Medical

secondary sexual character

secondary sexual character

any of the several features of a male or female animal that is produced when sexual maturity occurs. In humans, the female secondary sexual characters are induced by OESTROGEN at puberty and include mature genitalia, breasts, bodily hair and feminine body shape, particularly a broadening of the pelvis and fat deposition around the hips. The male human secondary sexual characters are induced by TESTOSTERONE at puberty and include mature genitalia, bodily and facial hair, muscular development, deep voice, narrow pelvis. These characters are all excellent examples of SEX LIMITATION.
Collins Dictionary of Biology, 3rd ed. © W. G. Hale, V. A. Saunders, J. P. Margham 2005
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References in periodicals archive
The influence of three types of diets on the number and symmetry of sex comb teeth (male secondary sexual character) as well as on behavioral trait (mating success) was tested in fruit fly in laboratory conditions.
Limb regeneration and subsequent asymmetry in a male secondary sexual character influences sexual selection in wolf spiders.
Jacobs (1955) removed a secondary sexual character from mature male white-tailed dragonflies (Plathemis lydia) by painting their abdomens black.
1991) or viability signalled by a secondary sexual character (Zahavi 1975; Hamilton and Zuk 1982; Kodric-Brown and Brown 1984; Andersson 1986; Heywood 1989; Iwasa et al.
The association between extrapair copulations and male brightness was first suggested by Moller (1988) based on the effect manipulation of a secondary sexual character had on male extrapair copulation success.
Whereas direct selection for hump height was undetectable, another secondary sexual character, breeding coloration, was under weak selection during male competition for position at spawning (observed spawning data).
This pattern differs from that of the secondary sexual character outer tail length, which often exhibited large levels of asymmetry, the average value being more than 2 mm.
Here we use a secondary sexual character now known to be subject to a strong directional female mate preference to test whether females allocate reproductive effort relative to the attractiveness of their mates.
Although natural selection may explain cases of size dimorphism, it is likely that sexual selection may account for sex differences in the size of a morphological trait, if sexual dimorphism is only fully expressed following sexual maturity, and if the secondary sexual character confers a mating advantage to individuals with the most extreme development of the trait (Darwin, 1871).
She is regularly menstruating and has normal secondary sexual characters of a female.
A complete physical examination including general physical, detailed clinical examination of the secondary sexual characters and genitalia (penile shaft, testicular size etc.) and neurological examinations were done to rule out organic causes for their sexual complaints.
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