When a peacock struts his stuff, our attention immediately turns to his elaborate plumage with its colorful eyespots. Why and how these dazzling “eyes” evolved has been a mystery—until now.

A new detailed analysis of peacocks and other related birds has found that eyespots evolved to please the ladies—and that the spots have disappeared and reappeared several times over the course of history, according to the study, published July 15 in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B. (Related: “Peacock Surprise: What Females Like in a Male.”)

“These are some of the most extreme evolutionary traits. Some of these birds put so much energy into developing enormous feathers, so eyespots must be pretty important” to their success as a