Mistaken Identity Hypothesis
The mistaken identity hypothesis suggests that sexual cannibalism occurs when females fail to identify males that try to court. This hypothesis suggests that a cannibalistic female attacks and consumes the male without the knowledge of mate quality. In pre-copulatory sexual cannibalism, mistaken identity can be seen when a female does not allow the male to perform the courtship dance and engages in attack. There is no conclusive evidence for this hypothesis because scientists struggle to distinguish between mistaken identity and the other hypotheses (aggressive spillover, adaptive foraging, and mate choice).
Read more about this topic: Sexual Cannibalism, Evolution and Maintenance
Famous quotes containing the words mistaken, identity and/or hypothesis:
“We are much mistaken if we think that men are always brave from a principle of valor, or women chaste from a principle of modesty.”
—François, Duc De La Rochefoucauld (1613–1680)
“There is a terrible blindness in the love that wants only to accommodate. It’s not only to do with omissions and half-truths. It implants a lack of being in the speaker and robs the self of an identity without which it is impossible for one to grow close to another.”
—Alexander Theroux (b. 1940)
“Oversimplified, Mercier’s Hypothesis would run like this: “Wit is always absurd and true, humor absurd and untrue.””
—Vivian Mercier (b. 1919)