PAIR-WISE COMPARISON OF SEXUAL SHAPE DIMORPHISM AMONG FIFTEEN FACTORS IN FOREST MILLIPEDES CENTROBOLUS COOK, 1897

Author Name: Mark Cooper

Volume/Issue: 02/10

Country: South Africa

DOI NO.: 08.2020-25662434 DOI Link: https://www.doi-ds.org/doilink/04.2022-18727172/UIJIR

Affiliation:

School of Animal, Plant & Environmental Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg 2050, South Africa

ABSTRACT

The objectives of this study were to determine what happened when Bergmann's Rule met Rensch's Rule if Sexual Shape Dimorphism (SShD) varied with 15 factors. Body size, latitude, longitude, precipitation, temperature, the highest total hours of sunshine in a month, the hours of sunshine throughout the year, the month with the highest number of rainy days, female length, female width, female volume, male mass, body mass, moments of inertia and male moments of inertia were correlated with SShD in the forest millipede genus Centrobolus. Correlation coefficients were compared using MedCalc. Forty-one significant differences were found among the 78 pair-wise comparisons. Eight highly significant differences in pair-wise comparisons of correlations in SSD were found among (1) body size and the highest total hours of sunshine in a month, (2) body size and latitude, and (3) body size and sunshine throughout the year, (4) latitude and female width, (5) hours of sunshine throughout the year and female width, (6) the hours of sunshine throughout the year and female volume, (7) body mass and female width, and (8) body size and body mass.

Key words: Abiotic; biotic; dimorphic; mass; size; width.