29th September 2014 | by MFC Team
Study finds that “masculine” looking men have lower sperm quality
Looking for the perfect guy to father your children? It may surprise you to know that appearance may be deceiving. A recent study suggests that “macho” looking men may have lower quality sperm than other men.
The study was published in the Journal of Evolutionary Biology, and was conducted by a team of researchers from Spain, Australia, and Columbia. The researchers analyzed the sperm quality of 50 Caucasian students from the University of Valencia in Spain, and rated their level of attractiveness and masculinity according to their facial features. The researchers found that men with more masculine faces tended to have lower quality sperm than men with more feminine looking facial features. The researchers also found that men who were rated as more attractive rather than macho, by a panel of male and female judges, had higher sperm quality.
These findings are consistent with previous research that suggests men with deeper voices and bigger muscles appear to have lower sperm quality. One evolutionary theory to explain this unlikely association is that masculine men with deeper voices and bigger muscles may be able to “beat away” other men to attract more women, but their higher levels of the male sex hormone testosterone may impede their sperm production resulting in lower fertility levels.
The results contradict the long-held evolutionary “phenotype-linked hypothesis” which suggests that women select more attractive men for partners because they believe their attractiveness indicates better health and fertility – with their children potentially gaining the benefit of their good genes.
Read about the study here.
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