Smart male leaves more descendants...Related to deterrence, spatial learning capabilities, etc
Feb 26, 2025
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This is the result of a study by Dr. Ivan Vinogradov of the Australian National University (ANU) published in the scientific journal Nature Ecology and Evolution on the 26th.
The research team said it tested the intelligence of male mosquito fish and examined their mating and offspring to confirm this fact.
Males of small fish called Gambusia holbrooki, which ate mosquito larvae, were used to investigate the connection between intelligence and reproductive ability according to sexual selection. First, they tested the cognitive abilities of male mosquito meat through underwater experiments such as exploring a maze, bypassing transparent barriers, and remembering various places of various colors, and placed them in 11 outdoor ponds to compete for mating. Four standard cognitive tasks were performed, and five cognitive performance indicators were quantified.
In the experiment, we analyzed the genotypes of 2,430 offspring of females and examined the paternity relationship, and found that males who performed well in intelligence tests mate with more females and gave birth to more offspring than less intelligent males. In particular, males with excellent inhibition and good spatial learning ability gave birth to significantly more offspring, while males with excellent initial impulse suppression ability had significantly fewer offspring. However, it was found that the association between federated learning and anti-war learning ability was not significant.
The research team explained that animal intelligence evolution has been considered to be the driving force for natural selection, where problem-solving ability is advantageous for survival, but this study suggests that 'smartness' acts as an attractive factor for the opposite sex and that 'exual selection' can be the driving force for intelligence evolution. However, sexual selection did not work on all cognitive abilities, and further research was needed on the difference in male mating behavior according to intelligence level.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
