Ever feel like you just couldn’t get the ladies’ attention, hanging out with your pretty-boy jock friends? No matter how witty or polite you were, their gaze just kept drifting to the defined muscles and confident attitude of those bastards you call “buds?” Science has the answer! Surround yourself with people less desirable than yourself!
Kevin P. Oh and Alexander V. Badyaev of the University of Arizona have reported in The American Naturalist that in some finches (Carpodacus mexicanus) red plumage is considered a desirable trait to females searching for mates. Unfortunately, a portion of the males in these populations develop yellow feathers instead. To get around this handicap, they join groups of other undesirables – and increase their mating potential to nearly equal their sexy red counterparts just sitting there, waiting for the gals to line up.
You know, this does sound kind of familiar… Despite my eccentricities and mutton chops at 20 – among a group of field paleontologists, I had the least amount of facial hair and odd phobias. And hey, I got the girl!
