Pre-Copulatory Sexual Selection Predicts Sexual Size Dimorphism: A Meta-Analysis of Comparative Studies

Abstract

Size differences between males and females are common across the tree of life (termed sexual size dimorphism; SSD), and have fundamental implications for ecology, life history and behaviour of both sexes. Conventionally, SSD is thought to evolve in response to sex-specific sexual selection but more recent work suggests that ecological processes can also promote sex-differences in size. Here, we provide a global test for the role of sexual selection in the evolution of sexual size dimorphism using data from 77 comparative studies spanning the major classes of the animal kingdom. We show that intense sexual selection typically correlates with male-biased SSD across species. Importantly, pre-copulatory but not post-copulatory sexual selection predicts SSD, suggesting a pervasive role of premating male–male competition and female choice to drive sex differences in body size. Collectively, our findings suggest that pre-copulatory sexual selection plays a major role in the evolution of male-biased SSD.