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Bizarre Sexual Dimorphism: Difference between revisions
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** Another odd inversion: the Phalaropes. For some reason, this group of little Arctic shorebirds have reversed the usual avian gender roles. Females are brightly colored and fight over males, who are drabber and stay with the nest. They have been described [[Put a Bow On Her Head|elsewhere]] as "an entire Genus of [[Wholesome Crossdresser]]s."
** The huia, a strange bird native to New Zealand which was driven extinct by overhunting, had an entirely unique form of sexual dimorphism. The male and female had the same feather markings, but their beaks were shaped very differently. They had separate niches and ate in different ways: claims that they had to work as a team to eat are based on a misunderstanding.
** Most birds of prey have size dimorphism: since females need to lay eggs and sit on them for a while, they are larger. Sometimes it's much more pronounced, esecially among the species eating mainly other birds. The reason is that sufficient size disparity makes males and females more fit to hunt different species, which allows to share the territory without either depleting it or extending more than necessary.
* Snakes are very rarely dimorphic, but some species of constrictors have a similar size discrepancy to birds of prey, for similar reasons.
* Inversion: Female Spotted Hyenas have identical-looking genitals to males, with a "pseudopenis" and "pseudo-scrotum".
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