Finns det könsskillnader när det gäller spatial förmåga? Den nya studien ”Sex Differences in Mushroom Gathering: Men Expend More Energy to Obtain Equivalent Benefits”, accepterad för publicering i Evolution and Human Behavior, antyder att det finns det:

In a first study, we GPS-tracked the foraging pathways of 21 pairs of men and women from an indigenous Mexican community searching for mushrooms in a natural environment. Measures of costs, benefits and general search efficiency were analyzed and related to differences between the two sexes in foraging patterns. Although men and women collected similar quantities of mushrooms, men did so at significantly higher cost. They traveled further, to greater altitudes, and had higher mean heart rates and energy expenditure (kcal). They also collected fewer species and visited fewer collection sites.

Kvinnor verkar alltså vara överlägsna samlare (även om fler fältexperiment torde behövas för att fastslå detta med säkerhet). Frågan kvarstår om män är bättre jägare.