: Papers on these water striders describe how sexual selection has led to exaggerated, sex-biased leg sizes, where male leg length is a primary secondary sexual trait. 3. Medical and Health-Related Studies

Several biological "full papers" discuss the evolutionary role of leg size and function during reproduction in various species:

: Academic research has documented significant sex differences in RLS, finding that women are twice as likely to be affected as men, with parity (number of children) being a major contributing factor.

: A full study published in Evolution and Human Behavior found that British undergraduates rated women with a longer LBR as more attractive. Longer legs in women are often theorized to be a signal of health and reproductive fitness.

Research in evolutionary psychology has examined how leg length relative to a person's height (Leg-to-Body Ratio or LBR) serves as a criterion for physical attractiveness.