Muscular man with long hair and a beard has small balls

Researchers at the University of Western Australia and Zurich concluded in a study that the more striking a man’s appearance is, the smaller his balls are. Among other things, long hair and heavy beards would be a sign on the wall. The study was published in the scientific journal “Proceedings of the Royal Society B”.

The evolution biologists looked at the sexual characteristics of more than a hundred primate species, including those of humans.

“To maximize their chances of passing on their genes, males invest in various sexual traits, such as a large and muscular body and long fangs that can serve when fighting for a female,” the researchers said. “In addition, they will adorn themselves with many colors, long hairs, beards, and fleshy swellings to intimidate rivals and attract females.”

“And if that doesn’t work, they will try to outdo the other males with their sperm. With as many sperms as possible, they try to surpass the sperm of the other males, so that the chance of fertilization will be to their advantage.”

“To produce a lot of sperm, however, they must have large balls,” says evolution biologist Stefan Lüpold. “The development of these ‘decorations’ is at the expense of the size of their balls and the sperm production.

After all, it requires too much energy to be nicely decorated and well endowed. In other words: the showiest men have the smallest balls.”