Amotz Zahavi
Amotz Zahavi
Born	January 1, 1928 (1928-01-01) (age 82) Petah Tikva, British Mandate of Palestine
Residence	Israel
Nationality	Israeli
Fields	Biology
Institutions	Tel Aviv University
Alma mater	Tel Aviv University
Known for	Handicap principle

Amotz Zahavi (Hebrew: אמוץ זהבי‎) (born 1928) is an Israeli evolutionary biologist, a Professor Emeritus at the Zoology Department of Tel Aviv University, and one of the founders of the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel (known as the "SPNI"). He studied in particular, the Arabian Babbler.

He received his Ph.D from Tel Aviv University at 1970, and is best known for his handicap principle, first published in 1975, 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.^[1] 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.

In 1980, Amotz 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.^[2]

Amotz Zahavi is married to the biologist Avishag Zahavi.

Contents 1 Selected publications 2 See also 3 References 4 External links

[edit] Selected publications

• Zahavi, A. (1975) Mate selection - a selection for a handicap. Journal of Theoretical Biology. 53: 205-214.
• Zahavi, A. (1977) The cost of honesty (Further remarks on the handicap principle). Journal of Theoretical Biology. 67: 603-605.
• Zahavi, A. and Zahavi, A. (1997). The handicap principle: a missing piece of Darwin's puzzle. Oxford University Press. Oxford. ISBN 0-19-510035-2

[edit] See also

• List of Israel Prize recipients

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Professor Amotz Zahavi at Tel Aviv University