Winkler, L. orcid.org/0000-0003-3597-6540, Freckleton, R.P. orcid.org/0000-0002-8338-864X, Székely, T. orcid.org/0000-0003-2093-0056 et al. (1 more author) (2024) Pre‐copulatory sexual selection predicts sexual size dimorphism: a meta‐analysis of comparative studies. Ecology Letters, 27 (9). e14515. ISSN 1461-023X
Abstract
Size differences between males and females are common across the tree of life (termed sexual size dimorphism; SSD), and have fundamental implications for ecology, life history and behaviour of both sexes. Conventionally, SSD is thought to evolve in response to sex‐specific sexual selection but more recent work suggests that ecological processes can also promote sex‐differences in size. Here, we provide a global test for the role of sexual selection in the evolution of sexual size dimorphism using data from 77 comparative studies spanning the major classes of the animal kingdom. We show that intense sexual selection typically correlates with male‐biased SSD across species. Importantly, pre‐copulatory but not post‐copulatory sexual selection predicts SSD, suggesting a pervasive role of premating male–male competition and female choice to drive sex differences in body size. Collectively, our findings suggest that pre‐copulatory sexual selection plays a major role in the evolution of male‐biased SSD.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2024 The Author(s). Ecology Letters published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
Keywords: | SSD; meta‐analysis; pre‐copulatory sexual selection; sexual dimorphism; sex‐specific selection; Animals; Sex Characteristics; Male; Body Size; Female; Sexual Selection; Biological Evolution; Mating Preference, Animal; Copulation |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Science (Sheffield) > School of Biosciences (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 09 Oct 2024 13:33 |
Last Modified: | 09 Oct 2024 13:33 |
Published Version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/ele.14515 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Wiley |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1111/ele.14515 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:218030 |