Reproductive Potential and Paternity Certainty: Factors Determining

Reproductive Potential and Paternity Certainty: Factors Determining Mate Preferences among Males & Females

Dear So Bummed Out in Berkeley,

You described yourself as a "sleek, young California mouse." Indeed, your irritation over Guy Next Door/Dull Dude for choosing his "totally ugly" wife over you has to do with your physical traits/attributes. That is, you base your judgment that Dull Dude will prefer you, a young and sleek California mouse, with the assumption that he prefers physically attractive mice over 'totally ugly' ones. Unfortunately, due to the diverse characteristics that your specie (California mice) possess, it is not a guarantee that biological traits, specifically, desirable biological traits, becomes the sole basis for mate preference among male California mice (particularly Dull Dude).

It is important for you to remember that your specie does not only look at physical or biological traits, but it also looks at social and cultural interactions among species (in your case, among mice). But, yes, indeed you have a point in telling that you are an attractive female California mice; therefore, Dull Dude's attention must be focused on you, not on his ugly wife. In fact, there is a big possibility that Dull Dude will eventually center his attention on you once he gets to know you better. What are the chances that you and Dull Duded will get together? Chances of you two pairing up will become greater if you possess two essential factors that determine mate preference not only among your specie, but among primate species as well: reproductive potential and paternity certainty.

These two factors are determined with the assumption that males are considered aggressive members of the specie, while females, passive. This classification is conceived primarily because females, by nature, have to make the proper choice among potential males, in order to ensure that her partner will have 'good genes,' one of the main considerations in paternity certainty. Paternity certainty is a qualification for males, which ensures females that their male partners are capable of reproducing 'healthy' offspring with them (females). Males, on the other hand, are considered more aggressive than females because they are always in constant search for females who have big reproductive potential. This means that just like the females, males choose partners who are capable of reproducing offspring with males. In this case, it is hard for males to become monogamous, since they are always in search for potentially reproductive females. Females, on the other hand, are considered passive because they are choosy and want to reproduce with males who they consider capable of raising their offspring with their mate (females).