Significant Male Biased Sexual Size Dimorphism in Leptobrachium leishanensis

Sexual size dimorphism(SSD) is a widespread phenomenon among animals, and whose evolution and maintenance has been a central topic in evolutionary biology since Darwin's time. SSD varies in direction among the major taxonomic groups of animals and even within the same groups. In anurans, female biased SSD is the rule in many lineages, whereas male biased SSD is a rare phenomenon. In this paper, we analyze whether SSD exists inLeptobrachium leishanensis by comparing morphological characteristics between the sexes. Our results show that all six morphological characteristics measured are significantly different between the sexes. Males are significantly larger than females, indicating that the male biased SSD of this species is apparent. The size of the nuptial spines, a special secondary sex trait of males, is significantly and positively correlated with body size. We suggest that the resource defense polygyny mating system and parental care behavior may be explanations for the evolution of male biased SSD and nuptial spine development in this species.     

Sexual Size Dimorphism,Canine Dimorphism,and Male-Male Competition in Primates

Sexual size dimorphism is generally associated with sexual selection via agonistic male competition in nonhuman primates. These primate models play an important role in understanding the origins and evolution of human behavior. Human size dimorphism is often hypothesized to be associated with high rates of male violence and polygyny. This raises the question of whether human dimorphism and patterns of male violence are inherited from a common ancestor with chimpanzees or are uniquely derived. Here I review patterns of, and causal models for, dimorphism in humans and other primates. While dimorphism in primates is associated with agonistic male mate competition, a variety of factors can affect male and female size, and thereby dimorphism. The causes of human sexual size dimorphism are uncertain, and could involve several non-mutually-exclusive mechanisms, such as mate competition, resource competition, intergroup violence, and female choice. A phylogenetic reconstruction of the evolution of dimorphism, including fossil hominins, indicates that the modern human condition is derived. This suggests that at least some behavioral similarities with Pan associated with dimorphism may have arisen independently, and not directly from a common ancestor.     

Disentangling the Size and Shape Components of Sexual Dimorphism

Evolutionary Biology - Many organisms are sexually dimorphic, reflecting sex-specific selection pressures. But although sexual dimorphism may consist of different variables from size to shape and...     

Allometry of Sexual Size Dimorphism in Domestic Dog

Background

The tendency for male-larger sexual size dimorphism (SSD) to scale with body size – a pattern termed Rensch''s rule – has been empirically supported in many animal lineages. Nevertheless, its theoretical elucidation is a subject of debate. Here, we exploited the extreme morphological variability of domestic dog (Canis familiaris) to gain insights into evolutionary causes of this rule.

Methodology/Principal Findings

We studied SSD and its allometry among 74 breeds ranging in height from less than 19 cm in Chihuahua to about 84 cm in Irish wolfhound. In total, the dataset included 6,221 individuals. We demonstrate that most dog breeds are male-larger, and SSD in large breeds is comparable to SSD of their wolf ancestor. Among breeds, SSD becomes smaller with decreasing body size. The smallest breeds are nearly monomorphic.

Conclusions/Significance

SSD among dog breeds follows the pattern consistent with Rensch''s rule. The variability of body size and corresponding changes in SSD among breeds of a domestic animal shaped by artificial selection can help to better understand processes leading to emergence of Rensch''s rule.     

东方蝾螈性二型性特征分析

以东方蝾螈大别山种群为实验材料,随机选取162只蝾螈(雄52只,雌110只),通过单变量、双变量、多变量分析的方法,进行11项体征的测量分析.结果表明,头体长是本研究的最适单变量,且头体长与腋胯距之间的相关性最高;PCl在雄性和雌性中均与头体长密切相关,且大多数体征与头体长进行比例分析均显示出异速生长关系,东方蝾螈性二型性普遍存在.本研究中11项体征呈现符合Renseh法则的雌性依赖性二型性演化特征,这种性二型性特征可能是一系列复杂的非对称性选择的结果.     

Manipulating Shape Cues in Dynamic Human Faces: Sexual Dimorphism is Preferred in Female but not Male Faces

Sexual dimorphism in the human face has been linked to attractiveness, and computer‐graphic techniques have been useful in this field by allowing experimental manipulation of dimorphism. However, a limitation of much research is its reliance on static pictorial stimuli, whereas real faces are dynamic, as is much courtship behaviour throughout nature. Furthermore, little is known about possible interactions between static and dynamic facial cues and attractiveness. We adapted well‐established face‐morphing technology to manipulate sexual dimorphism in male and female dynamic facial displays depicting prosocial and antisocial behaviour. Masculinised and feminised versions of these videos were presented as a two‐alternative forced choice task to measure preferences. Feminised female videos were preferred in both movement contexts, as expected. More surprisingly, no directional preference for masculinity or femininity was evident for the male videos in either context. Further analysis showed that the movement of the faces (prosocial vs. antisocial) had no effect on attractiveness ratings. Results were the same with static stimuli and did not conflict with findings from the wider literature using static faces. These findings suggest that the new technique we describe is a valid way to manipulate facial shape in videos and can now be widely applied to future studies of facial morphing.     

