Mating Has Long-Term Benefits: Courtship Can Take Effort, but Now Scientists Know Why It Might Be Worth It

ScienceDaily (Apr. 9, 2012) — Courtship rituals can demand time and effort, but now scientists have discovered why it might be worth it.

Attracting a mate -- which can take significant effort, such as in a peacock's show of feathers or the exhaustive rutting of stags -- can produce benefits for a species in the long term, a study suggests.

Edinburgh scientists have shown that animals and plants which reproduce sexually are at a considerable advantage to those species -- such as some insects and reptiles -- that reproduce without a partner.

Shuffling DNA

Researchers studied sexual reproduction in tiny fruit flies to learn more about how DNA is randomly shuffled when the genes of two parents combine to create a new individual.

They found that this recombination of genetic material allows for damaging elements of DNA -- which might cause disease or other potential drawbacks -- to be weeded out within a few generations.




Read on: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/04/120409133912.htm