Article
The design of a beautiful weapon: compensation for opposing sexual selection on a trait with two functions.
Evolution; international journal of organic evolution - 1 Apr 2013
Dennenmoser Stefan, Christy John H
Abstract excerpt
Male fiddler crabs, genus Uca, have one greatly enlarged claw with which they court females and threaten and fight other males. Longer claws are more effective signals but are thought to be less effective weapons because the relative closing force at the tip of the claw decreases with claw length. We studied claw morphology and fighting in Uca terpsichores and Uca beebei and found a mechanism that may resolve...
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