Reproductive skew drives patterns of sexual dimorphism in sponge-dwelling snapping shrimps.

ABSTRACT: Sexual dimorphism is typically a result of strong sexual selection on male traits used in male-male competition and subsequent female choice. However, in social species where reproduction is monopolized by one or a few individuals in a group, selection on secondary sexual characteristics may be strong in both sexes. Indeed, sexual dimorphism is reduced in many cooperatively breeding vertebrates and eusocial insects with totipotent workers, presumably because of increased selection on female traits. Here, we examined the relationship between sexual dimorphism and sociality in eight species of Synalpheus snapping shrimps that vary in social structure and degree of reproductive skew. In species where reproduction was shared more equitably, most members of both sexes were physiologically capab

SUBMITTER: Chak ST 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4590443 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature