Pattern of sexual size dimorphism supports the inverse of Rensch’s rule in two frog species

Lu, Da-Yong; Zhou, Cai Quan; Zhao, Lian Jun; Liao, Wen Bo

doi:10.1163/15707563-00002431

Cited by 10 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…In S. fuscovarius, body size in both sexes increases with longitude but female size exhibited a steeper longitudinal cline which is opposite to Rensch's rule but consistent with other anuran species (Liao & Chen 2012;Liao 2013;Lu et al 2014;Liao et al 2015). Therefore, it seems that in anurans the inverse of Rensch's rule is a constant or at least for species with a femalesbiased dimorphism.…”

Section: Sexual Size Dimorphismsupporting

confidence: 72%

“…This means that the variation in SSD results from females being more sensitive to climatic factors. In other anuran species with females-biased dimorphism, intraspecific variation in SSD was only related to latitude, increasing to the south like in Limnodynastes tasmaniensis (Sch€ auble 2004), temperature as in Bufo andrewsi (Liao 2009), or without any correlation at all with geographic and climatic variables like in B. bufo, Nanorana parkeri, Rana temporaria and R. kukunoris (Sch€ auble 2004;Cvetkovic et al 2008;Lu et al 2014;Feng et al 2015). Differently, in species with male-biased dimorphism SSD appears related to precipitation but with contrasting results; SSD was greater where precipitation is higher such as in L. peronii (Sch€ auble 2004) or lower as in Paa spinosa (Yu et al 2010).…”

Section: Sexual Size Dimorphismmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Body size variation and sexual size dimorphism across climatic gradients in the widespread treefrog Scinax fuscovarius (Anura, Hylidae)

et al. 2017

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Variation in body size represents one of the crucial raw materials for evolution. However, at present, it is still being debated what is the main factor affecting body size or if the final body size is the consequence of several factors acting synergistically. To evaluate this, widespread species seem to be suitable models because the different populations occur along a geographical gradient and under contrasted climatic and environmental conditions. Here we describe the spatial pattern of variation in body size and sexual size dimorphism in the snouted treefrog Scinax fuscovarius (Anura, Hylidae) along a 10°range in latitude, 25°longitude, and 2000 m in altitude from Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay using an information-theoretic approach to evaluate the support of the data for eight a priori hypotheses proposed in the literature to account for geographical body size, and three hypotheses for sexual size dimorphism variation. Body size of S. fuscovarius varied most dramatically with longitude and less so with latitude; frogs were largest in the northwestern populations. Body size was positively related with precipitation seasonality, and negatively with annual precipitation. Furthermore, the degree of sexual size dimorphism was greatest in the western populations with less annual precipitation, as the increase in body size was stronger for females. Our results on body size variation are consistent with two ecogeographical hypotheses, the starvation resistance and the water availability hypotheses, while our results on sexual size dimorphism in S. fuscovarius supports the differential-plasticity hypothesis but the inverse to Rensch's rule and the parental investment hypothesis. Due to the weak association between environmental variables and body size and sexual size dimorphism variation, we stress that there are other factors, mainly those related to the life history, driving the geographical variation of S. fuscovarius.

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Section: Sexual Size Dimorphismsupporting

confidence: 72%

Section: Sexual Size Dimorphismmentioning

confidence: 99%

Body size variation and sexual size dimorphism across climatic gradients in the widespread treefrog Scinax fuscovarius (Anura, Hylidae)

et al. 2017

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“…The regression of SSD on body size (Figure 1) of the data for SSD and body size (Table 1) indicates a positive regression to reject Rensch's rule in Centrobolus. Although the null hypothesis is accepted and the rule rejected the inverse relationship is true [26][27][28][29][30][31][32] . This was seen in the SSD increases with body size.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Re-assessment of rensch’s rule in Centrobolus

Cooper¹

2018

J. Entomol. Zool. Stud.

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Sexual size dimorphism (SSD) was investigated in the helminthomorph genus Centrobolus (=Chersastus). Width, length and mass were used to compare the interspecific variation for 20 species. Interspecific variation in volume was calculated in these species and an allometric coefficient of 0.7 found. The allometric equation generated for the genus also the inverse of Rensch's rule as there was a positive correlation between SSD and body size (R=0.70485; P=0.00109; n=18 spp) in this diplopod genus. This SSD is thought to have evolved through intersexual competition driven by sexual selection.

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“…Not surprisingly, interspecific studies of amphibians have revealed that SSD in amphibians does not follow Rensch's rule, but rather its inverse (Han and Fu 2013;De Lisle and Rowe 2013;Liao et al 2013). However, intraspecific tests of Rensch's rule in amphibians are, as yet, rare (but see Liao and Chen 2012;Lu et al 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Andrew meets Rensch: sexual size dimorphism and the inverse of Rensch’s rule in Andrew’s toad (Bufo andrewsi)

2014

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Variation in sexual size dimorphism (SSD) is a widespread phenomenon and is commonly attributed to variation in sex-specific patterns of selection. According to Rensch's rule, SSD increases with increasing body size when males are the larger sex, and decreases when females are the larger sex. Using data from 17 populations of Andrew's toad (Bufo andrewsi), we tested whether the patterns of SSD conform to Rensch's rule. Using field experiments, we also evaluated the hypothesis that sexual selection favours large male body size and that fecundity selection favours large female body size. The results revealed that the degree of SSD increased with increasing mean size in females, consistent with the inverse of Rensch's rule. Although experiments revealed evidence for a large-male mating advantage, selection for large male size was weak at best, and hence unlikely to be an important source of variation in SSD. However, fecundity selection favouring large females was evident, and likely to explain the observed inverse of Rensch's rule. After correcting male and female body size for age differences, the patterns of SSD remained the same, suggesting that the intra- and interpopulational variation in SSD is not driven by sex differences in age structure. Hence, these findings suggest that the strong fecundity selection favouring large females drives the evolution of female-biased SSD in B. andrewsi, providing an explanation for the inverse of Rensch's rule. As such, the study provides an important addition to the small body of literature that uses an intraspecific approach to demonstrate the inverse of Rensch's rule.

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Pattern of sexual size dimorphism supports the inverse of Rensch’s rule in two frog species

Cited by 10 publications

References 43 publications

Body size variation and sexual size dimorphism across climatic gradients in the widespread treefrog Scinax fuscovarius (Anura, Hylidae)

Body size variation and sexual size dimorphism across climatic gradients in the widespread treefrog Scinax fuscovarius (Anura, Hylidae)

Re-assessment of rensch’s rule in Centrobolus

Andrew meets Rensch: sexual size dimorphism and the inverse of Rensch’s rule in Andrew’s toad (Bufo andrewsi)

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