Residence Israel Awards International Prize | Education Tel Aviv University Nationality Israeli Name Amotz Zahavi | |
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Books The Handicap Principle: A Missing Piece of Darwin's Puzzle | ||
Amotz zahavi towards a science of culture within a darwinian evolutionary framework
Amotz Zahavi (Hebrew: אמוץ זהבי) (August 14, 1928 – May 12, 2017) was an Israeli evolutionary biologist, a Professor in the Department of Zoology at Tel Aviv University, and one of the founders of the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel (known as the "SPNI"). His main work concerned the evolution of signals, particularly those signals that are indicative of fitness, and their selection for "honesty".
Contents
- Amotz zahavi towards a science of culture within a darwinian evolutionary framework
- Prof amotz zahavi nature vs culture modern debates in the light of classical thought
- Biography
- Scientific career
- Awards
- Published works
- References
Prof amotz zahavi nature vs culture modern debates in the light of classical thought
Biography
Amotz Zahavi was influenced to study zoology by the director of the zoo at Tel Aviv, Heinrich Mendelssohn. He received his Ph.D from Tel Aviv University in 1970. He was married to Avishag Zahavi, a biologist and a co-investigator. He died in Tel Aviv, Israel on May 12, 2017, aged 88.
Scientific career
Zahavi is best known for his work on the handicap principle, which explains the evolution of characteristics, behaviors or structures that appear contrary to the principles of Darwinian evolution in that they appear to reduce fitness and endanger individual organisms. Evolved by sexual selection, these act as signals of the status of the organism, functioning to e. g. attract mates. He expanded it with theories on honest signalling and the idea that selection would favour signals that impose a higher cost, those that are not easily cheated on. He worked in particular on the Arabian babbler, a long-lived and social bird with altruistic behaviour among unrelated individuals, not explainable by kin selection. Zahavi reinterpreted these behaviours according to his signal theory and its correlative, the handicap principle. The altruistic act is costly to the donor, but may improve attractiveness to potential mates, a form of competitive altruism.
Awards
In 1980, Zahavi, together with the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel and two other colleagues, was awarded the Israel Prize for SPNI's special contribution to society and the State, for the environment.
In 2011, Zahavi received the International Fyssen Prize for the evolution of social communication.
In 2016, Zahavi received a prize for lifetime achievement from the Israel Society of Ecology and Environmental Sciences.