Tag Archives | selection

man_klutzy

Happy men not sexually attractive to women

The notion that women find “bad boys” sexually attractive gets reinforcement from a new study published in Emotion showing that happiness is not a sexually attractive emotion for men to display. The University of British Columbia study found dramatic gender differences in how men and women rank the sexual attractiveness of commonly displayed emotions, including […]

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smell

Mating choices driven by bacteria?

In a discovery that has implications for our understanding of natural selection, Tel Aviv University scientists have shown that symbiotic bacteria can greatly influence a host body’s choice of mate. The research, carried out by Eugene Rosenberg, Daniel Segel and Gil Sharon of Tel Aviv University’s Department of Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology, appears in the […]

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woman_valentines_day

Women more likely to bed men in red

The color red is a symbol of courage and sexuality, of power and passion – and new research suggests it also makes men more alluring to women. The new study, appearing in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, found that women from the United States, England, Germany and China, found men more appealing when they […]

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couple_lovemaking

Unnatural selection: Courtesy of The Pill

Hormonal contraceptive methods – such as The Pill – may be having an underappreciated impact on a woman’s ability to choose, compete for and retain her preferred mate, suggests a new paper in the journal Trends in Ecology and Evolution. The new paper builds on previous research (see related links below) which found that the […]

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fat_dude_girl

Ugly males more fertile

Attractive males release fewer sperm per mating to increase the odds of producing offspring across a range of females, suggesting that couplings with attractive males may be less fruitful than those with unattractive ones. The new findings, published in American Naturalist, are based on mathematical models representing a range of male ejaculation strategies. The researchers, […]

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couple_embrace

Ovulation triggers female risk-taking behavior

It has long been recognized that women’s preferences for masculine men change throughout their menstrual cycle, but a new study from the Kinsey Institute pinpoints the areas of the brain that change around ovulation and reveals how these changes affect both sensory discrimination and risk processing. The study, published in Evolution and Human Behavior, sheds […]

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dna

Melanoma Not Without Benefits

Though skin cancer is deadly to male swordtail fish, it also has one perk: black melanoma splotches help lure females, suggesting that the melanoma gene is conserved for its beneficial role in sexual selection. The study, published inProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, marks the first time scientists have found a cancer gene linked […]

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sperm_egg_2is

New Molecular Insights Into Post-Coital “Ladies’ Choice”

It’s common knowledge that males take the obvious sexual selection route, using bright plumage, energetic mating dances or fancy sports cars to lure mates. But it seems as though females may have adopted a much more sneaky strategy for choosing who they want to breed with. In the Journal of Proteome Research, scientists report possible […]

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beetle

Dehydrated Females Quench Thirst With Ejaculate

University of Exeter biologists say that some female beetles often mate simply to quench their thirst and overcome dehydration. The sexual imperative is provided by male beetles who produce unusually large ejaculates (up to 10 percent of their body weight), tempting dehydrated females to accept sexual invitations simply to get hold of the water in […]

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meerkats

Females Get Into Sexual Selection Game

Peacock tails, the antlers of a bull elk and the lion’s mane have all evolved in male animals thanks to competition for reproductive success. These products of sexual selection were typically found only in male animals but it now seems that sexual selection is also alive and well in female meerkats. In the journal Nature, […]

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