Some interesting trade-offs in breeding decisions

Lowly females choose mediocre mates BBC:

"The main reason, we think, could be that the two individuals just accept each other faster - they just go for it.

"The really amazing thing is that the females are able to recognise what 'category' they are in. We'd like to investigate further to find out how they do this."

Joseph Tobias ... said the findings were interesting.

"While [this] doesn't overturn evolutionary thinking, it does reveal some interesting trade-offs in breeding decisions," he said.

"It also raises the intriguing possibility that the environment in which individuals are reared strongly influences their mating preferences as adults."

The study by Marie-Jeanne Holveck and Katharina Riebel is published here.

Isn't this confirmation of assortative mating? Why chase someone you are unlikely to attract?