Influence of Female Copulation Calls on Male Sexual Behavior in Captive Macaca fascicularis

We investigated the function of copulation calls—vocalizations by females during mating—in captive groups of long-tailed macaques. We tested predictions of the contest-competition, sperm competition, synchronized orgasms, mate again, alpha-male notification and graded-signal hypotheses. We observed 371 copulations of 36 females wherein the presence or absence of a copulation call was clear. Females call equally often with different males and shortly after ejaculation. Copulation calls occurred equally with copulations with and without ejaculation. Calls did not incite disruptions of the mating. Following calls females mated again, more often than expected, with their mating partner. Both pregnant and fertile females uttered copulation calls. Two females conceived and mated mainly with the alpha male then. We conclude that copulation calls do not incite male contest competition for sexual access to females and that it is unlikely that calls synchronize male and female orgasms. Several hypotheses remain plausible, but not all predictions are borne out unequivocably. This alerts us to the possibility that the calls could have multiple beneficial effects; natural selection might strike a compromise among functions. Investigation of the mate again, sperm competition and alpha-male notification hypotheses, and of hypotheses not tested in our study concerning female breeding overlap and female-female agonism, is required.     

Testosterone Affects Neural Gene Expression Differently in Male and Female Juncos: A Role for Hormones in Mediating Sexual Dimorphism and Conflict

Despite sharing much of their genomes, males and females are often highly dimorphic, reflecting at least in part the resolution of sexual conflict in response to sexually antagonistic selection. Sexual dimorphism arises owing to sex differences in gene expression, and steroid hormones are often invoked as a proximate cause of sexual dimorphism. Experimental elevation of androgens can modify behavior, physiology, and gene expression, but knowledge of the role of hormones remains incomplete, including how the sexes differ in gene expression in response to hormones. We addressed these questions in a bird species with a long history of behavioral endocrinological and ecological study, the dark-eyed junco (Junco hyemalis), using a custom microarray. Focusing on two brain regions involved in sexually dimorphic behavior and regulation of hormone secretion, we identified 651 genes that differed in expression by sex in medial amygdala and 611 in hypothalamus. Additionally, we treated individuals of each sex with testosterone implants and identified many genes that may be related to previously identified phenotypic effects of testosterone treatment. Some of these genes relate to previously identified effects of testosterone-treatment and suggest that the multiple effects of testosterone may be mediated by modifying the expression of a small number of genes. Notably, testosterone-treatment tended to alter expression of different genes in each sex: only 4 of the 527 genes identified as significant in one sex or the other were significantly differentially expressed in both sexes. Hormonally regulated gene expression is a key mechanism underlying sexual dimorphism, and our study identifies specific genes that may mediate some of these processes.     

Swarming Behavior, Sexual Dimorphism, and Female Reproductive Status in the Sex Role-Reversed Dance Fly Species Rhamphomyia marginata

Dance flies are predaceous insects which often form male mating swarms. In many species males prior to swarming catch an insect prey, which is presented to the female at mating. In Rhamphomyia marginata, females in contrast to males gather to swarm, while males carrying a prey visit swarms for mating. Here I describe the swarming and courtship behavior in R. marginata and provide data on sexual dimorphism and swarming female reproductive status. Females swarm in small clearings in the forests. There was no specific swarm-maker. The swarming period lasted for 2–3 h and peaked around sunset. Identical swarm sites were used each evening and for several years. The mean number of females in swarms (swarm sites with at least one female) was 9.9 ± 9.1 (range, 1–40; n = 107) in 1993 and 7.1 ± 7.0 (range, 1–35; n = 68) in 1994. No obvious competition between females in swarms was observed. The operational sex ratio in swarms was extremely female biased (all swarms, 0.04). Less than one-third of male visits to swarms resulted in mating and males were found more often in larger swarms. Nuptial prey consisted of male midges. Females seem to mate more than once. Swarming females had undeveloped eggs, whereas mated females in swarms had further developed eggs than unmated females. Amount of sperm in the spermatheca was correlated with egg size. Amount of sperm and egg size did not correlate with wet weight, wing length, or wing load, except for egg size and weight. The wing coloration pattern and shape in R. marginata females are unique among dance flies, being greatly enlarged (1.6 times larger than that of males) and bicolored (gray part, 60% of wing area). When females, instead of males, possess extravagant secondary sexual characters, it is predicted from sexual selection theory that females should compete for males and that males should be selective in their choice of partner. A sex-role reversal will evolve when assess to males limit female reproductive success. The dance fly species R. marginata, like Empis borealis, another dance fly species studied earlier and discussed here, seems to fit these predictions.     

A Genetic Test of Sexual Size Dimorphism in Pre-Emergent Chinook Salmon

Sex differences in early development may play an important role in the expression of sexual size dimorphism at the adult stage. To test whether sexual size dimorphism is present in pre-emergent chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha), alevins were reared at two temperatures (10 °C and 15 °C) and sexed using the OtY1 marker on the Y-chromosome. Linear mixed models were used to test for sex differences in alevin size within families while controlling for the random effects of sire and dam nested within sire. Males and females did not differ in weight at 10 °C but males were heavier than females at 15 °C. Sex accounted for 2% of the within-family variance in weight. In addition, at 15°C, the relationship between weight and sex was greater in families with larger eggs. Whereas male-biased sexual size dimorphism was present at the juvenile stage, female-biased sexual size dimorphism was present at sexual maturity. Males were also younger than females at sexual maturity. A head start on growth by males may underlie their earlier maturation at a smaller size, thus leading to female-biased SSD at the adult stage.     

Morphological Integration and the Interpretation of Fossil Hominin Diversity

The fossil record of primate and human evolution cannot provide accurate estimates of within species variation and integration. This means that we cannot directly observe how patterns of integration have evolved over time in this lineage. And yet, our interpretations of fossil diversity are awash with assumptions about variation patterning in precisely these fossil taxa. Most commonly, researchers rely on extant models of variation for interpreting past diversity, by assuming equality of variation (and occasionally covariation) among extant and fossil populations. Yet one of the things we know from studies of integration in primates is that patterns of morphological covariation can differ among even closely related taxa, indicating that they have diverged over evolutionary time, either in response to selection or as the result of neutral evolution. At the same time, overall patterns of integration remain remarkably similar, meaning that in many respects they are highly conserved evolutionarily. Taken together, these seemingly contradictory observations offer an important conceptual framework for interpreting patterns that we observe in the fossil past. This framework dictates that while we can use patterns of covariation in extant taxa as proxies for extinct diversity, and indeed their conserved nature makes them superior to approaches that rely on variation alone, we also need to account for the fact that such patterns change over time, and incorporate that into our models. Here I provide examples using covariation patterns estimated from modern humans and African great apes to demonstrate the extent to which divergence in covariance structure might affect our interpretations of hominin diversity.

Sexual Size Dimorphism in the Color Pattern Elements of Two Mimetic Heliconius Butterflies

Sexual dichromatism and sexual dimorphism of body size are reasonably well studied in butterflies. Sexual size dimorphism of color pattern elements, however, is much less explored. The object of this study is Heliconius, a genus of butterflies well known for the coevolution between mate color preferences and mimicry. Given the sexual role of wing coloration, we investigated the existence of sexual size dimorphism in the wing color elements of a mimetic pair—Heliconius erato phyllis Fabricius and Heliconius besckei Ménétriés—and analyzed the allometric patterns of these traits. Correlation between size of elements in the dorsal and ventral wing surfaces were also estimated. In both species, three out of four elements were larger in males, but the non-dimorphic element was not the same. With regard to the allometric patterns, our most important finding was that smaller males of one species have proportionally larger yellow bars. This is the first study specifically concerning quantitative sexual dimorphism in the coloration of this well-known genus of butterflies and it opens new prospects to investigate sex-related natural selection and sexual selection of color pattern elements.     

根田鼠身体大小的性二型

在雌雄异体的有性生物中 ,反映身体结构和功能特征的某些变量在两性之间常常出现固有的和明显的差别 ,使得人们能够以此为根据判断一个个体的性别 ,这种现象被称为性二型 (ｓｅｘｕａｌｄｉｍｏｒ ｐｈｉｓｍ)。国外大量研究表明 ,哺乳动物性二型现象十分普遍 ,并且 ,在大多数情况下 ,雄性个体大于雌性个体[1] ;国内同类研究还不多 ,仅见周立等[2 ] 、盛和林[3] 、陈国芳[4 ] 、杜铭章[5] 分别对高原鼠兔(Ｏｃｈｏｔｏｎａｃｕｒｚｏｎｉａｅ)、黄鼬 (Ｍｕｓｔｅｌａｓｉｂｉｒｉｃａ)、摇蚊和海蛇的性二型现象作过报道 ,但均未分析其产生原…     

