Chest-thumping and grunting alpha males, a study suggests, may be losing the battle for preferable females to males who can demonstrate caregiving and the ability to provide for a family.

In early human evolution, when faithful females began to choose good providers as mates, pair-bonding replaced promiscuity, laying the foundation for the emergence of the institution of the modern family.

At one University of Cincinnati laboratory, the phrase “battle of the sexes” is taking on new meaning, with implications for our understanding of evolution.

For the first time, scientists have found what could be a causative link between the concentration of circulating Y-chromosome fetal cells in women who gave birth to children of either sex and their risk of later developing breast cancer and colon cancer.

A study carried out by researchers from Spain, the Netherlands and Argentina suggests that in a work environment, sexual competition affects women more than men.