Darwin Proved Right-- Men are Evolutionary Simpletons

[MikeCam]

Headline: Despite flash, males are simple creatures
Females evolve slower, but it's because they're more complex.

Body Extract: The secret to why male organisms evolve faster than their female counterparts comes down to this: Males are simple creatures.

In nearly all species, males seem to ramp up glitzier garbs, more graceful dance moves and more melodic warbles in a never-ending vie to woo the best mates. Called sexual selection, the result is typically a showy male and a plain-Jane female. Evolution speeds along in the males compared to females.

The idea that males evolve more quickly than females has been around since 19th century biologist Charles Darwin observed the majesty of a peacock’s tail feather in comparison with those of the drab peahen.

How and why males exist in evolutionary overdrive despite carrying essentially the same genes as females has long puzzled scientists.

New research on fruit flies, detailed online last week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, finds males have fewer genetic obstacles to prevent them from responding quickly to selection pressures in their environments.

"It’s because males are simpler," said lead author Marta Wayne, a zoologist at the University of Florida in Gainesville. "The mode of inheritance in males involves simpler genetic architecture that does not include as many interactions between genes as could be involved in female inheritance."

And the reason males are genetic simpletons, it turns out, is sex. The researchers suggest this uncomplicated genetic pathway allows males to respond at the drop of a hat to the pressures of sexual selection. That way they can win females, produce more offspring and start the cycle over again.

Credit: MSNBC http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21882948/

[Biff's R]

Isn't that also the reason we males are needed in fewer numbers to maintain the species.

[wncbmw]

You know, I dare say, most men and women would instinctively know this to be true.

Men are simple and will adapt quickly, if it means getting sex. (Check out the singles bar scene for proof!)

Women are complex (and wonderous) creatures. Ask any man if he understands them, and if he says yes, he will lie about other things also!

[Beemeridian]

updated

[Biff's R]

I wish we had more female customers. If you can sell stuff to women, you can make big $$$. 15 miles east of me is the Longaberger Basket Co. owner/whatever's house. 15 miles west is the home of Les Wexner, founder/guru behind Victoria's Secret. Both are more than 50,000 sf, and very nice.