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Meek Males and Fighting Females: Sexually-Dimorphic Antipredator Behavior and Locomotor Performance Is Explained by Morphology in Bark Scorpions (Centruroides vittatus)

Overview of attention for article published in PLOS ONE, May 2014
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About this Attention Score

  • In the top 5% of all research outputs scored by Altmetric
  • High Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age (98th percentile)
  • High Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age and source (97th percentile)

Mentioned by

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8 news outlets
blogs
1 blog
twitter
56 X users
reddit
1 Redditor

Citations

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36 Dimensions

Readers on

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79 Mendeley
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Title
Meek Males and Fighting Females: Sexually-Dimorphic Antipredator Behavior and Locomotor Performance Is Explained by Morphology in Bark Scorpions (Centruroides vittatus)
Published in
PLOS ONE, May 2014
DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0097648
Pubmed ID
Authors

Bradley E. Carlson, Shannen McGinley, Matthew P. Rowe

Abstract

Sexual dimorphism can result from sexual or ecological selective pressures, but the importance of alternative reproductive roles and trait compensation in generating phenotypic differences between the sexes is poorly understood. We evaluated morphological and behavioral sexual dimorphism in striped bark scorpions (Centruroides vittatus). We propose that reproductive roles have driven sexually dimorphic body mass in this species which produces sex differences in locomotor performance. Poor locomotor performance in the females (due to the burden of being gravid) favors compensatory aggression as part of an alternative defensive strategy, while male morphology is coadapted to support a sprinting-based defensive strategy. We tested the effects of sex and morphology on stinging and sprinting performance and characterized overall differences between the sexes in aggressiveness towards simulated threats. Greater body mass was associated with higher sting rates and slower sprinting within sexes, which explained the greater aggression of females (the heavier sex) and, along with longer legs in males, the improved sprint performance in males. These findings suggest females are aggressive to compensate for locomotor costs of reproduction while males possess longer legs to enhance sprinting for predator evasion and mate finding. Sexual dimorphism in the metasoma ("tail") was unrelated to stinging and sprinting performance and may best be explained by sexual selection.

X Demographics

X Demographics

The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 56 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Mendeley readers

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 79 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
Mexico 2 3%
United States 2 3%
Argentina 1 1%
Brazil 1 1%
Unknown 73 92%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Student > Master 14 18%
Researcher 11 14%
Student > Ph. D. Student 10 13%
Professor > Associate Professor 8 10%
Student > Bachelor 8 10%
Other 12 15%
Unknown 16 20%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Agricultural and Biological Sciences 38 48%
Environmental Science 4 5%
Psychology 4 5%
Engineering 4 5%
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology 3 4%
Other 7 9%
Unknown 19 24%
Attention Score in Context

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 118. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 16 June 2015.
All research outputs
#343,103
of 24,833,004 outputs
Outputs from PLOS ONE
#4,907
of 215,114 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#2,899
of 231,938 outputs
Outputs of similar age from PLOS ONE
#103
of 4,504 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 24,833,004 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 98th percentile: it's in the top 5% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 215,114 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 15.7. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 97% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 231,938 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 98% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 4,504 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 97% of its contemporaries.