How sexual and natural selection shape sexual size dimorphism: Evidence from multiple evolutionary scales

Abstract

Sexual size dimorphism (SSD) is pervasive across taxa and reflects differences in the effects of sexual and natural selection on body size between the sexes. However, disentangling the complex eco-evolutionary interactions between these two mechanisms remains a major challenge for biologists. Here, we combine macro-evolutionary (between-species), local evolutionary (between-population) and fine-scale evolutionary (within-population) patterns of SSD to explore how sexual and natural selection interact and shape the evolution of SSD in Australian agamid lizards. Australian agamid lizards show substantial variation in SSD, ecological traits and species density making them an ideal study system ..