The more prolific, the easier it is to have a son

The more red male the deer is, the more likely it is to have a son. This is the first study to show that mammals can affect the sex of females through sperm quality.

(Photo: digitalwildlife.co.uk) Red deer guys go all the way to find their partners, protect their concubines and fight their opponents. Now scientists have found that the winners of the estrus season will have more sons, and pass on the outstanding characteristics of his father. The loser agrees with the daughter descendant.

It has long been hypothesized that the most successful males in mating are more likely to give birth to boys, to inherit the dominant traits of males. This has been demonstrated in corn finches, where eggs determine the sex of the offspring, but no mammal has been found in a mammal to play a decisive role.

Montserrat Gomendio and colleagues at the National Museum of Natural Science in Madrid, Spain, have shown this in red deer.

The team collected the testes of the male deer that were hunted during the ritual season and examined their sperm quality. Then they implanted in healthy females. The proportion of females that a guy can make pregnant fluctuates within 24% to 70%. Males who have the highest ability to make pregnant women also have the largest number of males.

The prolific male usually has the most branching antlers, helping to seduce the children and defeat the enemy. Therefore, as expected, successful males will have more sons and transmit their genes.

MT