: Environmental factors like prey availability, water temperature, and energy allocation are primary drivers of when an individual matures.
Maturation timing often creates (SSD), where one sex is significantly larger than the other. Maturation Observations Birds sex matures
: Sex hormones and maternal effects play a significant role in the physiological transition to maturity. Sex-ratio evolution in sex changing animals - PubMed Sex-ratio evolution in sex changing animals - PubMed
: While biological maturation differs, studies on cognitive abilities often show "invariance," meaning the underlying structure of mental abilities matures similarly across both sexes. Males may mature earlier (approx
In humans, sexual maturation is associated with adolescence. Recent psychometric studies, such as those using the Woodcock-Johnson IV Tests (WJ IV COG), examine whether cognitive maturation differs by sex.
Males may mature earlier (approx. 5–6 years) compared to females (approx. 7–8 years).