While it would seem that men in hunter-gatherer societies who are good hunters have an evolutionary advantage because their mates would stay with them longer and their kids would be better fed. It turns out though that the dangerous and exhausting act of hunting is also a good way for men to show-off. A study of the Hadza tribe of Tansania in the scientific journal Current Anthropology looks at this so-called "showoff hypothesis." From a press release:
"When asked where they would like to reside, [Hadza] women preferred the camp of good hunters, where more food would be shared with their families," explains Brian M. Wood (a graduate student in biological anthropology at Harvard University). "The choice was not so clear for [Hadza] men: living with bad hunters would showcase their own hunting prowess. Living with good hunters, however, would bring more food to their family, at the cost of lowered relative hunting status."
Ultimately though, most men in the study chose to live with the good hunters so they could best provide for their families.
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