Birds, sex and beauty : the extraordinary implications of Charles Darwin's strangest idea /
In all animals, mating is a deal. But few creatures behave as if sex is a simple transaction. Many treat it with reverence, suspicion, angst and violence. In the case of the Black Grouse, the bird at the centre of Matt Ridley's investigation, the males dance and sing for hours a day, for severa...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Book |
| Language: | English |
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New York, NY :
Harper, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers,
[2025]
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| Edition: | First U.S. edition. |
| Subjects: |
| Summary: | In all animals, mating is a deal. But few creatures behave as if sex is a simple transaction. Many treat it with reverence, suspicion, angst and violence. In the case of the Black Grouse, the bird at the centre of Matt Ridley's investigation, the males dance and sing for hours a day, for several exhausting months, in an exhausting and sometimes deadly ritual called a 'lek'. To prepare for the ordeal, they grow, preen and display fancy, twisted, bold-colored feathers. But why are males the eager sellers and females the discerning buyers? Why do increasingly baroque and bizarre males put themselves at risk of attack by circling hawks and rival birds? And why are these displays considered beautiful by humans at all? |
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| Item Description: | Originally published in Great Britain in 2025 by 4th Estate, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. -- title verso |
| Physical Description: | xii, 340 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some color) ; 24 cm |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references and index. |
| ISBN: | 9780063342989 0063342987 |