Tuesday, Jul 28, 2026 The claims desk. Receipts included. POWERED BY LENZ
IsThis

The Claim

Fairbairn (1997) is a widely cited methodological reference for measuring sexual size dimorphism.

The Short Version

The literature supports this characterization. Fairbairn (1997) is widely cited across peer-reviewed studies as a methodological reference for analyzing sexual size dimorphism, particularly in allometric comparisons. The main caveat is that some papers attribute a specific SSD index formula to Lovich and Gibbons (1992), so Fairbairn is better understood as a broad analytical framework reference than the canonical formula source.

Caveats

  • Do not overread the claim as saying Fairbairn (1997) is the primary or original source of every SSD measurement formula.
  • The strongest support is for Fairbairn as an allometric and comparative methodology reference, not necessarily for a single standardized index.
  • Some listed materials are secondary hosts or aggregators; the conclusion rests mainly on the underlying peer-reviewed citations.

The Receipts

  1. Allometry for sexual size dimorphism: pattern and process in the coevolution of body size in males and females

    Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics

  2. Allometry for Sexual Size Dimorphism: Pattern and Process in the Coevolution of Body Size in Males and Females

    Annual Reviews

  3. A developmental perspective on the evolution of sexual size dimorphism

    Proceedings of the Royal Society B / PubMed Central

  4. Modest sexual size dimorphism and allometric growth: a study of relative growth in a dung beetle

    Proceedings of the Royal Society B / PubMed Central

  5. Sexual Dimorphism in Body Size and the Origin of Sex Chromosome Heteromorphism

    Oxford Academic

  6. Sex, Size and Gender Roles: Evolutionary Studies of Sexual Size Dimorphism (reference list excerpt)

    Oxford University Press via PDF (semantic scholar)

  7. Macroevolutionary Patterns of Sexual Size Dimorphism in Anurans

    Journal of Heredity (Oxford Academic)

  8. Selection on male size, leg length and condition during mate search

    Journal of Evolutionary Biology / Adelphi University mirror

  9. Life-history variation and allometry for sexual size dimorphism in Pacific salmon and trout

    Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences / PubMed Central

  10. Evolution of sexual size dimorphism in mammals

    Italian Journal of Mammalogy

+ 11 more sources — see the full list on Lenz

Filed Under

Fairbairn (1997)Sexual Size Dimorphism

More Fact Checks