The most attractive male birds attract more females and as a result are most successful in terms of reproduction. This is the starting point of many studies looking for factors that influence sexual selection in birds. However, is it reasonable to assume that birds see what we see? In a study published in the latest issue of American Naturalist, Uppsala researchers show that our human vision is not an adequate instrument.

Study considered an important link in the field of sexual selection, where maternal inheritance of mitochondria may well have its greatest impact on sperm traits and competitive ability but thus far has been largely overlooked

For some female iguanas, snaring a prince comes at a price. A team led by Princeton scientists has found that among the marine iguanas of the Galápagos Islands, females spend a great deal of energy picking a mate from their many suitors -- sapping strength the females might have used for finding food, escaping predators or producing eggs.

Picking a mate isn’t easy—if you are a female iguana. In a study published in the June 27th issue of the online, open-access journal PLoS ONE, Maren Vitousek of Princeton University and colleagues found that female Galбpagos marine iguanas spend a lot of energy picking a mate from a wide range of suitors – energy they could otherwise spend foraging, producing eggs, or avoiding predators.

Scientists from the universities of Exeter and Cambridge have turned a textbook example of sexual selection on its head and shown that females may be more astute at choosing a mate than previously thought.