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Is fecundity the ultimate cause of female-biased size dimorphism in a dragon lizard?*

journal contribution
posted on 2023-05-16, 20:55 authored by Jemina Stuart-SmithJemina Stuart-Smith, Swain, R, Richard Stuart-SmithRichard Stuart-Smith, Erik WapstraErik Wapstra
Fecundity selection is one of the most influential underlying driving forces responsible for body size differences between the sexes of a species. Reproductive output is one of the most important aspects of an animal's life-history strategy, and any trait that acts to improve this will be under strong selection. Body size is one potential trait that can influence fecundity and when a species exhibits female-biased size dimorphism, fecundity provides an ideal starting point for understanding why dimorphism in body size exists. Female-biased sexual size dimorphism is uncommon in vertebrates, including lizards. To explore the relationship between female-biased size dimorphism and fecundity, we examined maternal size and clutch data collected over four years from a temperate-zone agamid, Rankinia (Tympanocryptis) diemensis. We measured the following descriptors of reproductive output: clutch size and mass, relative clutch mass (RCM), average egg mass and offspring size. We found a positive relationship between maternal size and clutch size and mass, but no relationship between maternal size and RCM, average egg mass or hatchling size, demonstrating that the relative reproductive output is not influenced by female size, and that the only way to increase reproductive output is for the female to attain a greater body size. There exists an overall strong relationship between maternal body size and fecundity, thereby providing a potential explanation as to why female size is under selection in this species. © 2007 The Zoological Society of London.

History

Publication title

Journal of Zoology

Volume

273

Pagination

266-272

ISSN

0952-8369

Department/School

School of Natural Sciences

Publisher

Blackwell Publishing

Place of publication

UK

Repository Status

  • Restricted

Socio-economic Objectives

Expanding knowledge in the environmental sciences

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