Sexing Cape Vulture Gyps coprotheres based on head morphometrics

The Cape Vulture Gyps coprotheres is considered sexually monomorphic in the literature, but visual differences in head shape between the sexes have been observed. Furthermore, head morphometrics of other Gyps species show statistically significant variation between the sexes. We show that head morphometrics can be used to determine the sex of Cape Vultures. Males generally have wider and shorter heads, and larger bill depths than females. Discriminant function analysis with data from 63 individuals identified the three most predictive variables in sex determination to be head width, head length and bill depth. We also provide an equation that can be used in conjunction with head measurements as a method to determine the sex of Cape Vultures in the field with an overall accuracy of 84% (92% accuracy for females and 72% for males).     

On the sexual dimorphism in the skull of the tiger (Panthera tigris)

Sexual dimorphism in the skull of the tiger (Panthera tigris) is reviewed and described in detail. The most significant diagnostic differences between the sexes are absolute length of the cranium, breadth of interorbital region and muzzle, zygomatic arch, and occipital region, length of upper carnassial, and the degree of the development of the cranial prominences. The degree of sexual dimorphism is closely related to geographic variation, and its form is rather complex.     

Géométrie morphologique des ailes des Acrididae (Orthoptera : Caelifera) : sexe,stridulation, caractère

La nervation des élytres d’Acrididae de la région ouest paléarctique a été étudiée au moyen de 2 méthodes de morphométrie de manière à faire ressortir les caractères adaptatifs relatifs à la stridulation et les marqueurs de phylogénie. Huit Points de Repère (PR) situés dans la région proximale des élytres, incluant le champ médian, ont été considérés pour l’analyse de morphométrie géométrique. L’importance relative des champs a été appréhendée par ACP. Il apparaît que le dimorphisme sexuel des PR caractérise les espèces à stridulation de forte intensité chez le mâle (Gomphocerinae et Stethophyma grossum). Les mâles présentent par rapport aux femelles un élargissement des champs sous-costaux antérieur et postérieur, et du champ radial, lié à un déplacement distal de la bifurcation entre les radiales antérieure et postérieure, ce qui entraîne un élargissement de la surface de résonance. L’élargissement du champ cubital antérieur est une déformation propre à la tribu des Locustini et n’a pas de valeur adaptative apparente.     

The fossil record and limb disparity of enantiornithines, the dominant flying birds of the Cretaceous

Morphometric and stratigraphic analyses that encompass the known fossil record of enantiornithine birds (Enantiornithes) are presented. These predominantly flighted taxa were the dominant birds of the second half of the Mesozoic; the enantiornithine lineage is known to have lasted for at least 60 million years (Ma), up until the end of the Cretaceous. Analyses of fossil record dynamics show that enantiornithine 'collectorship' since the 1980s approaches an exponential distribution, indicating that an asymptote in proportion of specimens has yet to be achieved. Data demonstrate that the fossil record of enantiornithines is complete enough for the extraction of biological patterns. Comparison of the available fossil specimens with a large data set of modern bird (Neornithes) limb proportions also illustrates that the known forelimb proportions of enantiornithines fall within the range of extant taxa; thus these birds likely encompassed the range of flight styles of extant birds. In contrast, most enantiornithines had hindlimb proportions that differ from any extant taxa. To explore this, ternary diagrams are used to graph enantiornithine limb variation and to identify some morphological oddities ( Otogornis , Gobipteryx ); taxa not directly comparable to modern birds. These exceptions are interesting – although anatomically uniform, and similar to extant avians in their wing proportions, some fossil enantiornithines likely had flight styles not seen among their living counterparts.     

Morphological variation and sexual dimorphism of the cephalic scales in Lacerta bilineata

The Western green lizard (Lacerta bilineata) is a lacertid distributed throughout Mediterranean and Central Europe. Little is known about the morphological variability and sexual shape differences in this species. In this paper, the variation of the cephalic scales in L. bilineata is analysed by means of a geometric morphometric approach. A main structural pattern is characterized by negative allometry of the frontal and interparietal areas, and positive allometry of the parietal and frontoparietal scales. Sexual differences are described both in size and shape. In males, the scales are generally larger, with relative shortening of the frontal area, frontoparietal enlargement, occipital lengthening and bulging of the parietal scales, which compresses and narrows the interparietal and occipital areas midsagittally. This pattern is based on a shared allometric trajectory, with males displaying a peramorphic morphotype. However, males show some shape differences in the occipital area that are not size‐related, and cannot be interpreted in terms of general head enlargement. This structural trajectory can be related to the development of the skull, but the role of soft tissues (temporal, nuchal and masticatory muscles) must also be considered. The development of the jaw and nuchal muscles involved in intra‐ and intersexual behaviours could have played a pivotal role in the evolution of this pattern.     

Life history of a basal bird: morphometrics of the Early Cretaceous Confuciusornis

Confuciusornis sanctus stands out among the remarkable diversity of Mesozoic birds recently unearthed from China. Not only is this primitive beaked pygostylian (birds with abbreviated caudal vertebrae fused into a pygostyle) much more abundant than other avian taxa of this age but differences in plumage between specimens--some having a pair of long stiff tail feathers--have been interpreted as evidence for the earliest example of sexual dimorphism in birds. We report the results of a multivariate morphometric study involving measurements of more than 100 skeletons of C. sanctus. Our analyses do not show any correlation between size distribution and the presence or absence of blade-like rectrices (tail feathers), thus implying, that if these feathers are sexual characters, they are not correlated with sexual size dimorphism. Our results also provide insights into the taxonomy and life history of confuciusornithids, suggesting that these birds may have retained ancestral dinosaurian growth patterns characterized by a midlife exponential growth stage.     

Does ‘gliding while gravid’ explain Rensch's rule in flying lizards?

Among species with sexual size dimorphism (SSD), taxa in which males are the larger sex have increasing SSD with increasing body size, whereas in taxa in which females are the larger sex, SSD decreases with body size: Rensch's rule. We show in flying lizards, a clade of mostly female‐larger species, that SSD increases with body size, a pattern similar to that in clades with male‐biased SSD or more evenly mixed SSD. The observed pattern in Draco appears due to SSD increasing with evolutionary changes in male body size; specifically divergence in body size among species that are in sympatric congeneric assemblages. We suggest that increasing body size, resulting in decreased gliding performance, reduces the relative gliding cost of gravidity in females, and switches sexual selection in males away from a small‐male, gliding advantage and toward selection on large size and fighting ability as seen in many other lizards. Thus, selection for large females is likely greater than selection for large males at the smaller end of the body size continuum, whereas this relationship reverses for species at the larger end of the continuum. © 2014 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2014, 113 , 270–282.     

太行山猕猴髋臼性别二态性研究

本文使用几何形态测量法探讨42例成年太行山猕猴Macaca mulatta tcheliensis髋臼的性别二态性。结果显示,太行山猕猴雌雄个体的髋臼形态具有明显的性别二态性,利用髋臼可以正确判别92.3%的雌性和87.5%的雄性个体。髋臼的形态差异主要分布于月状面的后上部,即与髋臼切迹相对的月状面区域的宽度表现为雄性大于雌性,另外雄性髋臼大小的波动范围也比雌性更广。造成髋臼性别二态性的生物学原因可能与其功能有关,髋臼作为髋关节的组成部分,起着支撑身体和协同运动的功能,能够优化关节接触面的压力分布。推测雄性髋臼受到的体质量压力更大可能是雄性进化出比雌性更宽大的月状面的主要原因。