{"product_id":"the-evolution-of-beauty-how-darwins-forgotten-theory-of-mate-choice-shapes-the-animal-world-and-us","title":"The Evolution of Beauty: How Darwins Forgotten Theory of Mate Choice Shapes the Animal World and Us","description":"\u003cp\u003eA major reimagining of how evolutionary forces work, revealing how mating preferenceswhat Darwin termed the taste for the beautifulcreate the extraordinary range of ornament in the animal world.A delicious read, both seductive and mutinous.... Minutely detailed, exquisitely observant, deeply informed, and often tenderly sensual.New York Times Book ReviewIn the great halls of science, dogma holds that Darwins theory of natural selection explains every branch on the tree of life: which species thrive, which wither away to extinction, and what features each evolves. But can adaptation by natural selection really account for everything we see in nature?Yale University ornithologist Richard Prumreviving Darwins own viewsthinks not. Deep in tropical jungles around the world are birds with a dizzying array of appearances and mating displays: Clubwinged Manakins who sing with their wings, Great Argus Pheasants who dazzle prospective mates with a fourfootwide cone of feathers covered in golden 3D spheres, Redcapped Manakins who moonwalk. In thirty years of fieldwork, Prum has seen numerous display traits that seem disconnected from, if not outright contrary to, selection for individual survival. To explain this, he dusts off Darwins longneglected theory of sexual selection in which the act of choosing a mate for purely aesthetic reasonsfor the mere pleasure of itis an independent engine of evolutionary change.Mate choice can drive ornamental traits from the constraints of adaptive evolution, allowing them to grow ever more elaborate. It also sets the stakes for sexual conflict, in which the sexual autonomy of the female evolves in response to male sexual control. Most crucially, this framework provides important insights into the evolution of human sexuality, particularly the ways in which female preferences have changed male bodies, and even maleness itself, through evolutionary time.The Evolution of Beauty presents a unique scientific vision for how natures splendor contributes to a more complete understanding of evolution and of ourselves.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Anchor Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45900451283142,"sku":"DADAX0345804570","price":22.35,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0695\/9389\/1014\/files\/81nlz-uGYVL.jpg?v=1780313115","url":"https:\/\/ergodemedia.com\/products\/the-evolution-of-beauty-how-darwins-forgotten-theory-of-mate-choice-shapes-the-animal-world-and-us","provider":"Ergodemedia","version":"1.0","type":"link"}