Sexual size dimorphism and timing of spring migration in birds

@article{Kissner2003SexualSD,
  title={Sexual size dimorphism and timing of spring migration in birds},
  author={Kelley J. Kissner and Patrick J. Weatherhead and Charla Meacham Francis},
  journal={Journal of Evolutionary Biology},
  year={2003},
  volume={16},
  url={https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:13830052}
}
A comparative analysis of data collected from 30 species of passerine birds captured on migration found that sexual size dimorphism and difference in arrival dates of males and females were significantly positively correlated, consistent with the hypothesis that selection for survival ability promotes sexual sizeDimorphism (SSD), rather than opposes SSD.
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68 Citations
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Background Citations
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68 Citations

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54 References

NATURAL SELECTION AND SEXUAL SIZE DIMORPHISM IN RED‐WINGED BLACKBIRDS

The results do not support the hypothesis that body size in male red‐winged blackbirds is limited by selective mortality outside the breeding season and suggest that caution should be exercised when interpreting interspecific evidence showing higher adult male than female mortality in sexually dimorphic species.

Mortality costs of sexual dimorphism in birds

In this analysis of mortality patterns across 28 North American passerine bird species, it is shown that sex-biased mortality is positively correlated with both sexual size dimorphism and male plumage brightness, and it is argued that the evolution of male brightness has been constrained by mortality costs.

SEXUAL SELECTION AND BODY SIZE IN MALE RED‐WINGED BLACKBIRDS

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  • Biology
    Evolution; international journal of organic…
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The sexual selection hypothesis explains the relationship between pronounced sexual dimorphism in size and nonmonogamous mating systems in birds and reduces competition between males and females of the same species.

NATURAL SELECTION AND SEXUAL SELECTION ON BODY SIZE IN RED‐WINGED BLACKBIRDS

Empirical examination of mortality patterns in birds to test sexual-selection theory have often been inadequate, and appropriate tests require assessing mortality of birds that have been exposed to the range of factors that will affect survival, so that the net effect of all factors can be determined.

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It is suggested that male-biased mortality among nestlings in sexually dimorphic species is the cost males bear for being large as adults and is the nonadaptive cause of biased fledging sex ratios in these species.

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  • Biology
    Evolution; international journal of organic…
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It is argued that it is inappropriate to assume that associations between a trait and body size or phylogeny are evidence of nonadaptive evolutionary “constraints,” and suggested that large body size itself, or the ecology of large species, promotes the development of coloniality and a polygynous mating system.

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The distribution of differential mortality in red deer and other mammals suggests that higher mortality rates among male juveniles are a consequence of a greater susceptibility of males to food shortage associated with their faster growth rates and increased nutritional requirements.

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The aim in this paper is to report the results of a study similar in design to one cited as supporting the hypothesis of higher mortality amongst larger males (Baker and Fox 1978), and develop the argument that the data from a number of the studies cited by Searcy and Yasukawa (1981) are actually inappropriate for testing the predictions regarding mortality patterns.

Differential Timing of Spring Migration in Wood Warblers (Parulinae)

M-Spring migration patterns of 18 species of paruline warbler at Prince Edward Point, Ontario showed that males arrived earlier than females in all species, consistent with the hypothesis that males are selected to arrive as early as food resources or climatic conditions are adequate, whereas females arrive later.

Protandrous arrival timing to breeding areas: a review

It is shown that the degree of multiple mating by males and the occurrence of male territoriality seem to determine the relative importance of each hypothesis, and the adaptive significance of sex-biased timing needs to be understood.
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