What does sexual size dimorphism (SSD) mean in terms of combat performance differences between the sexes? We explored this question looking at bite force in Anolis lizards in this new @jevbio.bsky.social paper: academic.oup.com/jeb/advance-... - ThreadSky

What does sexual size dimorphism (SSD) mean in terms of combat performance differences between the sexes? We explored this question looking at bite force in Anolis lizards in this new @jevbio.bsky.social paper:
https://academic.oup.com/jeb/advance-article/doi/10.1093/jeb/voae148/7912601

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kenstoyama.bsky.social•171 days ago

Rensch's Rule, a famous macroevolutionary pattern, tells us that male-biased SSD increases with species size. A common hypothesis for the emergence of the pattern involves sexual selection: higher dimorphism is driven by males evolving large sizes in order to enhance combat performance.

kenstoyama.bsky.social•171 days ago

However, the nature of the relationship between size and performance is rarely directly measured. This implies that an observed Rensch's Rule pattern in body size is actually compatible with different patterns of performance dimorphism.

kenstoyama.bsky.social•171 days ago

Anoles follow Rensch's Rule, but how does it relate to performance dimorphism?

kenstoyama.bsky.social•171 days ago

To reconnect patterns of SSD with performance dimorphism we tested Rensch's Rule in bite force performance. Yes! Rensch's Rule is not only a pattern that involves SSD, you can read more about that here:
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.10.30.621038v2

kenstoyama.bsky.social•171 days ago

Testing Rensch's Rule in bite force showed us that SSD actually explains performance dimorphism very well: on average, males from large species don't get disproportionate performance benefits by getting larger.

kenstoyama.bsky.social•171 days ago

But, consistent with our expectation of a strong sexual selection regime on islands, relative bite force dimorphism is higher in island species when compared to mainland ones, independently of size. This difference is only partly explained by relative head dimorphism being higher in island species.

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