Multivariate Models of Animal Sex: Breaking Binaries Leads to a Better Understanding of Ecology and Evolution

Synopsis “Sex” is often used to describe a suite of phenotypic and genotypic traits of an organism related to reproduction. However, these traits—gamete type, chromosomal inheritance, physiology, morphology, behavior, etc.—are not necessarily coupled, and the rhetorical collapse of variation into a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Integrative and comparative biology Vol. 63; no. 4; pp. 891 - 906
Main Authors:	McLaughlin, J F, Brock, Kinsey M, Gates, Isabella, Pethkar, Anisha, Piattoni, Marcus, Rossi, Alexis, Lipshutz, Sara E
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	England Oxford University Press 10-10-2023
Subjects:	Animals Biological Evolution Ecology Phenotype Polymorphism, Genetic Reproduction - genetics Symposium
Online Access:	Get full text
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Summary:	Synopsis “Sex” is often used to describe a suite of phenotypic and genotypic traits of an organism related to reproduction. However, these traits—gamete type, chromosomal inheritance, physiology, morphology, behavior, etc.—are not necessarily coupled, and the rhetorical collapse of variation into a single term elides much of the complexity inherent in sexual phenotypes. We argue that consideration of “sex” as a constructed category operating at multiple biological levels opens up new avenues for inquiry in our study of biological variation. We apply this framework to three case studies that illustrate the diversity of sex variation, from decoupling sexual phenotypes to the evolutionary and ecological consequences of intrasexual polymorphisms. We argue that instead of assuming binary sex in these systems, some may be better categorized as multivariate and nonbinary. Finally, we conduct a meta-analysis of terms used to describe diversity in sexual phenotypes in the scientific literature to highlight how a multivariate model of sex can clarify, rather than cloud, studies of sexual diversity within and across species. We argue that such an expanded framework of “sex” better equips us to understand evolutionary processes, and that as biologists, it is incumbent upon us to push back against misunderstandings of the biology of sexual phenotypes that enact harm on marginalized communities.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-2 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-1 content type line 23 The first two authors contributed equally to this work.
ISSN:	1540-7063 1557-7023 1557-7023
DOI:	10.1093/icb/icad027