What if, though, she's using his paternal relatives for these cues?

Then she may find herself dissatisfied later on but never know why, except that he's so... irritatingly... hair-having! Er, but that probably wouldn't contribute to the pattern. Unless she divorced him and found someone who was balding, and only had kids with him.

combined with the time travel it takes to get to Africa, I think I need to take a walk.

You have to fly over this continent too, don't you?

I still can't believe I spent 17 hours trapped on an airplane. Nor that the return trip had me awake and in transit for 40 straight hours.

They really need to get to work on that instant tranport thing.

Smart and tall women choose smart and tall men.

This is news? Or am I more of a narcissist than is the norm?

(Randy Johnson, who is 6'10", married a woman who is 6'0". Now, I don't know about her fastball, but I can reliably report that she's probably one of a very small class of women who can actually reach up and touch the top of Randy Johnson's head when they're both standing in stocking feet.)

Also, how early is early -- a significant portion of these women choosing after baldness has manifested?

FWIW, DH had a visibly receding hairline at 24 when I met him. My dad is bald. DH and Dad are also about the same height and are both much smarter than average. However, beyond being bald and 6'0", they don't look alike. And I don't think I married a smart man because being around my dad made me admire smart men--I married a smart man because my DNA and environment made me smart, and I can't imagine being married to a man I couldn't carry on an intellectual conversation with.

You have to fly over this continent too, don't you?

Ayup.

My theory (completely untested) is that I sure don't have enough tall to have tall kids, but might have enough smart to bump them up.

Then again, the things I like aren't necessarily things I claim about myself.

What if, though, she's using his paternal relatives for these cues?

Then she makes a mistake. Spousal assortment for most things is modest, because the cues are not very good, and because, as Betsy points out, not every trait is considered important by every person. Religion, race, height, and intelligence are the traditional examples, and religion and race are both losing ground.

This is news?

The original comment was, "It is clear that this happens for traits like intelligence and height, and it could happen here too," so no. Not news. That it might happen for baldness, though -- kinda newsy. To me, anyway. I have no idea whether I'd be more attracted to men with my father's hairline than otherwise. Mind you, my father's hair is both white and very very short most of the time. Short enough that I sometimes think maybe he's balding and then remember, no.

My father is a foot taller than my mother, and pretty close to average height for US population.

My husband is 3-4 inches taller than me, if neither of us are wearing shoes. I can often look him in the eye when wearing heels.

Dad and DH both getting baldish.

Huh. Usually I just end up jumping to the front of Natter and finding myself in the middle of one of these conversations (i.e., the kind where people seem to be contributing data points). It's been a while since I've followed long enough to see one evolve. It's kind of cool.

I married a smart man because my DNA and environment made me smart, and I can't imagine being married to a man I couldn't carry on an intellectual conversation with.

Yes, this exactly. Except change the "married" part to "dating" for me. My dad and BF couldn't be more dissimilar. Dad=5'6", bald, smart. BF=6'3", full head o'hair, smart. Okay, they're both male and smart. So much in common.