Could sexual selection be driven by the mistaken inferences of young females?

A new evolutionary model of mate choice copying, published in PLOS Biology, aims to reconcile mismatches between theory and data by proposing that juvenile females mistakenly imprint on male phenotypes that were not in fact preferred by the female they copied.

Automated summary

A new evolutionary model proposes that juvenile females mistakenly imprint on male phenotypes that were not preferred by the female they copied, aiming to reconcile mismatches between theory and data.