They reviewed data on idiotic behaviours demonstrated by winners of the Darwin Award over a 20 year period (1995 to 2014), noting the sex of the winner.

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To qualify, nominees must improve the gene pool by eliminating themselves from the human race using astonishingly stupid methods.

Worthy candidates included a man stealing a ride home by hitching a shopping trolley to the back of a train, only to be dragged two miles to his death before the train was able to stop; and the terrorist who had posted a letter bomb with insufficient postage stamps and who, on its return, unthinkingly opened his own letter.

Of the 413 Darwin Award nominations, 332 were independently verified and confirmed by the Darwin Awards Committee.

Of these, 14 were shared by male and female nominees - usually overly adventurous couples in compromising positions - leaving 318 valid cases for statistical testing.

Of these 318 cases, 282 Darwin Awards were awarded to males, and just 36 awards given to females.

Males thus made up 88.7 percent of Darwin Award winners, and this sex difference was highly statistically significant, say the authors.

The finding is entirely consistent with male idiot theory (MIT) and supports the hypothesis that men are idiots and idiots do stupid things, and the authors said that it was puzzling that males were willing to take such unnecessary risks - simply as a rite of passage, in pursuit of male social esteem, or solely in exchange for “bragging rights.”