Sex differences in age-to-maturation relate to sexual selection and adult sex ratios in birds.

ABSTRACT: Maturation (the age when organisms are physiologically capable of breeding) is one of the major life history traits that have pervasive implications for reproductive strategies, fitness, and population growth. Sex differences in maturation are common in nature, although the causes of such differences are not understood. Fisher and Lack proposed that delayed maturation in males is expected when males are under intense sexual selection, but their proposition has never been tested across a wide range of taxa. By using phylogenetic comparative analyses and the most comprehensive dataset to date, including 201 species from 59 avian families, we show that intense sexual selection on males (as indicated by polygamous mating and male-skewed sexual size dimorphism) correlates with delayed maturatio

SUBMITTER: Ancona S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7006465 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature