Birds: Dinosaurs Who Evolved Beauty Via Sexual Selection
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Resources & Recommendations
Books
- "Peterson Field Guide" by Roger Tory Peterson - A guide to birds that inspired Rick Prum to pursue birdwatching and imagine the travel involved in seeing different bird species.
People Mentioned
- Charles Darwin - Naturalist who proposed natural selection and later sexual selection as mechanisms of evolution. His struggles with the peacock's tail and the role of aesthetics in nature were discussed.
- Alfred Russel Wallace - Co-discoverer of natural selection, who critiqued Darwin's idea of sexual selection, arguing it was a form of natural selection.
- Amos Zahavi - Israeli ornithologist who proposed the handicap principle in the 1970s, suggesting that costly signals ensure honesty in sexual selection.
- Karl Popper - Philosopher of science known for his criterion of falsifiability, which was mentioned in the context of debates around natural selection.
Organizations & Institutions
- National Geographic Society - Provided a grant to Rick Prum for his field study of the velvet asity in Madagascar.
- Yale - The institution where Rick Prum is an evolutionary ornithologist.
Other Resources
- Archaeopteryx - A classic fossil bird discovered in Germany in the mid-19th century, dating back 160-170 million years ago, which provided early insights into bird evolution.
- Fossil Discoveries from Liaoning, Northeastern China - A series of discoveries over the last 30 years that have significantly contributed to the understanding of bird and dinosaur evolution.