Want to know if your partner will be a good dad? Measure his TESTICLES: Men with small glands are more involved in parenting
Fathers with small testicles more likely to be involved in child care because they have lower testosterone levels
Decreases in testosterone may suppress mating efforts, channelling a man’s energy toward child care
Testes volume is associated with sperm production and testosterone levels
Men with small testicles are better parents, new research suggests.
Researchers found that fathers with smaller testicles are more likely to be involved in child care.
Previous studies have suggested that decreases in testosterone may suppress mating efforts, potentially channelling a man’s energy toward the care of infants.
This ties in with an evolutionary hypothesis called Life History Theory which holds that mating and parenting compete for the limited energy animals expend on reproduction, reports the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Online.
Dr James Rilling, of Atlanta's Emory University, decided to investigate the link between testes size and parenting among men.
Testes volume is associated with sperm production and testosterone levels.
The researchers found that fathers' testes size was negatively tied to nurturing-related brain activity triggered while they viewed pictures of their own child.
In particular, fathers who were more responsive than others to their child's emotional faces tended to have smaller testes and be more involved in infant care.
Dr Rilling said: ‘The link between testes size and parenting-related brain activity suggests a trade-off between mating and parenting.’