Why are Males More Attractive than Females in Nature?
In most bird species, male plumage is more flamboyant, while female plumage is plain, why is it the same species, there is such a big difference between the two sexes?
Why are males more beautiful than females?
In 1859, Darwin compiled his many years of research on species evolution and published 'On the Origin of Species', a monumental work in biology, which detailed how species came to be and how they evolved from ancient organisms into today's biology.
In this book, Darwin based on three premises:
- The offspring of a species cannot be guaranteed to survive;
- Even individuals of the same species have differences;
- These differences are partially inherited by the next generation.
According to these 3 premises, Darwin proposed:Only a small part of the offspring will survive, and the species with more favorable genes inherited by parents will survive, so on average, the next generation of organisms is more adaptable to the environment.
Our Confucian scholar, Mr. Fu, called Darwin's core theory 'survival of the fittest'.
However, this theory cannot explain the peacock's tail, why is it more beautiful than females, becauseMale tails do not help males to survive better, but rather, the excessively flamboyant tails expose themselves, increasing the probability of being preyed upon.
It is said that Darwin always felt nauseous when he saw the peacock's tail. He didn't understand why the peacock's tail violated the theory of evolution.
Later, Darwin spent many years researching and finally solved the mystery of the peacock's tail in his later years. This theory was published in 'Man's Origin and Sexual Selection' in 1871.
We know that in sexually dimorphic species, reproductive organs are different, this is the first feature.However, there is a second feature between species, this feature has a direct relationship with mating, but it profoundly affects mating.
Taking the peacock's tail as an example, the peacock's tail does not improve its hunting efficiency, but it reflects the health condition of the peacock. We know that bird feathers contain many parasites. If the sick peacock or the peacock that cannot clean its feathers, its feathers will become dull due to parasites. Healthy peacocks clean their feathers every day, so their feathers are very shiny.
This is an advantage for peacocks. Females will judge based on this feature, determining that the male gene is good and healthy.
This selection between males and females leads to the evolution of species. Darwin called this 'sexual selection'.
Why does sexual selection lead to males being more beautiful?
According to theory, sexual selection should be mutual, just as in humans, men and women mutually choose each other, so men and women's body types are not much different, but why in nature, most males are more beautiful than females?
This is related to the reproductive strategies of males and females.
In nature, males tend to seek all opportunities to transmit their genes, as they are less responsible for breeding and raising offspring after mating. So most males are not picky about females.
Females, during estrus, generally produce fewer egg cells and bear the responsibility of gestation and raising offspring. Therefore, females are more inclined to seek out male genes that are better, so the offspring are more likely to have excellent genes.
Since there are polygamous animals, females choose males, and males are willing to come, so the difference between men and women in the outside is not much, and humans are mainly monogamous and polygamous, so men and women are similar in appearance.
Summary
Animals will be affected by environmental selection, sexual selection, virus selection and natural disaster selection during evolution, these selections jointly determine the evolution of species, so there are many diverse species on Earth.
