— I was doing some more in depth research into...

ensignschlo

asked:

I was doing some more in depth research into Cardassians and wondered if you had ever heard any ideas, or come up with your own, about why some females have the "spoon" on their chests while others don't (specifically thinking of "Profit and Loss"). I was thinking that it may have something to do with maturity since Natima was most likely older than Rekelen. But then it could also just be a physical variable?

tinsnip

answered:

TBQH, I handwave it, as I know it’s make-up. That said, I’m sure somebody’s got a better explanation.

Folks?

squimble-the-slug-witch

What if it was an indication of being ‘in season’. Females seem to have a blue highlight on their head-spoons, so whether it’s makeup or natural, it could be a sexual advertisement like flushed lips/lipstick.

Alternatively, but in the same ‘sexual signal’ vein, it could be a scent gland or a vestigal scent gland? Either way, the blue pigmenting of it seems meant to draw attention, and in nature that’s either to redirect from a vulnerable area–which the spoons don’t seem to, being on vulnerable spots–or as a sexual display. So as a naturalist I’m pretty convinced it’s a sexual display that had some kind of fertility meaning way back in The Wild, but has since developed into a beauty standard.

Source: tinsnip