Meanings
- evolutionary theoryThe hypothesis, in evolutionary biology, that a female animal's optimal choice among potential mates is a male whose genes will produce male offspring with the best chance of reproductive success, irrespective of the mate's capacity as a caregiver or any other direct benefits he can offer.
Enter the sexy son hypothesis, which says that the peahen was selected to prefer fancy-plumed peacocks because this would increase the chances that her male offspring would inherit a comparably impressive tail and would therefore be especially attractive to the next generation of peahens.
2012, David P. Barash, Homo Mysterious, Oxford University Press, →ISBN
Origin
Coined by P. J. Weatherhead and R. J. Robertson in a paper published in The American Naturalist (1979).
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
sexy son hypothesis. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sexy%20son%20hypothesis
“sexy son hypothesis.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sexy%20son%20hypothesis. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “sexy son hypothesis,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sexy%20son%20hypothesis.
Source: sexy son hypothesis on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.