Data from: Structural complexity of hunting habitat and territoriality increase the reversed sexual size dimorphism in diurnal raptors ...

• Main Authors: Pérez-Camacho, Lorenzo, Martínez-Hesterkamp, Sara, Rebollo, Salvador, García-Salgado, Gonzalo, Morales-Castilla, Ignacio
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: Dryad 2018
• Subjects: Accipiter bicolor; Ictinia mississippiensis; Falco subbuteo; Harpia harpyja; Rostrhamus sociabilis; Neophron percnopterus; Aquila heliaca; Accipiter cooperii; Aquila clanga; Haliaeetus albicilla; Buteo platypterus; Buteo albonotatus; Ibycter americanus; Buteogallus anthracinus; Buteo lagopus; Falco columbarius; Milvus migrans; Accipiter nisus; Falco pelegrinoides; Milvago chimango; Aquila fasciatus; Circus cinereus; Aquila adalberti; Buteo magnirostris; Buteo nitidus; Falco vespertinus; Aegypius monachus; Falco sparverius; Falco naumanni; Coragyps atratus; Gypaetus barbatus; Falco rusticolus; Buteo lineatus; Cathartes aura; Elanus leucurus; sexual size dimorphism SSD; Buteo swainsoni; Hieraaetus pennatus; Falco deiroleucus; Buteo buteo; Herpetotheres cachinnans; Circaetus gallicus; Harpagus bidentatus; Buteo regalis; Milvus milvus; Falco mexicanus; Elanus caeruleus; Circus aeruginosus; Buteo rufinus; Falco rufigularis
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.5061/dryad.0n226hs; https://datadryad.org/stash/dataset/doi:10.5061/dryad.0n226hs

Despite numerous efforts and many hypotheses to explain the selective pressures that may have favoured reversed sexual dimorphism (RSD) in raptors ‐ i.e. that the female is larger than the male ‐ some drivers of RSD are still unknown. Here we analyse how much variation in RSD is explained by hunting habitat structure, territoriality or territory size. We do so using data on diurnal raptors from the New World and the Western Palearctic – i.e. Cathartidae, Pandionidae, Accipitridae and Falconidae, the largest bird group showing RSD ‐ taking into account the phylogenetic relationships among species. Our results identify the type of the main prey as a major factor explaining RSD in raptors. We also found RSD to increase with increasing structural complexity in the hunting habitat from open or semi‐open habitats to forest interior. RSD also increased with increasing degree of territoriality of the species (non‐territorial < facultative < territorial). Finally, for territorial species RSD increased with ... : Data and scripts to analyze sexual size dimorphism in diurnal raptorsRaptorRSD.rar ...