Amotz Zahavi

Amotz Zahavi (born 1928 in Petah Tikva, Israel) is an Israeli evolutionary biologist from Tel Aviv University, and one of the founders of the Israeli Society for the Protection of Nature.

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He is best known for his handicap principle, first published in 1975, which explains the evolution of characteristics, behaviors or structures that appear to reduce fitness and endanger the organism. Evolved by sexual selection, they work as a signal of the status of the organism, functioning to e. g. attract mates.

Amotz Zahavi is married to the biologist Avishag Zahavi.

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