Why do males and females frequently differ so markedly in body size and morphology? Sex, Size, and Gender Roles is the first book to investigate the genetic, developmental, and physiological basis of sexual size dimorphism found within and among the major taxonomic groups of animals. Carefully edited by a team of world-renowned specialists in the field to ensure a coherence of style and approach between chapters, it presents a compendium of studies into the evolution, adaptive significance, and developmental basis of gender differences in body size and morphology. Adaptive hypotheses allude to gender-specific reproductive roles and associated differences in trophic ecologies, life history strategies, and sexual selection. This ''adaptationist'' approach is balanced by more mechanistic studies of the genetic, developmental and physiological basis of sexual size dimorphism to provide a comprehensive and authoritative overview of the subject. Throughout the volume the emphasis is on sexual dimorphism in overall size; however, the scope of enquiry encompasses gender differences in body shape, the size and structure of secondary sexual characteristics, patterns of growth (ontogeny), and patterns of gene regulation. This advanced, research level text is suitable for graduate level students and researchers in the fields of evolutionary biology, behavioral ecology, physiology, developmental biology, and genetics. It will also be of relevance and use to non-biologists from fields such as anthropology and gender studies.
Author(s): Daphne J. Fairbairn, Wolf U. Blanckenhorn, Tamás Székely
Series: Oxford Biology
Edition: 1
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Year: 2007
Language: English
Pages: 280
Contents......Page 6
Acknowledgments......Page 9
Contributors......Page 10
1 Introduction: the enigma of sexual size dimorphism......Page 12
Section I: Macro-patterns: explaining broad-scale patterns of variation in sexual size dimorphism......Page 22
Introduction......Page 24
2 Sexual size dimorphism in mammals......Page 27
3 Sexual size dimorphism in birds......Page 38
4 The evolution of sexual size dimorphism in reptiles......Page 49
5 Sexual size dimorphism in amphibians: an overview......Page 61
6 Rensch’s rule in insects: patterns among and within species......Page 71
7 Sexual size dimorphism in spiders: patterns and processes......Page 82
Section II: Micro-patterns: case studies of patterns and evolutionary processes within and among species......Page 94
Introduction......Page 96
8 Variation in selection, phenotypic plasticity, and the ecology of sexual size dimorphism in two seed-feeding beetles......Page 99
9 Sexual dimorphism in the water strider, Aquarius remigis: a case study of adaptation in response to sexually antagonistic selection......Page 108
10 Case studies of the differential-equilibrium hypothesis of sexual size dimorphism in two dung fly species......Page 117
11 The genetic integration of sexually dimorphic traits in the dioecious plant, Silene latifolia......Page 126
12 Dimorphism in the hartebeest......Page 135
13 Sexual size dimorphism and offspring vulnerability in birds......Page 144
14 Variation in sexual size dimorphism within a widespread lizard species......Page 154
15 Phylogenetic analysis of sexual dimorphism in eye-lid geckos (Eublepharidae): the effects of male combat, courtship behavior, egg size, and body size......Page 165
Section III: Proximate developmental and genetic mechanisms......Page 174
Introduction......Page 176
16 Sex differences: genetic, physiological, and ecological mechanisms......Page 178
17 The genetic architecture of sexual dimorphism: the potential roles of genomic imprinting and condition-dependence......Page 187
18 Irreconcilable differences: when sexual dimorphism fails to resolve sexual conflict......Page 196
19 Development of sexual size dimorphism in lizards: testosterone as a bipotential growth regulator......Page 206
20 Sexual differences in insect development time in relation to sexual size dimorphism......Page 216
Appendices......Page 224
References......Page 229
C......Page 263
G......Page 264
I......Page 265
P......Page 266
S......Page 267
V......Page 268
B......Page 270
D......Page 271
G......Page 272
I......Page 273
M......Page 274
R......Page 275
S......Page 276
Z......Page 277
