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Female beauty may have less to do with attracting the opposite sex than previously thought, at least in the animal world, researchers say. Results of a mathematical modeling study suggest that romantic attention, by itself, is not enough to give attractive females an evolutionary edge over their plainer counterparts--even when their good looks help them snag superior mates.
In most animals, males are the showy sex; females are drab and inconspicuous. Flamboyant features like the peacock’s tail and the lion’s mane help males vie for the favor of females. But in some species, including crustaceans, insects, lizards, fish and primates, females can be eye-catching too. Pictured here, a female striped plateau lizard from Arizona develops orange patches on her throat when she is ready to mate. Males prefer females with darker spots, a signal that they have higher-quality eggs.Image credit: Stacey Weiss, University of Puget Sound
