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

The publication by Lovich and Gibbons from 1992 is the best reference for analyzing sexual size dimorphism.

The Short Version

The evidence supports Lovich and Gibbons (1992) as a classic, influential reference, but not as the uniquely best one. Reviews and later studies treat it as a standard starting point for measuring sexual size dimorphism while also recognizing alternative metrics and later refinements. The claim therefore overstates the paper’s standing relative to the broader methodological literature.

Caveats

  • "Best reference" is a subjective superlative, and the cited literature does not establish clear superiority over competing references or metrics.
  • Foundational and widely cited does not automatically mean methodologically preferred in all modern analyses.
  • Some later papers use alternative formulations or modified indices, so relying on the 1992 paper alone may omit important updates.

The Receipts

  1. A review of techniques for quantifying sexual size dimorphism

    PubMed

  2. Sexual selection and sexual size dimorphism in animals

    Royal Society Publishing

  3. Does the timing of attainment of maturity influence sexual size dimorphism and adult sex ratio in turtles?: Sexual Dimorphism and Adult Sex Ratio

    Wiley Online Library

  4. Patterns of sexual size dimorphism in horseshoe bats

    Nature

  5. Sexual Dimorphism in Body Size and the Origin of Sex-Determination Systems in Reptiles

    The American Naturalist (via Cornell Adkins-Regan Lab PDF)

  6. Sexual Size Dimorphism Correlates With the Number of Androgen Receptor CAG Repeats in Humans

    PMC

  7. Sexual selection and sexual size dimorphism in animals

    PMC

  8. Pre-copulatory sexual selection predicts sexual size dimorphism: A meta-analysis of ...

    University of Sheffield White Rose Research Online

  9. Does the timing of attainment of maturity influence sexual size dimorphism and adult sex ratio in turtles?: Sexual Dimorphism and Adult Sex Ratio

    Biological Journal of the Linnean Society

  10. size dimorphism and growth rates in distinct populations

    Herpetology and Conservation Biology

+ 9 more sources — see the full list on Lenz

Filed Under

Lovich And Gibbons (1992)Sexual Size Dimorphism

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