Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Noonan MJ
PROVIDER: S-EPMC5167046 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Dec
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Noonan Michael J MJ Johnson Paul J PJ Kitchener Andrew C AC Harrington Lauren A LA Newman Chris C Macdonald David W DW
Ecology and evolution 20161029 23
Rensch's rule states that sexual size dimorphism (SSD) increases with body size in taxa where males are larger, and decreases when females are larger. The dominant explanation for the trend is currently that competitive advantage for males is greater in larger individuals, whereas female size is constrained by the energetics of rearing offspring. This rule holds for a variety of vertebrate taxa, and opposing trends are rare. We examine the allometry of SSD within the Musteloidea and demonstrate ...[more]