Forget warriors and philosophers, chefs and chess-masters, or even beer-guzzlers and big bellies – a recent study asked the question of why men, or more precisely, males, exist?

Reuters reports that UK scientists may have the answer, as far as mammals and other species are concerned.

According to the article, “since in many species sperm is males’ only contribution to reproduction, biologists have long puzzled about why evolutionary selection, known for its ruthless efficiency, allows them to exist.

“Now British scientists have an explanation: Males are required for a process known as “sexual selection” which helps species to ward off disease and avoid extinction.

“A system where all offspring are produced without sex — as in all-female asexual populations — would be far more efficient at reproducing greater numbers of offspring, the scientists said.

“But in research published in the journal Nature on Monday, they found that sexual selection, in which males compete to be chose by females for reproduction, improves the gene pool and boosts population health, helping explain why males are important.

“An absence of selection — when there is no sex, or no need to compete for it — leaves populations weaker genetically, making them more vulnerable to dying out.”