What is the EVOLUTIONARY ADVANTAGE....

...of peahens preferring more flamboyant peacock tailfeathers.


It seems to me that peahens preferring peacocks who waste energy on this frivolous trait would have male offspring with less of a chance of surviving in the wild.  So please, explain to me the EVOLUTIONARY ADVANTAGE.

>peacocks who waste energy on this frivolous trait would have male offspring with less of a chance of surviving in the wild
You are entirely correct. This is called the "handicap principle": if a male has a major negative trait, and yet it still can find food and evade predators, the females want to pick that one badass to mate with due to his succesfull allele combination. Flamboyant colors are also a good way to show one's health and lack of diseases and parasites.