Size sexual dimorphism is one of the major components of morphological variation and has been associated with socio-ecology and behavioral variables such as mating patterns. Although several studies have addressed the magnitude and pattern of sexual dimorphism in Australopithecus afarensis, one of the earliest hominids, consensus has yet to be reached. This paper uses assigned re-sampling metho...

This study analysed how sex-specific features differed in male and female adult mandibles throughout the spectrum of vertical facial patterns (i.e., meso-, dolicho- and brachyfacial) and sagittal variations (the so-called skeletal Classes I, II and III; normal maxillo-mandibular relationship, maxillary prognathism vs. mandibular retrognathism, and maxillary retrognathism vs. mandibular prognath...

This paper presents results of a study designed to: 1) test for a sex difference in the relative lengths of the finger bones, including the second-to-fourth digit ratio (2D:4D), using left-hand radiographs taken in young children, 2) test whether sex differences can be explained by sex differences in fetal growth, and 3) test the serial stability of sex differences in relative digit lengths, in...

†Background and Aims Dimorphism among floral traits can evolve through variation in selection intensity between female and male performance, especially when sex functions are separated between flowers on a plant (monoecy), or between individuals (dioecy). In animal-pollinated species, male floral traits are predicted to be larger because competition for pollinators should favour larger displays...

Sexual dimorphism is a fascinating evolutionary phenomenon to explore in depth, particularly within Carnivora and the family Mustelidae. Previous findings show high instances of dimorphism within these taxanomic groupings (Gittleman 1997), and in some instances the degree of dimorphism may be a short term responsive adaptation to environmental conditions (Powell 1997). It is then especially rel...

The examination of telomere dynamics is a recent technique in ecology for assessing physiological state and age-related traits from individuals of unknown age. Telomeres shorten with age in most species and are expected to reflect physiological state, reproductive investment, and chronological age. Loss of telomere length is used as an indicator of biological aging, as this detrimental deterior...

Sex differences in parental care are thought to arise from differential selection on the sexes. Sexual dimorphism, including sexual size dimorphism (SSD), is often used as a proxy for sexual selection on males. Some studies have found an association between male-biased SSD (i.e., males larger than females) and the loss of paternal care. While the relationship between sexual selection on males a...

UNLABELLED Sexual identification of immature skeletal remains is still a difficult problem to solve in Forensic Anthropology. The aim was to evaluate the existence of sexual dimorphism in maxillary first molars. The base sample comprised 200 subjects (100 males and 100 females) aged 17-25 years. The buccolingual (BL) and mesiodistal (MD) diameters of maxillary first molars were measured using d...

The evolutionary history of sexual selection in the geologic past is poorly documented based on quantification, largely because of difficulty in sexing fossil specimens. Even such essential ecological parameters as adult sex ratio (ASR) and sexual size dimorphism (SSD) are rarely quantified, despite their implications for sexual selection. To enable their estimation, we propose a method for unb...

Sexual dimorphism describes the features that discriminate between the two sexes at various biological levels. Especially, during the reproductive phase, the liver is one of the most sexually dimorphic organs, because of different metabolic demands between the two sexes. The liver is a key organ that plays fundamental roles in various physiological processes, including digestion, energetic meta...