# Do Nonhuman Animals Have "Types" That They Look For In Mates? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 14, 2020, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-nonhuman-animals-have-types-that-they-look-for-in-mates/853786 "2020-05-14T14:02:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2020, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-nonhuman-animals-have-types-that-they-look-for-in-mates/853786/21 "2020-05-15T17:06:30Z")
Well, it’s not specifically mating behavior, but I do have a dog who has a distinct preference for certain types. He’s a lab/husky mix and will give all the benefit of the doubt to any other dog who exhibits typical snow dog traits–pricked ears, curly brushy tail, a ruff around the neck, etc. Those dogs he’ll play with and follow around and like. He’s also weirdly impressed with Great Danes, they fascinate him and he’ll follow them around like a hero worshipping kid after a sports celebrity. On the other hand, he detests pit bull types. Show him a dog with a blocky head and a skinny whippy tail and he’s gonna be on his guard immediately and will probably get into a squabble with that dog regardless of age or sex–he just doesn’t like pits. Might be a body language thing but it’s so reliable I have to watch him like a hawk at the dog park, especially now that he’s old and crotchety and I REALLY don’t need him picking a fight he can’t finish. Vets are expensive. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2020, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-nonhuman-animals-have-types-that-they-look-for-in-mates/853786/22 "2020-05-15T18:05:34Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Evolution _could_ be that scenario writ large. If the different preferences persist long enough, and are at least partly genetic, then you could eventually see a split into a Blue Peacock species and a Green Peacock species. But more often, when a species splits, it’s because of geographic separation and either random founder effects, or different external environments. Sure, I don’t think we are disagreeing at all. Sexual preferences are a real thing and may or may not persist through the generations, sometimes to a point of speciation (for various reasons), not all evolutionary processes end up with distinct species though. ---
**Author:** ![obbn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/d6d6ee/32.png) [@obbn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obbn)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2020, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-nonhuman-animals-have-types-that-they-look-for-in-mates/853786/23 "2020-05-15T20:54:58Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > Also, don’t most males of most species in the animal kingdom “choose” their mates whether they (the mates) like it or not? There appears to be a LOOT of that happening in the chicken world. Dear God, there’s so much Rooster Initiated Rape happening among our chickens. ---
**Author:** ![obbn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/d6d6ee/32.png) [@obbn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obbn)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2020, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-nonhuman-animals-have-types-that-they-look-for-in-mates/853786/24 "2020-05-15T21:04:04Z")
\*LOT I seem to have missed the edit window. Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![Capn\_Carl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/838e76/32.png) [@Capn\_Carl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capn_Carl)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2020, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-nonhuman-animals-have-types-that-they-look-for-in-mates/853786/25 "2020-05-16T21:28:44Z")
> [@SmartAleq](#): > > Well, it’s not specifically mating behavior, but I do have a dog who has a distinct preference for certain types. He’s a lab/husky mix and will give all the benefit of the doubt to any other dog who exhibits typical snow dog traits–pricked ears, curly brushy tail, a ruff around the neck, etc. Those dogs he’ll play with and follow around and like. He’s also weirdly impressed with Great Danes, they fascinate him and he’ll follow them around like a hero worshipping kid after a sports celebrity. On the other hand, he detests pit bull types. Show him a dog with a blocky head and a skinny whippy tail and he’s gonna be on his guard immediately and will probably get into a squabble with that dog regardless of age or sex–he just doesn’t like pits. Might be a body language thing but it’s so reliable I have to watch him like a hawk at the dog park, especially now that he’s old and crotchety and I REALLY don’t need him picking a fight he can’t finish. Vets are expensive. We had a female mixed breed that would play with nearly any dog at the dog park, but she would go nuts over large male dogs. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2020, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-nonhuman-animals-have-types-that-they-look-for-in-mates/853786/26 "2020-05-16T22:01:45Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > And I’m a bit curious as to why your OP only suggested examples of individual **male** preferences in sexual selection, when AFAICT the key aspect of sexual selection in nonhuman animals tends to be **female** preferences. True. In those large hoofed and horned mammals where the males fight by crashing into each other head-first at high speed, the female picks the male that winds up less concussed. 🙂 \*some females of Homo sapiens choose mates on a similar basis. ---
**Author:** ![cmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@cmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmore)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2020, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-nonhuman-animals-have-types-that-they-look-for-in-mates/853786/27 "2020-05-18T12:27:07Z")
good stuff here, check it out True Facts: Mating Dance of the Ostrich Mating Dance of the Puffin [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/oGdVSvsiaOk/hqdefault.jpg "Mating Dance of the Puffin") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGdVSvsiaOk) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-nonhuman-animals-have-types-that-they-look-for-in-mates/853786.md?page=1)