Which is really the weaker sex?

摘要

WOMEN LIVE longer than men. And, more generally, female mammals live longer than male ones. This might be put down to the fact that males live more dangerous lives than females-competition for the affections of those females being an ingrained part of malehood. Such competition leads either to dangerous fights, or to the growing of showy-offy but physiologically expensive and thus life-limiting accoutrements, or both. All of which would make perfect sense were it not also true that male birds, which cede nothing to their mammalian counterparts in the fighting and showing-off departments, nevertheless manage, on average, to outlive their respective females. Male spruce grouse (pictured), for example, live for 13 years; females for five.