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...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
References
Andersson, M. (1982). Female choice selects for extreme tail length in a widowbird. Nature, 299, 818–820.
Andersson, M. (1994). Sexual selection. New Jersey: Princeton University Press.
Darwin, C. (1871). The descent of man, and selection in relation to sex (1st ed.). London: John Murray.
Emlen, D. J. (2008). The evolution of animal weapons. Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics, 39(1), 387–413.
Fisher, R. A. (1930). The genetical theory of natural selection (Genetics, Vol. 154). Oxford: Clarendon.
Houde, A. E., & Endler, J. A. (1990). Correlated evolution of female mating preferences and male color patterns in the guppy Poecilia reticulata. Science, 248(4961), 1405–1408.
Miller, C. W. (2013). Sexual selection: Male-male competition. In Jonathan B. Losos, The Princeton guide of evolution, Princeton, NJ, pp. 641–646.
Panhuis, T. M., & Wilkinson, G. S. (1999). Exaggerated male eye span influences contest outcome in stalk-eyed flies (Diopsidae). Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 46(4), 221–227.
Petrie, M., Tim, H., & Carolyn, S. (1991). Peahens prefer peacocks with elaborate trains. Animal Behaviour, 41(2), 323–331.
Zahavi, A. (1975). Mate selection – a selection for a handicap. Journal of Theoretical Biology, 53(1), 205–214.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this entry
Cite this entry
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
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_65-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6
eBook Packages: Springer Reference Behavioral Science and PsychologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences