glimmer

By Diogenes ( articles ) | Feb 05, 2008

A surprising admission from the learned professions: fathers are sometimes a positive influence in the rearing of young:

The presence of the father in a group gave the daughters a jump-start on sexual maturity, a measure of fitness, the researchers said.

"For young females, because their major opponents in life are adult females and fellow juveniles, the presence of any adult male may be helpful," Alberts said in a statement.

OK, they happen to be talking about baboons here. But it's a start.