The sexy son hypothesis of evolutionary biology was first proposed by Ronald Fisher in 1930. It proposes that a female animal's optimal choice among potential mates is a male whose genes will produce male offspring with the best chance of reproductive success. In particular, the sexy son hypothesis implies that a potential mate's capacity as a caregiver or any other direct benefits the male can offer the female (e.g. nuptial gifts, good territory) are irrelevant to his value as the potential father of the female's offspring. What matters are her "sexy sons"' future breeding successes (like that of their promiscuous father) in creating large numbers of offspring carrying copies of the female's genes. This hypothesis has been researched in species such as the European pied flycatcher.
Read more about Sexy Son Hypothesis: Context, Sexual Conflict, Good Genes Theory, Sperm Models, Human Sexual Behavior
Famous quotes containing the words son and/or hypothesis:
“All know that all the dead in the world about that place are stuck
And that should mother seek her son she’d have but little luck
Because the fires of Purgatory have ate their shapes away;
I swear to God I questioned them and all they had to say
Was fol de rol de rolly O.”
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“It is an hypothesis that the sun will rise tomorrow: and this means that we do not know whether it will rise.”
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