Plavcan J M
Department of Anatomy, New York College of Osteopathic Medicine, Old Westbury, NY, 11568, USA.
J Hum Evol. 2000 Sep;39(3):327-44. doi: 10.1006/jhev.2000.0423.
Sexual dimorphism is commonly used as evidence of the behavior of extinct species. Even so, few analyses scrutinize whether extant comparative data support inferences of mating systems or behavior in extinct species. This analysis evaluates the relations between measures of dimorphism and several estimates of mating system and intrasexual competition. Dimorphism alone provides poor resolution for reconstructing behavior. Many behavioral inferences based on perceived dimorphism are not supported by extant comparative data. This reflects the large standard errors of relations between dimorphism estimates and behavioral classifications. Used with caution, dimorphism can provide a hint of the behavior of extinct species in some cases. However, in many cases inferred dimorphism allows little more than an inference of polygyny, without any indication of specific types of mating systems.
两性异形常被用作已灭绝物种行为的证据。即便如此，很少有分析会仔细审查现存的比较数据是否支持对已灭绝物种交配系统或行为的推断。本分析评估了两性异形的测量指标与交配系统及种内竞争的几种估计之间的关系。仅靠两性异形在重建行为方面的分辨率很低。许多基于感知到的两性异形得出的行为推断并未得到现存比较数据的支持。这反映出两性异形估计与行为分类之间关系的标准误差很大。谨慎使用的话，两性异形在某些情况下可以为已灭绝物种的行为提供一些线索。然而，在许多情况下，推断出的两性异形仅仅只能推断出一夫多妻制，而无法表明交配系统的具体类型。
