Female fish distract males with attractive friends

In research published today in Proceedings of the Royal Society, scientists from the University of Exeter in Cornwall have found that female Trinidadian guppy (Poecilia reticulate) use a strategy that involves choosing social partners based on their sexual attractiveness. By swimming alongside females that were considered to be more attractive, they were able to manipulate the behaviour of the males, deflecting away their sexual attention.



"This is an important finding because it represents the first evidence that females will actively tailor their social environment based on sexual attractiveness, to meet the need to reduce sexual advances from males," said lead author Safi Darden. "It also opens a whole new avenue of research into the possible trade-offs that females face in choosing their social partners." ~ Cosmos