A test of Rensch's rule in greater horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus ferrumequinum) with female-biased sexual size dimorphism.

ABSTRACT: Sexual size dimorphism (SSD) is widespread within the animal kingdom. Rensch's rule describes a relationship between SSD and body size: SSD increases with body size when males are the larger sex, and decreases with body size when females are the larger sex. Rensch's rule is well supported for taxa that exhibit male-biased SSD but patterns of allometry among taxa with female-biased size dimorphism are mixed, there is evidence both for and against the rule. Furthermore, most studies have investigated Rensch's rule across a variety of taxa; but among-population studies supporting Rensch's rule are lacking, especially in taxa that display only slight SSD. Here, we tested whether patterns of intraspecific variation in SSD in greater horseshoe bats conform to Rensch's rule, and evaluated the con

SUBMITTER: Wu H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3896443 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature