A new research at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada has found that the female rats know exactly if a prospective mate has been mating with other females or abstaining all thanks to the male rodents’ smell. And, they also seem to prefer those males with an active sex life.
During the trail, the team led by Bennett Galef placed two male rats behind mesh screens on both ends of a tank of which one had recently copulated with a female.They later placed different female rats, separately, in the middle of the tank.
The findings revealed that the females were more attracted towards the rat that had recently copulated.
And when the trials were conducted using female rats without a sense of smell females did not show any inclination for either male.
“The study seems to illustrate the maxim "success breeds success". It's highly likely that the female rats are attracted by the smell of the sexually active male, rather than repelled by the stench of desperation from the sex-starved one,” New Scientist quoted Galef, as saying.
However he also said "It's unlikely that males would evolve a signal that makes them unattractive to females.”
Source-ANI
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