Top 10 Animals with Sexual Dimorphism
Sexual dimorphism is the condition where there is a dramatic difference between sexes, such as color, size, ornamentation, shape, or behavior.Sometimes, males and females look so different that you might mistake them for different species.
Usually, males appear more spectacular than females because, in the competition for mates, females prefer bigger and more elaborate males. They tend to select against males that are dull in color.
In human society, things are somewhat inverted - females often wear more colorful and ornamented clothing, along with makeup. However, males are still generally larger in size.
It's a type of Anglerfish. This is probably the most dramatic example of sexual dimorphism - males may be several orders of magnitude smaller than females. The length of females is about 30 cm (12 in), while males measure only 1.05 cm (0.41 in). Males attach to females near the vent and live on them parasitically.
In the lower image, the arrow points to the tiny male, and the small letters read "parasitic male". You can see the proportion.
The peafowl include two Asiatic bird species (the blue or Indian peafowl originally of India and Sri Lanka and the green peafowl of Myanmar, Indochina, and Java) and one African species (the Congo peafowl native only to the Congo Basin) of bird in the genera Pavo and Afropavo of the Phasianidae family,... read more This is the male (in the image). Females lack the prominent tail and have a subdued brown coloration. Nonetheless, females are still very beautiful birds.
What you see in the image is the male. Females are much smaller and lack the ornamental crests, wattles, and long tails of males. Females display dull colors and resemble ordinary beige farm chickens.
The lion (Panthera leo) is a large cat of the genus Panthera native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body, short, rounded head, round ears, and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphic; adult male lions are larger than females and have a prominent mane. It is... read more You see the male in the image. Females do not have the prominent bushy mane.
It's a male in the image here. The male is much larger and appears more bizarre. He has two inflatable gular sacs that he uses to attract mates by inflating them.
Spanish for "small fly," mosquitoes are insects that have been known to cause various diseases. A sample of diseases caused by mosquitoes: malaria, yellow fever, Chikungunya, West Nile virus, dengue fever, filariasis, Zika virus. Only females are bloodsuckers. Males are not and follow a different diet. Females have specialized blood-sucking mouthparts.
Again, this is the male you see. Females do not have this rich coloration and differ in shape because they lack a crest and have a more ordinary bird tail.
Males have a distinctive red gular pouch (also known as a throat pouch) - it's an area of featherless skin on the neck. Males inflate this pouch into a huge red balloon during the breeding season to attract females.
Orangutans are great apes native to the rainforests of Indonesia and Malaysia. They are now found only in parts of Borneo and Sumatra, but during the Pleistocene they ranged throughout Southeast Asia and South China. Classified in the genus Pongo, orangutans were originally considered to be one species... read more I am almost sure it's a female in the image. Male orangutans have enlarged cheek flaps and a throat pouch. More dominant males exhibit larger flaps.
In the image, you see (from left to right): female, male. There is a big difference.
The Newcomers
Male guppies are adorned with colorful spots and ornamentation, while females are grey. In the image here, the upper fish is the male. The other two are females.
This is the male - it has a green head. Females do not have the striking green coloration.
This is a male (in the image). The female Mandrill is much smaller and lacks the bright exotic coloring.
Green Anole, also known as Carolina anole, is a lizard species. Male anoles (shown in the image) have a retractable gular fold used to attract mates.
Males are "more yellow" than females.
Hyenas or hyaenas are any feliform carnivoran mammals of the family Hyaenidae /haɪˈɛnᵻdiː/. With only four extant species, it is the fifth-smallest biological family in the Carnivora, and one of the smallest in the class Mammalia.