14 DAY TRIAL // As it turns out, guy rats can be trained to appreciate the occasional tiny, fitted jacket on their gals. In fact, researchers argue that they can be taught to react to such an outfit in a manner similar to how men usually respond to provocative lingerie.
Otherwise put, it would appear that male rats have the ability to learn to associate the sight and the feeling of clothing partly covering their sweethearts with the promise of sweet lovin'.
Specialists theorize that, all things considered, the same might be true about human males. Thus, they say that, in light of this behavior displayed by male rats, it's safe to assume that men too learn to appreciate lingerie and don't just go for it out of their own will.
Teaching rats to like fitted jackets
Researchers Gonzalo R. Quintana Zunino and Jim Pfaus explain that, as part of this rather peculiar investigation, they first put custom-made jackets on several female rats. The lady rodents were then placed in the same enclosure with male rodents that had never before had a romantic experience.
As was to be expected, the guy rats took a fancy to the females and several couples formed. Once the romance was over, the females and the males were separated. Luckily, none of the rodents got too attached to their partner to start posting heartbreaking Facebook messages after they were forced to break up.
Later on, the scientists introduced the male rodents used in this first series of experiments to a group made up of females wearing jackets and lady rats wearing nothing except their well-groomed fur. Oddly enough, the males displayed a clear preference for the jacketed ladies.
What's more, the researchers say that, having then sacrificed the rodents to look at their brains, they found that the males that got to mate with jacketed females in the second round of experiments showed signs of more intense activity in their pleasure centers.
Simply put, they enjoyed the experience more than the rats that, after first romancing ladies wearing jackets, were left with no choice but go for females wearing nothing at all in the later stage of the investigation, Gonzalo R. Quintana Zunino and Jim Pfaus explain.
Why take the time to mess with rats in this manner?
As mentioned, the outcome of this series of experiments proves that, although not among the brightest animals in the world, male rats can learn to associate the promise of romance and the chance to start a new family with contextual cues such as the sight and the feel of clothing.
Interestingly enough, Live Science tells us that, during another investigation, researchers Gonzalo R. Quintana Zunino and Jim Pfaus managed to train rats to react to the scent of almonds just as the males used in these experiments did to the tiny jackets.
The specialists behind this research project argue that, although rats and humans don't really have all that much in common, it could be that men's preference for lingerie is, so to speak, an acquired taste.
