| Content Provider |
World Health Organization (WHO)-Global Index Medicus |
| Author |
Meiri, Shai Kadison, Amy E. Novosolov, Maria Pafilis, Panayiotis Foufopoulos, Johannes Itescu, Yuval Raia, Pasquale Pincheira-Donoso, Daniel |
| Description |
Country affiliation: Israel Author Affiliation: Meiri S ( Department of Zoology, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, 6997801, Israel.); Kadison AE ( Department of Zoology, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, 6997801, Israel.); Novosolov M ( Department of Zoology, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, 6997801, Israel.); Pafilis P ( Section of Zoology and Marine Biology, Department of Biology, University of Athens, Panepistimioupolis, Ilissia, Athens, 157-84, Greece.); Foufopoulos J ( School of Natural Resources and Environment, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA.); Itescu Y ( Department of Zoology, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, 6997801, Israel.); Raia P ( Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, dell'Ambiente e delle Risorse, Università Federico II, L.go San Marcellino 10, Naples, 80138, Italy.); Pincheira-Donoso D ( School of Life Sciences, University of Lincoln, Riseholme Park, Lincoln, LN2 2LG, UK.) |
| Abstract |
Sexual size dimorphism (SSD) can allow males and females of the same species to specialize on different sized food items and therefore minimize intraspecific competition. Interspecific competition, however, is thought to limit sexual dimorphism, as larger competitors in the community will prevent the larger sex from evolving larger size, and smaller species may prevent the smaller sex from becoming even smaller. We tested this prediction using data on the sexual size dimorphism of lizards, and mammalian carnivores, on islands world-wide. Because insular communities are depauperate, and guilds are species-poor, it is often assumed that enhanced sexual size dimorphism is common on islands. The intensity of interspecific competition, hindering enhanced dimorphism, is thought to increase with competitor richness. We tested whether intraspecific sexual size dimorphism of mammalian carnivores and lizards decreases with increasing island species richness. We further computed the average sexual dimorphism of species on islands and tested whether species-rich islands are inhabited by relatively monomorphic species. Within families and guilds across carnivores and lizards, and with both intraspecific and interspecific approaches, we consistently failed to find support for the notion that species-poor islands harbour more sexually dimorphic individuals or species. We conclude that either interspecific competition does not affect the sexual size dimorphism of insular lizards and carnivores (i.e. character displacement and species sorting are rare in these taxa), or that the number of species in an assemblage or guild is a poor proxy for the intensity of interspecific competition in insular assemblages. |
| File Format |
HTM / HTML |
| ISSN |
00218790 |
| e-ISSN |
13652656 |
| Journal |
Journal of Animal Ecology |
| Issue Number |
6 |
| Volume Number |
83 |
| Language |
English |
| Publisher |
Wiley-Blackwell |
| Publisher Date |
2014-11-01 |
| Publisher Place |
Great Britain (UK) |
| Access Restriction |
One Nation One Subscription (ONOS) |
| Subject Keyword |
Discipline Environmental Health Discipline Zoology Biodiversity Biological Evolution Body Size Carnivora Physiology Lizards Sex Characteristics Animals Islands Research Support, Non-u.s. Gov't |
| Content Type |
Text |
| Resource Type |
Article |
| Subject |
Animal Science and Zoology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics |
