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New estimates indicate that males are not larger than females in most mammal species

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Listed:
  • Kaia J. Tombak

    (Hunter College of the City University of New York
    Princeton University)

  • Severine B. S. W. Hex

    (Princeton University)

  • Daniel I. Rubenstein

    (Princeton University)

Abstract

Sexual size dimorphism has motivated a large body of research on mammalian mating strategies and sexual selection. Despite some contrary evidence, the narrative that larger males are the norm in mammals—upheld since Darwin’s Descent of Man—still dominates today, supported by meta-analyses that use coarse measures of dimorphism and taxonomically-biased sampling. With newly-available datasets and primary sources reporting sex-segregated means and variances in adult body mass, we estimate statistically-determined rates of sexual size dimorphism in mammals, sampling taxa by their species richness at the family level. Our analyses of wild, non-provisioned populations representing >400 species indicate that although males tend to be larger than females when dimorphism occurs, males are not larger in most mammal species, suggesting a need to revisit other assumptions in sexual selection research.

Suggested Citation

  • Kaia J. Tombak & Severine B. S. W. Hex & Daniel I. Rubenstein, 2024. "New estimates indicate that males are not larger than females in most mammal species," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-7, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:15:y:2024:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-024-45739-5
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-45739-5
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Malin Ah-King, 2022. "The history of sexual selection research provides insights as to why females are still understudied," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-8, December.
    2. Mia-Lana Lührs & Melanie Dammhahn & Peter Kappeler, 2013. "Editor's choice Strength in numbers: males in a carnivore grow bigger when they associate and hunt cooperatively," Behavioral Ecology, International Society for Behavioral Ecology, vol. 24(1), pages 21-28.
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