This question gets back to the premise of QUIRK: Yes, badass males win control over more uteruses. But it’s a small advantage, with a very high cost. So, it’s one strategy for winning Reproduction Roulette, but it’s not the only strategy.

This comes from a “meta analysis” of research on dominant males in a variety of monkey and ape species. By looking a numerous papers, researchers can sometimes see a trend that doesn’t show up in a single research project or experiment.

They were hunting for the payoff that creates dominance hierarchies in the first place. Presumably, if you’re going to fight your way to the top, there’s a prize up there. Presumably that prize is the right to mate with more females, and to eat the best food.

Surprisingly, the individual investigations have been unclear: Some say yes; others say… uh…

That’s surprising because various studies have found that winning the rat race is expensive for primates, in terms of stress. Males who fight for the throne suffer not only physical wounds, but chemical ones as well. Females, based on baboon research, actually raise more offspring if they have good friends than if they’re dominant.

But there has to be a payoff for all that stress and struggle.

The trend that emerged from 94 studies: Males do, in fact, get better access to uteruses in exchange for their struggles. But if it takes 94 studies to make this clear, then the advantage is small.

Which means the advantage to not being dominant is bigger than you’d think: Somewhat fewer kids; but no biting, no fighting, no stress.

This reminds me of drifter males in orangutans: They skip the final transition into fat-faced masculinity, and all the battles that ensue. They’re successful breeders because they pass for females — and then mate with them. WINNING!

There’s more than one way to skin a cat. There’s more than one route to the uterus. There’s a reason that your personal quirks are still circulating in the human gene pool.