Chickens prefer beautiful humans

[Martin]

I don't know if this research has been discussed at this forum yet. If not, it may be interesting to check out. the paper was published in a peer reviewed journal---Human Nature---in 2002.

 

 

 

the abstract is here:

 

http://www.intercult.su.se/cgi-bin/public?action=search&text=ghirlanda

 

Chickens prefer beautiful humans

Ghirlanda, Stefano and Jansson, Liselotte and Enquist, Magnus

Human Nature 13, 383-389 (2002)

Abstract: We trained chickens to react to an average human female face but not to an average male face (or vice-versa). In a subsequent test, the animals showed preferences for faces consistent with human sexual preferences (obtained from university students). This suggests that human preferences arise from general properties of nervous systems, rather than from face-specific adaptations. We discuss this result in the light of current debate on the meaning of sexual signals, and suggest further tests of existing hypotheses about the origin of sexual preferences.

Download: PDF (109 KB)

 

the full text PDF link is

 

http://www.intercult.su.se/refweb/ghir02/ChickenFace.pdf

 

It looks to me like legitimate research, and certainly passed peer-review. Here is a homepage for one of the authors, Stefano Ghirlanda:

http://www.intercult.su.se/%7Estefano/

 

a general source for such things:

http://www.improbable.com/ig/ig-pastwinners.html

[Martin]

People with a morbid interest in the habits of Mallard Ducks may wish to consult:

 

C.W. Moeliker

The first case of homosexual necrophilia in the mallard Anas platyrhynchos (Aves: Anatidae) (page 243-247)

 

"On 5 June 1995 an adult male mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) collided with the glass façade of the Natuurmuseum Rotterdam and died. An other drake mallard raped the corpse almost continuously for 75 minutes. Then the author disturbed the scene and secured the dead duck. Dissection showed that the rape-victim indeed was of the male sex. It is concluded that the mallards were engaged in an ‘Attempted Rape Flight’ that resulted in the first described case of homosexual necrophilia in the mallard."

 

the abstract is here:

http://www.nmr.nl/deins815.htm

 

the full PDF text of the article is here:

http://www.nmr.nl/DSA8-243.pdf