Life Science Initiative
Onward to the Stars!

About

Salvation

Sex

Members Join Now Login

Evolution of Sexual Desire

"Classical explanations of sexual behaviour always focus on the male," says Enquist. "But this gives stronger focus on the woman." Evolutionary biologist Anders Møller from the CNRS, France's centre for scientific research in Paris, agrees. "This is driven by females," he says. "When ovulation becomes concealed, the males stay with the females longer."

But animal behaviour expert Mike Siva-Jothy of Sheffield University argues that tricking males into being monogamous isn't the only reason for females' high sex drive. Having lots of sex with lots of different males might ensure that at least some of their offspring were fathered by good-quality mates.

Although this idea doesn't fit with the traditional view of monogamous societies, Siva-Jothy points out that even in species where pairs bond for life, the females cheat. "When avian biologists went out and looked at the DNA profiles of the offspring, they found that everyone was having a romping time," he says. But so long as females can fool males into thinking they are being faithful, their strategy of hidden fertility will still work. "They have to be cryptic because they don't want their partner to find out," says Siva-Jothy.

More at: Animal Behaviour (vol 61, p 695)

http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns9999667