Ecology Letters · 1 author, 1 centre
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This experimental evolution study in Drosophila melanogaster found that high resource competition led to the rapid evolution of increased sexual dimorphism in diet preference, with males evolving higher sucrose consumption and females evolving higher yeast consumption.
High-competition populations also showed increased absolute fitness and higher survival under food deprivation. The results provide direct evidence that resource competition can drive the evolution of ecological sexual dimorphism, though the effect occurred alongside, not independently of, divergent reproductive strategies.
