Brains vs Brawn: Relative brain size is sexually dimorphic amongst weapon-bearing ruminants

Abstract

Here, we investigate the relationship between relative brain size and sexual weapons in ruminants. In most cases, sexual weaponry is heavily male-biased, and costs resulting from growing, maintaining, or wielding weapons will be suffered primarily by males. We used comparative phylogenetic analyses to test whether increased investment in sexual weapon size (tusks, antlers, and horns) across four families (Tragulidae, Moschidae, Cervidae, and Bovidae) was associated with decrease in relative brain size, and whether the difference in weapon investment relative to conspecific females led to sexual differences in relative brain size. We found no relationship between relative brain size and relative weapon size within males or females, but when we compared males directly to conspecific females, we found that as males possessed larger weaponry, they had smaller brain sizes, regardless of weapon type. Our finding suggest male investment in some types of elaborate weapons could be related to male reduction in larger brains.