Why Peahens Find Long Peacock Tails so Increadibly Sexy!

In the beginning...peacocks had shorter tails but one mutant peacock had a slightly longer tail than the others. The peahens saw it was good (very sexy!) and they then mated with the mutant peacock and beget many offspring with longer tails and a longer-tail preference, since these were the genes passed on.

Among the brood of the new generation there was a peacock with an even longer tail than his dear old dad and the peahens went wild! The preference for long tails grew and peacock tails grew from generation to generation--until predators found peacocks too easy to catch.

The pendulum may have swung the other way for a time until an equilibrium was reached: a peacock's tail was long enough to attract the peahen babes and short enough to allow him to mate before becoming a tiger's lunch.

I have always found the peacock's tail tale fascinating, but even more intriguing is the peahen's sexual preference for long tails. Why do peahens find longer tails sexier than shorter tails?

Wouldn't it be better for the species if females preferred shorter tails? After all, peacocks with shorter tails could elude predators more easily and pass on that advantageous attribute to their peachicks.

Here is my theory: peahens' sexual attraction to longer tails is actually a practical advantage!

Consider what might happen if peahens preferred peacocks with short tails. Their predators might become extinct unless they became better hunters of the elusive short-tailed peacock or found alternative prey.

If more peacocks manage to elude predators then the peafowl population might explode. They might then cause the extinction of some insects, reptiles, grains and other life they feed on. In turn, the peafowl themselves would starve and die.

Therefore there is no real advantage in having peahens favor shorter tails. On the other hand, peahens favoring longer tails may have the effect of preventing an ecological disaster. Natural selection, in the case of the peafowl, may be doing what is best for life as a whole.