Journal
JOURNAL OF ZOOLOGY
Volume 320, Issue 1, Pages 53-62Publisher
WILEY
DOI: 10.1111/jzo.13052
Keywords
body size; polygyny; mammal; natural selection; phylogenetic path analysis; primates; sexual size dimorphism; sexual selection
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In mammals, the dominant theory proposes that sexual size dimorphism evolved by sexual selection in a polygynous reproductive scenario. Natural selection is an alternative hypothesis where dimorphism represents an adaptation to ecological pressures. Phylogenetic path analysis suggests that natural selection has played an important role in the evolution of sexual size dimorphism in primates.
In mammals, the dominant theory proposes that sexual size dimorphism evolved by sexual selection in a polygynous reproductive scenario. Natural selection is an alternative hypothesis where dimorphism represents an adaptation to ecological pressures. I tested evolutionary models based on sexual and natural selection processes using phylogenetic confirmatory path analyses. I employed data for 225 primate species in terms of their diel activity, body mass, sexual size dimorphism, level of sociality, and level of polygyny. The model that received the most support from path analyses was a mixed model in which dimorphism evolved after an increase in body size that resulted from a response to an ecological pressure, i.e., a change from nocturnal to diurnal habits, with a lesser role of polygyny. Phylogenetic path analysis suggests that natural selection has played an important role in the evolution of sexual size dimorphism in primates.
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