Sometimes, we have to wonder if scientists have just a little too much free time on their hands.
A recent study put out by Drake University found that female lemurs, when injected with Depo-Provera (a common birth control marketed by Pfizer), were less desirable to their male counterparts because they smelled different.
“There’s something very different about these gals,” Christine Drea, author of the study, is quoted as saying. “If animals are figuring out who their kin are by scent, she no longer smells like her brother.”
Female lemurs attract mates by emitting a personal "scent stew" (nice) that allows males to figure out if they're fertile or even inbred. But after being shot up with Depro-Provera once a month, the female test lemurs began to give off a completely different scent than the males were used to. Therefore, their popularity "plummeted."
So what does this study have to do with humans? Possibly, nothing, but that didn't stop Drea from inferring that the reason certain single gals can't seem to find a guy could be because they're using birth control.
"One has to wonder if human mate choice might be affected in some of the same ways it has been in these primates.”
Sure, one can wonder, but until someone comes up with solid proof, let's not scare an entire population of young women who are just trying to protect their bodies. Lemurs may be adorable, but they're not people. Not by a long shot.
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