Good news. Ugly fathers produce fitter babies.
Women, take note – that Adonis you’re eyeing up as the father of your unborn child is the wrong choice.
Instead, pick an ugly man – as he will produce healthier babies than an attractive one, research suggests.
The theory centres on females knowing they may not have another chance to procreate, so they decide to make the best of what they have – an unattractive male.
Offspring from ‘low-quality’ males need extra resources to flourish so females compensate by investing more in the reproduction, scientists claim.
The discovery came after monogamous female zebra finches which paired with the least attractive males laid larger eggs with more orange yolks – a sign of good health.
‘Females also deposited more testosterone into eggs when paired to a low-quality male,’ said German bird expert Elisabeth Bolund, whose findings were published by the Royal Society.
