Odd Couples

Daphne J. Fairbairn is professor of biology at the University of California, Riverside. She has written widely on the science of sexual differences.

Chapter 1: Introduction 1 Chapter 2: The Roots of Sexual Differences: Why Male and Female Animals Differ 9 Chapter 3: Elephant Seals: Harems, Hierarchies, and Giant Males 23 Chapter 4: Great Bustards: Gorgeous Males and Choosy Females 46 Chapter 5: Shell-Carrying Cichlids: Protective Males and Furtive Females 64 Chapter 6: Yellow Garden Spiders: Sedentary Females and Roving Males 81 Chapter 7: Blanket Octopuses: Drifting Females and Dwarf Males 104 Chapter 8: Giant Seadevils: Fearsome Females and Parasitic Males 116 Chapter 9: Bone-Eating Worms: Female Tubeworms with Harems of Minuscule Males 133 Chapter 10: Shell-Burrowing Barnacles: Sac-Like Females with Harems of Phallic Males 147 Chapter 11: The Diversity of Sexual Differences: Differences between Males and Females across the Animal Kingdom 160 Chapter 12: Concluding Remarks 187 Acknowledgments 195 Appendix A: Scientific Names Corresponding to Common Names Used in the Text 197 Appendix B: Summary of Sexual Dimorphisms by Animal Phylum 203 Notes 207 Glossary of Technical Terms 239 Sources 247 Illustration Credits 287 Index 289