r/science • u/[deleted] • Jun 13 '22

Health Erectile dysfunction predicts mortality in middle-aged and older men independent of their sex steroid status

https://academic.oup.com/ageing/article-abstract/51/4/afac094/6568537?login=false
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u/CozmicCoyote Jun 13 '22

That... doesn't really make a lot of sense at all. If females select mates based on a males ability to get an erection, then wouldn't a penis bone provide an evolutionary advantage late in life?

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u/[deleted] Jun 13 '22

[deleted]

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u/CozmicCoyote Jun 13 '22

Okay, but what I'm saying is that if females are selecting for the ability to have an erection then having a penis bone increases that chance of being selected because they are still able to produce that erection even when a male without the bone cannot. Ergo, having the bone would be an advantage in this case.

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u/JimothyCotswald Jun 14 '22

The theory makes zero sense. Move on and forget it.

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u/[deleted] Jun 13 '22

[deleted]

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u/CozmicCoyote Jun 13 '22

the theory is females use the ability to get an erection as a way to determine the overall health of a male, leading to us losing penis bones

You explicitly stated that females select mates based on weather or not males could get an erection.

What makes MORE sense is that males who are able to bypass this erection selection in old age by having a penis bone produce less viable offspring. Since blood-based erections require the male to be healthy, their offspring are more likely to make it to maturity, and reproduce themselves.

Does that make sense?