Elongated nipples *shudders*
Hairy male in prime seeks mature partner
* Lewis Smith, London
* November 22, 2006MALE chimpanzees have a penchant for a toyboy lifestyle and would far rather pair off with an older female than find one of their own age.
While young women in human society can find themselves faced with a queue of men hoping to buy them a drink, in chimpanzee communities it is the experienced female who is regarded as the epitome of beauty.In a new study that highlights one of the biggest behavioural differences between humans and our closest biological relatives, researchers find that male chimps will fight over the oldest females, while the youngest female chimps are forced to beg for masculine attention.
“It’s really dramatic because it’s not just that the old chimps are avoiding the youngest adult females. They actually have a strong preference for the older mothers,” Boston University anthropologist Martin Muller said.
Writing in the journal Current Biology, Dr Muller and colleagues said they studied chimpanzees living in the Kanyawara community of Kibale National Park in Uganda.
“Chimpanzee copulations are frequently preceded by a series of male courtship signals (for example, glancing with erect penis and branch shaking), after which either the male or the female approaches the other to mate,” the researchers wrote.
Unlike humans, female chimpanzees actively advertise when they are fertile, with bright red swellings around the genital area.
Chimpanzees also apparently remain fertile their entire lives and older female chimpanzees are more dominant socially and so have access to better food.
The toll that age and a life having babies can take on a female chimp is, to the virile male, merely a sign of success that promises his offspring a genetic head start in life.
So strong is the male urge to find an older partner that fights frequently break out over rights of access to the oldest female chimps in the tribe.
By contrast, the young females with all their fur, a flawless chimp complexion and a perfectly toned body can merely hope to mate with the weakest, most unwanted male specimens.
“Chimpanzee males may not find the wrinkled skin, ragged ears, irregular bald patches and elongated nipples of their aged females as alluring as human men find the full lips and smooth complexions of young women, but they are clearly not reacting negatively to such cues,” Dr Muller said.
The results suggest that the human tendency towards monogamy and a preference for mating with younger females is driven, at least in part, by the occurrence of the menopause in women.
Because men know that the older a women gets the less fertile she will be, it is in their interests to choose a young female who can go on breeding for years, the study says.
The Times, Reuters
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