{"title":"Sexual Size Dimorphism in Buthus tunetanus (Scorpiones: Buthidae) from Tunisia","authors":"Sarra Hajri, Jamel Babay, Slaheddine Selmi, Saïd Nouira","doi":"10.1134/s1062359024607730","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<h3 data-test=\"abstract-sub-heading\">Abstract</h3><p>Scorpions are known to exhibit sexual size dimorphism, but data is still lacking from a large number of species throughout the world. Such information is nonetheless essential for a better understanding of the factors and processes shaping scorpion morphology. In this work, we investigated sexual size dimorphism in <i>Buthus tunetanus</i>, a common scorpion species in Tunisia. Using morphometric data on a sample of 100 females and 142 males, we assessed sexual differences in body parts and investigated allometric relationships. Results showed significant sexual size dimorphism in weapon systems, namely the metasoma and chelae. More specifically, there was male-biased dimorphism in metasoma size but female-biased dimorphism in chela size. Increased body size was associated with an exaggerated increase in metasoma size in males and chela size in females. These patterns are in agreement with those previously reported in other scorpion species and highlight the roles of sexual differences in mating behavior and ecological requirements in shaping the morphology of weapon systems in scorpions.</p>","PeriodicalId":55366,"journal":{"name":"Biology Bulletin","volume":"89 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.5000,"publicationDate":"2024-07-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Biology Bulletin","FirstCategoryId":"99","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1134/s1062359024607730","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q4","JCRName":"BIOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Scorpions are known to exhibit sexual size dimorphism, but data is still lacking from a large number of species throughout the world. Such information is nonetheless essential for a better understanding of the factors and processes shaping scorpion morphology. In this work, we investigated sexual size dimorphism in Buthus tunetanus, a common scorpion species in Tunisia. Using morphometric data on a sample of 100 females and 142 males, we assessed sexual differences in body parts and investigated allometric relationships. Results showed significant sexual size dimorphism in weapon systems, namely the metasoma and chelae. More specifically, there was male-biased dimorphism in metasoma size but female-biased dimorphism in chela size. Increased body size was associated with an exaggerated increase in metasoma size in males and chela size in females. These patterns are in agreement with those previously reported in other scorpion species and highlight the roles of sexual differences in mating behavior and ecological requirements in shaping the morphology of weapon systems in scorpions.
期刊介绍：
Biology Bulletin (Izvestiya Rossiiskoi Akademii Nauk – Seriya Biologicheskaya) is an interdisciplinary journal of general biology. It focuses on fundamental studies in the fields of cell biology, biochemistry, zoology, botany, physiology, and ecology. This journal publishes current materials of experimental studies and surveys on current problems in general biology. It also publishes information on scientific conferences and new books in the fields of general biology.
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