Strong
24-08-2009, 08:57 AM
Female sticklebacks see right through the sexual display of flashy males
An investigation into sexual display in sticklebacks illustrates the pitfalls of judging a man by the size of his medallion
The criteria that females use to choose partners can be baffling to us males. In the animal world, a male's attractiveness often seems to be down to one completely arbitrary characteristic, like tail length. Female birds of paradise, for example, are suckers for a long tail, so much so that the males have evolved tails so long they can be a nuisance.
The reason females select for such costly ornaments has been the subject of debate among evolutionary biologists for some time. In 1975, Israeli scholar Amotz Zahavi suggested that long tails and enormous antlers are attractive precisely because they are such a burden to the male. Their costliness means that they are reliable indicators of a male's quality, since only the fittest males can afford to produce them.
Article: The Guardian - Female sticklebacks see right through the sexual display of flashy males (http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/blog/2009/aug/21/stickleback-sexual-display-red-jaw)
And I thought it was only men that were on the look out for large appendages in the opposite sex. So now I have to grow a bigger one! :3mad:
An investigation into sexual display in sticklebacks illustrates the pitfalls of judging a man by the size of his medallion
The criteria that females use to choose partners can be baffling to us males. In the animal world, a male's attractiveness often seems to be down to one completely arbitrary characteristic, like tail length. Female birds of paradise, for example, are suckers for a long tail, so much so that the males have evolved tails so long they can be a nuisance.
The reason females select for such costly ornaments has been the subject of debate among evolutionary biologists for some time. In 1975, Israeli scholar Amotz Zahavi suggested that long tails and enormous antlers are attractive precisely because they are such a burden to the male. Their costliness means that they are reliable indicators of a male's quality, since only the fittest males can afford to produce them.
Article: The Guardian - Female sticklebacks see right through the sexual display of flashy males (http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/blog/2009/aug/21/stickleback-sexual-display-red-jaw)
And I thought it was only men that were on the look out for large appendages in the opposite sex. So now I have to grow a bigger one! :3mad: