females showed negative allometry of the cheliped. The absence of cheliped hypertrophy in males may indicate the presence of ‘pure-search’ reproductive behaviour, thus, no agonistic disputes for females.

Assessing Rensch’s rule in a newt: Roles of primary productivity and conspecific density in interpopulation variation of sexual size dimorphism

AbstractAimMajor efforts have been devoted to understanding the geographic pattern of sexual size dimorphism (SSD). Rensch's rule posits that SSD increases with body size in male‐biased SSD species and decreases with body size in female‐biased SSD species. This pattern, and its inverse, have been mainly explored at the interspecific level, whereas research at the intraspecific level has been largely neglected. Here, we test whether the allometric pattern of SSD in an urodele amphibian conforms to Rensch's rule and evaluate the relative role of four potential mechanisms: sexual selection, fecundity selection, density‐dependent resource availability and differential plasticity.LocationIberian Peninsula.TaxonLissotriton boscai (Amphibia: Caudata: Salamandridae).MethodsWe used original (field‐based) and published data on body size, courtship behaviour and fecundity parameters and a suite of climatic, ecological and genetic (mitochondrial and nuclear markers) predictors to assess these hypotheses.ResultsThe results showed that SSD increased with increasing female mean body size, supporting the inverse Rensch's rule pattern. Primary productivity‐related variables and female density were among the most relevant ecological predictors of SSD after accounting for genetic structure and capture date.Main conclusionsThis study reveals that the interplay between the density‐dependent resource availability hypothesis and the differential plasticity hypothesis explains the inverse Rensch's rule. We discuss how combining biogeographical and experimental approaches can provide alternative interpretations to the classical sexual and fecundity selection hypotheses on the interpopulation variation in SSD.

Sexual selection and male-biased size dimorphism in a lineage of lungless salamander (Ampibia: Plethodontidae)

Abstract Evolutionary biologists have long focused on the patterns and causes of sexual size dimorphism (SSD). While female-biased SSD is common among ectotherms, a few lineages predominately exhibit male-biased SSD. One example is the clade of desmognathans, a monophyletic group of two genera within the Plethodontinae of the lungless salamander family Plethodontidae. Members of these two genera have a unique pattern of SSD: males mature earlier and at smaller sizes than females but reach greater maximum sizes. We used comparative phylogenetic methods to test whether SSD in these salamanders is the result of sexual selection on males. Spatial evolutionary and ecological vicariance analysis indicated a significant divergence in SSD associated with the phylogenetic origin of the desmognathans. Phylogenetic least-squares regression across the two most speciose genera of the subfamily determined a significant relationship between SSD and adult sex ratio. While male desmognathans are not sexually dimorphic in head size, they have a unique head morphology that causes their heads to grow more rapidly as their body size increases as compared with the heads of other salamanders. This pattern of allometric growth combines with a powerful bite force and enlarged premaxillary teeth to create formidable weaponry that probably is more responsive to sexual selection.

Development of sexual dimorphism in two sympatric skinks with different growth rates.

Sexual size dimorphism (SSD) is widespread in animals, especially in lizards (Reptilia: Squamata), and is driven by fecundity selection, male–male competition, or other adaptive hypotheses. However, these selective pressures may vary through different life history periods; thus, it is essential to assess the relationship between growth and SSD. In this study, we tracked SSD dynamics between a “fading‐tail color skink” (blue tail skink whose tail is only blue during its juvenile stage: Plestiodon elegans) and a “nonfade color” tail skink (retains a blue tail throughout life: Plestiodon quadrilineatus) under a controlled experimental environment. We fitted growth curves of morphological traits (body mass, SVL, and TL) using three growth models (Logistic, Gompertz, and von Bertalanffy). We found that both skinks have male‐biased SSD as adults. Body mass has a higher goodness of fit (as represented by very high R 2 values) using the von Bertalanffy model than the other two models. In contrast, SVL and TL for both skinks had higher goodness of fit when using the Gompertz model. Two lizards displayed divergent life history tactics: P. elegans grows faster, matures earlier (at 65 weeks), and presents an allometric growth rate, whereas P. quadrilineatus grows slower, matures later (at 106 weeks), and presents an isometric growth rate. Our findings imply that species‐ and sex‐specific trade‐offs in the allocation of energy to growth and reproduction may cause the growth patterns to diverge, ultimately resulting in the dissimilar patterns of SSD.

