iPedia Free Information Center

Information about Sexy Son Hypothesis

The sexy son hypothesis is a concept from evolutionary biology, proposed by P. J. Weatherhead and R. J. Robertson in 1979. [1] It posits that a female animal's optimal choice among potential fathers 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 is irrelevant to his value as potential father of the female's offspring.

The sexy son hypothesis has been suggested as the origin of some aspects of human sexual behavior. In particular, it has been shown that human females are more attracted to traditionally masculine men ("cads") during the most fertile times of their menstrual cycles, and more attracted to relatively feminine men ("dads") during the remainder of the cycle. [2] These observations have led to the controversial conclusion that women's infidelity is natural, and evolutionarily advantageous, on the grounds that it will enable them to secure both the best genes and the best caregiver for their offspring.

References

1. ^ Weatherhead, P. J., and R. J. Robertson. 1979. Offspring quality and the polygyny threshold: 'The sexy son hypothesis'. American Naturalist 113:201-208.
2. ^ [1]
Evolutionary biology is a sub-field of biology concerned with the origin and descent of species, as well as their change, multiplication, and diversity over time.
..... Click the link for more information.
19th century - 20th century - 21st century
1940s  1950s  1960s  - 1970s -  1980s  1990s  2000s
1976 1977 1978 - 1979 - 1980 1981 1982

Also: 1979 by Smashing Pumpkins.

..... Click the link for more information.
Female (♀) is the sex of an organism, or a part of an organism, which produces ova (egg cells). The ova are defined as the larger gametes in a heterogamous reproduction system, while the smaller, usually motile gamete, the spermatozoon is produced by the male.
..... Click the link for more information.
father is defined as the male parent of an offspring.

According to anthropologist Maurice Godelier, a critical novelty in human society, compared to humans closest biological relatives (chimpanzees and bonobos), is the parental role assumed by the males, which were unaware
..... Click the link for more information.
offspring are the product of reproduction, a new organism produced by one or more parents.

Collective offspring may be known as a brood or progeny in a more general way.
..... Click the link for more information.
Reproductive success is defined as the passing of genes onto the next generation in a way that they too can pass those genes on. In practice, this is often a tally of the number of offspring produced by an individual.
..... Click the link for more information.
mating is the pairing of opposite-sex or hermaphroditic internal fertilization animals for copulation and, in social animals, also to raise their offspring. Mating methods include random mating, disassortative mating, assortative mating, or a mating pool.
..... Click the link for more information.
This article or section may contain original research or unverified claims.
Please help Wikipedia by adding references. See the for details.
This article has been tagged since October 2007.

..... Click the link for more information.
This article is about sexual practices (i.e., physical sex). Broader aspects of sexual behaviour such as social and psychological sexual issues are covered in related articles such as human sexuality, heterosexuality, and homosexuality.

..... Click the link for more information.
The word masculine can refer to:
  • The property of being biologically male
  • Masculinity, a traditionally male gender role
  • The masculine grammatical gender
The antonym of masculine is feminine.
..... Click the link for more information.
Fertility is the natural capability of giving life. As a measure, "Fertility Rate" is the number of children born per couple, person or population. This is different to fecundity, which is defined as the potential
..... Click the link for more information.
The menstrual cycle is a recurring cycle of physiologic changes that occurs in the females of several mammals, including human beings and other apes.[1] Humans are the only species that has a menstrual cycle with concealed ovulation.
..... Click the link for more information.
The word feminine can refer to:
  • The property of being biologically female
  • Femininity, a traditionally female gender role
  • The feminine grammatical gender
The antonym of feminine is masculine.
..... Click the link for more information.
controversy or dispute is a matter of opinion over which parties actively disagree, argue, or debate. Controversies can range in size from private disputes between two individuals to large-scale disagreements between societies.
..... Click the link for more information.
Infidelity is literally a breach of faith and occurs in a number of contexts (e.g., in religious contexts). That referred to here is also called cheating - 'any violation of the mutually agreed-upon rules or boundaries of a relationship'.
..... Click the link for more information.
Editing of this page by unregistered or newly registered users is currently disabled due to vandalism.
If you are prevented from editing this page, and you wish to make a change, please discuss changes on the talk page, request unprotection, log in, or .
..... Click the link for more information.
human genome is the genome of Homo sapiens, which is composed of 24 distinct pairs of chromosomes (22 autosomal + X + Y) with a total of approximately 3 billion DNA base pairs containing an estimated 20,000–25,000 genes.
..... Click the link for more information.
American Naturalist is a monthly scientific journal, founded in 1867 and associated with the American Society of Naturalists. It is published by the University of Chicago Press. The journal covers ecology, evolutionary biology, population, and integrative biology research.
..... Click the link for more information.


This article is copied from an article on Wikipedia.org - the free encyclopedia created and edited by online user community. The text was not checked or edited by anyone on our staff. Although the vast majority of the wikipedia encyclopedia articles provide accurate and timely information please do not assume the accuracy of any particular article. This article is distributed under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License.
Herod_Archelaus


page counter