The idea that male mammals tend to be larger than females has been scientific dogma since Darwin. The persistence of the larger male narrative, the scientists say, reflects biases in the scientific literature that have existed for over a century and have constrained biologists’ understanding of how sexual selection works.
The idea that male mammals tend to be larger than females has been scientific dogma since Darwin. Bigger bodies, the thinking goes, are better in the battle to win the attention of choosy females., researchers report March 12 in. The persistence of the larger male narrative, the scientists say, reflects biases in the scientific literature that have existed for over a century and have constrained biologists’ understanding of how sexual selection works.
The standard story has “just been this assumption that most people have gone along with without good evidence,” says Kaia Tombak, an evolutionary biologist at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind. Scientists have long noticed that males and females of the same species can differ in size, a phenomenon called sexual size dimorphism. To understand what drives these differences, field biologists have often turned to big, charismatic mammals — like lions or gorillas — which often have larger male
Male Mammals Females Scientific Dogma Sexual Selection Biases Scientific Literature Sexual Size Dimorphism Field Biologists
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Charles Darwin’s eclectic personal library is now onlineLaura is a science news writer, covering a wide variety of subjects, but she is particularly fascinated by all things aquatic, paleontology, nanotechnology, and exploring how science influences daily life. Laura is a proud former resident of the New Jersey shore, a competitive swimmer, and a fierce defender of the Oxford comma.
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