The presence of false eyespots in some species is related more to success at creating more offspring than to success at fooling and escaping from predators. This is a factor of sexual selection, where a male that is more conspicuous and attractive to a female will father more offspring and thus pass on more of the genes for the conspicuous display. An outstanding example of this the peacock, where they male's inordinately large tale feather display is adorned with conspicuous eye-like patterns. Scientists think that the abundance of conspicuous false eyespots in some groups of tropical fish, is related both to sexual selection and natural selection. This material may be copied for use in student classroom projects and reports.
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