Adaptive divergence in diets between the sexes in a tropical snake (Stegonotus australis, Colubridae).

ABSTRACT: Males and females within a population may differ in dietary composition either as a non-adaptive consequence of sexual dimorphism, or because specific food types enhance fitness more in one sex than the other. To test between those two explanations, we can ask whether the consumption of a food type (a) is constrained by sexually dimorphic traits such as body size, or (b) differentially benefits the sex that consumes that food more frequently. A 23-year field study of Slatey-Grey Snakes (Stegonotus australis) in tropical Australia provided data on 663 meals, of which 130 were reptile eggs (primarily from Keelback Snakes (Tropidonophis mairii)). Over the same range of snake SVLs, eggs were consumed more often by female than by male Slatey-Grey Snakes (25.8 versus 15.2% of records), but consu

SUBMITTER: Brown GP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11880039 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature