Comment by bryanrasmussen

>I guess dying because you think you’re going to impress’s a mate and stay alive is quite common.

based on my memory of readings in the matter I don't think so, most animal species "impress a mate" is either

1. do mating ritual better than others

2. actually directly compete with rival who has mate to win mate.

In the second more rare scenario the actually directly compete with rival tends to be very ritualized, and thus when you lose you don't actually get significantly hurt.

In the ritualized combat for mates some species have evolved to points in which accidents become a major problem, for example Stags locking antlers in combat for does.

Obviously this is a scenario where you want to impress and stay alive but it doesn't work out, but it is relatively rare in the species that has evolved antlers to the point where it happens, and it is rare for species to have similar problems, generally the one who loses these competitions does not die, they just assume a lower status.

So all that said the human tactic of Bob, hold my beer while I impress Cindy by riding this croc, is a pretty rare tactic for getting a mate.