Birds, sex and beauty: the unusual effects of the strangest idea of Charles Darwin Matt Ridley Fourth Hawza (2025)
At four in the morning one morning in April, the science writer Matt Ridley was rushing into the Benin Bruce Hills in England, and in order to pick up mating rituals before the strange dawn in the black Grouse (Lyurus tetrix). Males gather for consecutive weeks on an improper patch from the ground where, in small hours, they themselves into a hierarchical sequence known as the LEK. Birds that outperform others-through threats, battles, or tail feather offers accompanied by the invitation of “Roo-Koo-Koo”-securing small lands in the center of Lek. The losers settle on remote real estate.
Ridley also explains in Birds, sex and beautyY, Grouse was watching the same correction from Earth for years. Through a continuous study, he hopes to better understand their extraordinary behavior. This desire to learn through observation passes through his book, as the author intertwines his love for natural history with a mixture of popular sciences and writing travel to explore sexual selection in birds.
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For Black Grouse, weeks of fighting reaches a few decisive days, when females patrol in LEK and choose a companion – usually near the center. But the success of the male comes at a cost: maintaining his term is a challenge even for the most suitable. Few last longer than a year or two before being subjected to exhaustion.
Evolutionary biologists have long understood that some features are linked to reproduction, while others with survival – and that the two are often at odds. For example, peacock tail (Pavo ChristatosIt attracts Behens, but this delightful decoration makes it vulnerable to predation. Black Grouase’s Lekking behavior secures reproduction but is active.
Ridley is concerned with how these characteristics develop. What exactly does he ask, are these male features indicating, and what are the females you choose?
Charles Darwin was the first to explain these questions. He said that both the exaggerated properties of males and female tendency to choose the most impressive males are the inherited characteristics. His critics opposed the idea that females were choosing her colleagues, on the pretext that the males classified the mating among them, on the basis of those who had the best dance or brightest tail.
Good genes or sexy children?
In 1930, Ronald Fischer (the father of sports evolutionary biology) showed through sports models how the inherited female option and sexually inherited characters in males can generate “a fugitive choice”. When a handful of “attractive” males secure all maturity – as is the case with Black Grouse – female preference for exaggerated features leads to these characteristics exaggerated forever, regardless of the costs of survival for males. Over time, these preferences and features develop, and they are genetically linked.
This phenomenon can lead to striking features. Astrapia tail tail male tape (Astrapia MayeriFor example, it can be longer than a meter – more than three times the length of the body. It is not easy to fly with such a long sign create clouds.
Many male birds, such as Victoria Rifle (Ptiloris Victoriae), “Dance” to attract females.Credit: Getti
Fischer argued that females choose “delightful males” to increase the opportunity to have “sexy children” to be searched, and thus pass their genes. But what makes the joyful male a good companion? In 1975, the evolutionary biologist Amotz Zahavi proposed the principle of the disabled: Through the sporting features that come with the cost of fitness, males refer to females that they can dispel resources on planting something fragrant, similar to a rich person who indicates their wealth by buying many fast cars, despite their ability to drive only one at one time.
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The principle of the disabled remained controversial. In 1982, evolutionary biologists suggested Bill Hamilton and Marilyn Zouk an alternative hypothesis – male features chosen by females reflect male ability to transfer his genes. Al -Hiliyah indicates the ability to fight infection or escape predators. There is increased evidence that supports the “good genes” hypothesis, which, as Ridley indicates, does not contradict Fischer’s arguments.
Many scientists have made their career in an attempt to prove these hypotheses. But the problem with the debate is that there may not be a single driver for sexual selection. In some cases, the principle of the handicapped may lead to the leadership of the fugitive selection; In other cases, it may be good genes. Searching for one reason that fly in the face of the diversity of nature that Ridley celebrates.