Sexual Strategy and Size Dimorphism in Rattlesnakes: Integrating Proximate and Ultimate Causation

SYNOPSIS. Integrating proximate and ultimate causes and effectssimultaneously in the study of behavior is challenging and complex,but useful. This is equivalent to asking both "How?" (in thesense of proximate mechanisms) and "Why?" (in the sense of ultimateevolutionary payoffs) an organism operates in one way and notanother. Sex differences in rattlesnake (i) size and growthand (ii) mating and reproductive strategies and tactics, providea good theoretical and empirical context in which to attemptsuch integration. We employ interdisciplinary and multidisciplinaryapproaches in our behavioral and physiological work, but wemean something different by "integrative," that amounts to thesimultaneous study of both proximate and ultimate levels ofcausation and explanation. Though not always feasible, thisapproach represents an important goal to work towards becauseit attempts to represent faithfully the complexity inherentin living systems. To this end, we also employ a variety ofmodeling approaches, which entrain intuition, generate new hypotheses,and sharpen inference. Individual-based simulations, for example,offer promise for broad, integrative programs of biologicalresearch.     

The Long and the Short of It: No Dietary Specialisation between Male and Female Western Sandpipers Despite Strong Bill Size Dimorphism

Many bird species show spatial or habitat segregation of the sexes during the non-breeding season. One potential ecological explanation is that differences in bill morphology favour foraging niche specialisation and segregation. Western sandpipers Calidris mauri have pronounced bill size dimorphism, with female bills averaging 15% longer than those of males. The sexes differ in foraging behaviour and exhibit partial latitudinal segregation during the non-breeding season, with males predominant in the north and females in the south. Niche specialisation at a local scale might account for this broad geographic pattern, and we investigated whether longer-billed females and shorter-billed males occupy different foraging niches at 16 sites across the non-breeding range. We used stable-nitrogen (δ¹⁵N) isotope analysis of whole blood to test for dietary specialisation according to bill length and sex. Stable-nitrogen isotope ratios increase with trophic level. We predicted that δ¹⁵N values would increase with bill length and would be higher for females, which use a greater proportion of foraging behaviour that targets higher-trophic level prey. We used stable-carbon (δ¹³C) isotope analysis to test for habitat segregation according to bill length and sex. Stable-carbon isotope ratios vary between marine- and freshwater-influenced habitats. We predicted that δ¹³C values would differ between males and females if the sexes segregate between habitat types. Using a model selection approach, we found little support for a relationship between δ¹⁵N and either bill length or sex. There was some indication, however, that more marine δ¹³C values occur with shorter bill lengths. Our findings provide little evidence that male and female western sandpipers exhibit dietary specialisation as a function of their bill size, but indicate that the sexes may segregate in different habitats according to bill length at some non-breeding sites. Potential ecological factors underlying habitat segregation between sexes include differences in preferred habitat type and predation risk.     

Sex Ratio and Sexual Size Dimorphism in a Toad-headed Lizard,Phrynocephalus guinanensis

Phrynocephalus guinanensis has sexual dimorphism in abdominal coloration, but its ontogenetic development of sexual size dimorphism(SSD) is unknown. Using mark-recapture data during four days each year from August from 2014 to 2016, we investigated the development of sex ratios, SSD, sex-specific survivorship and growth rates in a population of P. guinanensis. Our results indicated that the sex ratio of males to females was 1:2.8. Males had a lower survival rate(6%) than females(14%) across the age range from hatchling to adult, which supported the discovered female-biased sex ratio potentially associated with the low survival rate of males between hatchlings and juveniles. Male-biased SSD in tail length and head width existed in adults rather than in hatchling or juvenile lizards. The growth rates in body dimensions were undistinguishable between the sexes during the age from hatchling to juvenile, but the growth rate in head length from juvenile to adult was significantly larger in males than females. Average growth rate of all morphological measurements from hatchling to juvenile were larger compared with corresponding measurements from juvenile to adult, but only being significant in tail length, head width, abdomen length in females and snout-vent length in males. We provided a case study to strengthen our understanding of the important life history traits on how a viviparous lizard population can survive and develop their morphology in cold climates.     

上/更新世动物群中人类与食肉动物"印记"的识别

从上/更新世的何时开始,人类的祖先能够成功地与食肉动物争夺大型的猎物资源?这是古人类学研究中的一个重要问题。本文从埋藏学的角度对这一问题进行了全面的回顾与总结。埋藏学研究是建立在现实研究和实验研究基础之上的,死亡年龄分布、骨骼单元分布、骨骼表面改造痕迹的相继引入逐渐丰富了这一学科的研究体系。