Editing Handicap principle (section)

=== Origins ===

The handicap principle was proposed in 1975 by the [[Israel|Israeli]] biologist [[Amotz Zahavi]]. He argued that mate choice involving what he called "signal selection" would lead to [[honest signalling|"honest" or reliable signalling]] between male and female animals, even though they have an interest in bluffing or deceiving each other. The handicap principle asserts that secondary sexual characteristics are costly signals, which are reliable indicators of the signaller's quality, since they cost the signaller resources that lower-quality individuals could not afford.<ref name="Zahavi 1975 pp. 205–214"/><ref name="Zahavi 1977 pp. 603–605"/><ref name="Zahavi 1997">{{cite book |last=Zahavi |first=Amotz |title=The handicap principle: a missing piece of Darwin's puzzle |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York |year=1997 |isbn=978-0-19-510035-8 |oclc=35360821 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/handicapprincipl0000zeha}}</ref> The generality of the phenomenon is a matter of some debate and disagreement, and Zahavi's views on the scope and importance of handicaps in biology have not been accepted by the mainstream.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Grose |first1=Jonathan |title=Modelling and the fall and rise of the handicap principle |journal=Biology & Philosophy |date=7 June 2011 |volume=26 |issue=5 |pages=677–696 |doi=10.1007/s10539-011-9275-1 |s2cid=84600072 }}</ref><ref>Review by {{cite journal |first1=Andrew |last1=Pomiankowski |last2=Iwasa |first2=Y. |year=1998 |title=Handicap Signaling: Loud and True? |journal=[[Evolution (journal)|Evolution]] |volume=52 |issue=3 |pages=928–932 |doi=10.2307/2411290 |jstor=2411290 |s2cid=53060420 |url=https://semanticscholar.org/paper/9fd8edb7b18bd5e6666e798e5c7679b2b4b0993b }}</ref> Nevertheless, the idea has been very influential, with most researchers in the field believing that the theory explains some aspects of animal communication.<ref name="Johnstone97">{{cite journal |last=Johnstone |first=R. A. |year=1995 |title=Sexual selection, honest advertisement and the handicap principle: reviewing the evidence |journal=[[Biological Reviews]] |volume=70 |issue=1 |pages=1–65 |doi=10.1111/j.1469-185X.1995.tb01439.x |pmid=7718697 |s2cid=40322800 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Johnstone |first=Rufus A. |year=1997 |chapter=The Evolution of Animal Signals |title=Behavioural Ecology: An Evolutionary Approach |url=https://archive.org/details/behaviouralecolo00kreb |url-access=limited |edition=4th |editor-first=J. R. |editor-last=Krebs |editor2-first=N. B. |editor2-last=Davies |publisher=Blackwell |pages=[https://archive.org/details/behaviouralecolo00kreb/page/n164 155]–178 |isbn=978-0865427310 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Maynard Smith |first1=John |author1-link=John Maynard Smith |last2=Harper |first2=David |author2-link=David Harper (biologist) |year=2003 |chapter=The theory of costly signalling |title=Animal Signals |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |pages=16–31 |isbn=978-0-19-852685-8}}</ref>