Excerpt from the book, which is not just about spiders: “A study in 2009 that tested the male satin bowerbirds’ problem-solving skills was the first to show th

Excerpt from the book, which is not just about spiders: “A study in 2009 that tested the male satin bowerbirds’ problem-solving skills was the first to show that cognitive performance is associated with mating success and females prefer the most nimble-minded male. Male budgerigars that demonstrate their problem-solving smarts have also been shown to be more attractive to females. So female choice could be responsible for shaping not only a male’s body and behaviour but also his brain. This idea isn’t new. Darwin himself proposed that sexual selection could, in fact, be responsible for the exceptional evolution of human cognition – especially the more ‘self-expressive’ aspects of human behaviour, such as art, morality, language and creativity.The idea that female choice might have polished the human brain into brilliance would have been the ultimate blow to the Victorian scientific patriarchy – hitting them right between the eyes, where it hurt most. Female choice is indeed a powerful evolutionary force, but also seemingly random. Why do all female satin bowerbirds love Matisse blue, however, and not Turner’s yellow?” Excerpt From Bitch Lucy Cooke This material may be protected by copyright.