Why do some birds have long tails, others have bright plumage or patterns and others possess beautifully complicated songs. Many animal behaviourists have agreed that all these characteristics are developed as a result of female sexual selection, but that is where the agreement stops. The many theories on the evolution of secondary sexual characters, are an evolution in their own right. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the evolution of the research and …showed first 75 words of 2869 total…

…showed last 75 words of 2869 total…with low mating success are more likely to suffer predation. Animal Behaviour 44, 585 - 586. Petrie, M, Halliday, T & Sanders, C (1994) Improved growth and survival of off-spring of peacocks with more elaborate trains. Animal Behaviour 371, 598 - 599. Ridley M. (1992) Swallows and Scorpion Flies Find Symmetry is Beautiful. Science 257 327-328 Swaddle. P. & Cuthill. I. C. (1994) Preference for symmetrical males by female zebra finches. NATURE vol 367 p165 Watson P.J. & Thornhill R. (1994)Fluctuation asymmetry and sexual selection. TREE vol 9 p21.