title: The oestrogen pathway underlies the evolution of exaggerated male cranial shapes in Anolis lizards.
abstract: Sexual dimorphisms vary widely among species. This variation must arise through sex-specific evolutionary modifications to developmental processes. Anolis lizards vary extensively in their expression of cranial dimorphism. Compared with other Anolis species, members of the carolinensis clade have evolved relatively high levels of cranial dimorphism; males of this clade have exceptionally long faces relative to conspecific females. Developmentally, this facial length dimorphism arises through an evolutionarily novel, clade-specific strategy. Our analyses herein reveal that sex-specific regulation of the oestrogen pathway underlies evolution of this exaggerated male phenotype, rather than the androgen or insulin growth factor pathways that have long been considered the primary regulators of male-biased dimorphism among vertebrates. Our results suggest greater intricacy in the genetic mechanisms that underlie sexual dimorphisms than previously appreciated.
authors.affiliation: Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, , 26 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, , 26 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA, Department of Biological Sciences and W. M. Keck Center for Behavioral Biology, North Carolina State University, , Campus Box 7617, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA.
authors.forename: Thomas J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Sanger
authors.forename: Susan M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Seav
authors.forename: Masayoshi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tokita
authors.forename: R Brian
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Langerhans
authors.forename: Lela M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Ross
authors.forename: Jonathan B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Losos
authors.forename: Arhat
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Abzhanov
mesh_terms: D000728:Androgens / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D004967:Estrogens / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D006728:Hormones / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D008116:Lizards / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D010641:Phenotype; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D012886:Skull / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D000728:Androgens; D004967:Estrogens; D006728:Hormones
keywords: evo-devo; facial length; morphometrics; oestrogen signalling; sexual dimorphism
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