Most animal species consist of two distinct sexes. At the morphological, physiological, and
behavioral levels the differences between males and females are numerous and dramatic …

Female ants display a wide variety of morphological castes, including workers, soldiers,
ergatoid (worker-like) queens and queens. Alternative caste development within a species …

The fossil record allows a unique glimpse into the evolutionary history of organisms living on
Earth today. We discovered a specimen of the stem group ant† Gerontoformica gracilis …

Sexual dimorphisms in trait expression are widespread among animals and are especially
pronounced in ornaments and weapons of sexual selection, which can attain exaggerated …

Nutrition, via the insulin/insulin-like growth factor (IIS)/Target of Rapamycin (TOR) signaling
pathway, can provide a strong molding force for determining animal size and shape. For …

In recent years, our knowledge of the conserved master-switch gene doublesex (dsx) and its
function in regulating the development of dimorphic traits in insects has deepened …

Ants are highly polyphenic Hymenoptera, with at least three distinct adult forms in the vast
majority of species. Their sexual dimorphism, however, is overlooked to the point of being a …

Animal structures occasionally attain extreme proportions, eclipsing in size the surrounding
body parts. We review insect examples of exaggerated traits, such as the mandibles of stag …

Mechanisms underlying sex determination and differentiation in animals are known to
encompass a diverse array of molecular clues. Recent innovations in high-throughput …

Sexually‐selected exaggerated traits tend to be unusually reliable signals of individual
condition, as their expression tends to be more sensitive to nutritional history and …