University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Dissertations and Theses in Biological Sciences Biological Sciences, School of 7-2016 Proximate and Evolutionary Causes of Sexual Size Dimorphism in the Crab Spider Mecaphesa celer Marie Claire Chelini University of Nebraska-Lincoln,
[email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/bioscidiss Part of the Behavior and Ethology Commons, and the Evolution Commons Chelini, Marie Claire, "Proximate and Evolutionary Causes of Sexual Size Dimorphism in the Crab Spider Mecaphesa celer" (2016). Dissertations and Theses in Biological Sciences. 86. http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/bioscidiss/86 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Biological Sciences, School of at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations and Theses in Biological Sciences by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. PROXIMATE AND EVOLUTIONARY CAUSES OF SEXUAL SIZE DIMORPHISM IN THE CRAB SPIDER MECAPHESA CELER by Marie Claire Chelini A DISSERTATION Presented to the Faculty of The Graduate College at the University of Nebraska In Partial Fulfillment of Requirements For the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Major: Biology (Ecology, Evolution and Behavior) Under the Supervision of Professor Eileen A. Hebets Lincoln, Nebraska July, 2016 PROXIMATE AND EVOLUTIONARY CAUSES OF SEXUAL SIZE DIMORPHISM IN THE CRAB SPIDER MECAPHESA CELER Marie-Claire Chelini, Ph.D. University of Nebraska, 2016 Advisor: Eileen A. Hebets Animal species’ body sizes result from the balance between selection for survival and selection for reproduction. In species with sexual size dimorphism (SSD), this balance differs between females and males, resulting in distinct sizes despite similar constraints.