A little of what you fancy does you no good
Males evolved extravagant plumage, towering antlers, and frenetic mating displays, Darwin proposed, because that's what females like. Selection on secondary sexual characteristics often results in sexually dimorphic traits being tailored toward the specific reproductive needs......mate choice as an important source of selection on extravagant and rapidly evolving traits, such as mating signals. Testing this hypothesis requires evaluating the effect of changes in mate preferences on changes in mating signals. We conducted the most comprehensive test to date with Enchenopa treehoppers, plan...FSU biologist says new dinosaur is oldest cousin of Tyrannosaurus rex
...what with its flashy crest atop its small head an extravagant ornament likely used only for attraction and display purposes and the first of its kind seen in the tyrannosaur's predatory family. The creature has been named "Guanlong wucaii" and translated loosely from Chinese, that's "crowned dragon five colors....Extravagant but worthless gifts help a guy get the girl
... courtship as a sequential game, they show that an extravagant gift, which is costly to the man but worthless to the woman, may solve the problem. A costly gift signals the man has long-term intentions but by being worthless to the woman, gold-diggers are deterred. The researchers also show that a modified form...Fitness correlates of song repertoire size in free-living song sparrows
...referentially mate with males with more complex or extravagant songs. But why should females prefer these males? What information does a male's song convey? Jane M. Reid and fellow researchers studied a population of song sparrows inhabiting Mandarte Island, British Columbia, Canada, where males sing elaborate ...