A synthesis of major environmental-body size clines of the sexes within arthropod species

Body size at maturity often varies with environmental conditions, as well as between males and females within a species [termed Sexual Size Dimorphism (SSD)]. Variation in body size clines between the sexes can determine the degree to which SSD varies across environmental gradients. We use a meta-analytic approach to investigate whether major biogeographical and temporal (intra-annually across seasons) body size clines differ systematically between the sexes in arthropods. We consider 329 intra-specific environmental gradients in adult body size across latitude, altitude and with seasonal temperature variation, representing 126 arthropod species from 16 taxonomic orders. On average, we observe greater variability in male than female body size across latitude, consistent with the hypothesis that, over evolutionary time, directional selection has acted more strongly on male than female size. In contrast, neither sex exhibits consistently greater proportional changes in body size than the other sex across altitudinal or seasonal gradients, akin to earlier findings for plastic temperature-size responses measured in the laboratory. Variation in the degree to which body size gradients differ between the sexes cannot be explained by a range of potentially influential factors, including environment type (aquatic vs. terrestrial), voltinism, mean species’ body size, degree of SSD, or gradient direction. Ultimately, if we are to make better sense of the patterns (or lack thereof) in SSD across environmental gradients, we require a more detailed understanding of the underlying selective pressures driving clines in body size. Such understanding will provide a more comprehensive hypothesis-driven approach to explaining biogeographical and temporal variation in SSD.

Extrinsic factors affecting cub development contribute to sexual size dimorphism in the European badger (Meles meles)

Sexual size dimorphism (SSD) is common among mammals, with males typically being larger than females, as a product of sex-specific differences in growth rate and growth duration. The Musteloidea, however, exhibit a hypo-allometric reduction in SSD with increasing body size (contrary to Rensch’s rule). A variety of extrinsic factors can affect juvenile growth rates and end body size, where one sex may demonstrate greater vulnerability than the other towards a specific factor, moderating patterns and degrees of SSD. Here, we analyse how male and female European badgers (Meles meles) differ in their somatic growth patterns. We compare the sex-specific growth curves across a range of somatic parameters and investigate what extrinsic (social and environmental) factors affect cub growth rates during the first 2 years of life leading to their sexual-dimorphic adult sizes. We found that average male final size of all measurements was significantly larger than those of females. Although male and female weanling cubs had similar body sizes, growth curves diverged significantly from ca. 11 months onwards due to continuous rapid growth of males versus slowing female growth. Consequently, females always concluded growth earlier than did males. In both sexes, extremities ceased to grow at an earlier age than did body length and zygomatic arch width. All badger cubs were impacted by their social environment as well as by weather conditions; however, male cubs were more sensitive to social factors, remaining smaller in social groups with more adult males present, whereas female final size was predominantly affected by weather and associated food availability. We discuss how extrinsic parameters can moderate patterns of SSD in the context of the differential equilibrium model.

Sexual size dimorphism, allometry and fecundity in a lineage of South American viviparous lizards (Liolaemidae: Phymaturus)

In living organisms with sexual reproduction, the presence of sexual size dimorphism (SSD) is common. The main explanations for this phenomenon are based on sexual selection or the fecundity advantage hypothesis (natural selection). Here, we tested Rensch's rule in species of the viviparous lizard genus Phymaturus; additionally, we tested if there is a pattern of sexual size dimorphism or if it depends upon other morphological traits. We found no evidence for Rensch's rule in these lizards. After testing for multiple or single regime evolutionary models, we found that body size most likely evolved under multi-regime Ornstein-Uhlenbeck evolutionary model; the same was observed for abdomen width in females, a fecundity advantage hypothesis trait. For species with female biased SSD there is a positive relationship between snout-vent length and width of the belly, supporting the fecundity advantage hypothesis. Additionally, the relationship between brood size and brood mass with body size and body mass (respectively) were positive giving strength to the fecundity advantage hypothesis. Finally, our results show males did not show a clear pattern in relation to the sexual selection hypothesis, probably because sexual selection is a complex aspect that involves behavior and color. On the other hand, female body size and reproductive output are related to mean seasonal air temperature and its combination with mean annual air temperature in an evolutionary fashion framework, such as fecundity advantage hypothesis in these lizards.