Definition
A secondary sexual characteristic is defined as a sex-specific trait that appears at the onset of sexual maturity and plays a role in sexual selection but is not directly involved in, or essential for, the act of reproduction (Darwin 1871).
Introduction
In the animal kingdom, an extraordinary diversity of structures exists that cannot be explained by natural selection (Darwin 1871). Consider, for instance, the elaborate antlers in a male deer (Fig. 1a; family Cervidae; Emlen 2008) or the wonderfully extravagant feathers of the peacock (Fig. 1b; Pavo cristatus; Petrie et al.,1991). These remarkable structures, referred to as secondary sexual characteristics, are most commonly observed in males and are thought to have evolved by means of sexual selection (Andersson 1994). These sexual characteristics may be energetically costly to produce and maintain and may be...
References
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Dekker, M.L., Hinde, C.A., Pollux, B.J.A. (2016). Secondary Sexual Characteristics. In: Weekes-Shackelford, V., Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_65-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_65-1
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