Biology (11th Edition)

Published by McGraw-Hill Education
ISBN 10: 1259188132
ISBN 13: 978-1-25918-813-8

Chapter 54 - Behavioral Biology - Review Questions - Synthesize - Page 1163: 3

Answer

She could be obtaining benefits, such as gifts, from both males. She also might get a greater genetic diversity among her offspring, which would be advantageous in some habitats.

Work Step by Step

To see this, imagine some movie or TV show in which someone cheats on a boyfriend/girlfriend/spouse. By this action, they usually get some benefit, be it ego gratification, money, power, etc. If the cheater has children or some other beneficiary, that benefit would also accrue to the cheater's offspring. That would be in parallel with the case described for peacocks.
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