Gail thinks that by demanding the cocks perform this gruelling dance the hens ensure that they bag themselves a high pedigree male, with grade-A genes. ‘There’s not one single system that’s involved with making somebody a world-class athlete versus someone who isn’t, right? It’s going to be your aerobic capacity, your metabolic efficiency, your immune system, your foraging ability, how well you digest food and turn it into active energy, and so on. So the sage grouse are working their butts off doing this fundamentally difficult thing that you can only do if you are in good condition.’
