Amotz Zahavi

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Amotz Zahavi, 2005

Amotz Zahavi ( Hebrew אמוץ זהבי; *  1928 in Petach Tikwa , Palestine ; † May 12, 2017 in Tel Aviv ) was an Israeli zoologist and conservationist . He became internationally known as a sociobiologist and above all through the theory of the so-called handicap principle (עיקרון ההכבדה) established in 1975, in which considerations from evolutionary research and empirical findings from behavioral research were intertwined. With the help of this theory, he and his wife Avishag Zahavi were able to explain why behavior and physical characteristics could develop in the process of evolution which at first glance seem to reduce the fitness of individuals. Such characteristics were interpreted as expressions of fitness .

Life

Amotz Zahavi with gray chicks, 2011

It is said of his mother that Amotz Zahavi was already watching birds when he could not walk or speak. For his thesis in zoology, he spent three breeding seasons in ornithological studies in the Huleh wetlands on the Jordan in the early 1950s . After completing his master's degree (M.Sc.) from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 1954, he spent a year in Oxford ( England ) with Niko Tinbergen . Also in 1954 he married his wife Avishag. In 1953, his studies in the wetlands of the Jordan led him to found the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel (SPNI) together with a few friends .

After his return from England, he decided not to continue his academic career and headed the SPNI for 15 years. In 1980 the SPNI was awarded the Israel Prize , the state's highest distinction for a person or organization. Amotz Zahavi and his two successors in the office of SPNI management were expressly recognized for their personal commitment during the award ceremony.

It was not until 1970 that Amotz Zahavi completed his doctoral thesis on the behavior of white wagtails ( Motacilla alba ) that winter in Israel. Together with Peter Ward , based on his field studies, Zahavi developed the theory that group formation in wintering birds serves to "exchange information" about attractive food sources. In the previous year (1969/70) he had spent another year in Oxford, with David Lack at the Edward Gray Institute , and was involved in a controversy between Lack and Vero Wynne-Edwards about Wynne-Edwards theory of group selection ; in the course of this, Zahavi became a passionate advocate of individual selection .

As a professor of zoology and founding director at the Institute for Nature Conservation Research at the University of Tel Aviv , Amotz Zahavi studied the social behavior of gray thrushes ( Turdoides squamiceps , in English: Arabian Babbler ) in Hatzeva Field Station in the Arava Valley in southern Israel for more than 30 years from 1970 . Gray bluebirds are songbirds that live in groups of up to 20 individuals, defend a territory together, build a nest together and look after the young of the highest-ranking female together.

From 1975 his behavioral observations were bundled in the theory of the handicap principle he developed . His theoretical considerations were rejected by his colleagues for years, which meant that he was initially only able to publish his research results in the respected specialist journals with difficulty; however, his theory is now widely accepted.

From 1984 to 1987 he was the head of zoology at Tel Aviv University, and in 2006 he was still engaged in further studies on the gray thrush. In addition, he examined the applicability of the handicap principle to chemical signals.

In 2010 he received the Fyssen Foundation's International Prize, endowed with 60,000 euros.

Amotz Zahavi and his wife Avishag had two daughters and two grandchildren.

Fonts (selection)

  • with Avishag Zahavi: signals of understanding. The handicap principle . Insel Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1998, ISBN 3-458-16927-X
  • Mate selection: A selection for a handicap. In: Journal of Theoretical Biology. Volume 53, 1975, pp. 205-214.
  • with Peter Ward: The importance of certain assemblages of birds as "information centers" for food-finding. In: Ibis. Volume 115, 1973, pp. 517-534, short version (PDF; 254 kB).
  • Reliability in communication systems and the evolution of altruism. In: B. Stonehouse and CM Perrins (Eds.): Evolutionary Ecology. Mcmillan Press, London 1977, pp. 253-259.
  • The cost of honesty (Further remarks on the handicap principle). In: Journal of Theoretical Biology. Volume 67, 1977, pp. 603-605.
  • The testing of a bond. In: Animal Behavior. Volume 25, 1977, pp. 246-247.
  • Decorative patterns and the evolution of art. In: New Scientist, October 19, 1978, pp. 182-184.
  • Arabian babblers: The quest for social status in a cooperative breeder. In: PBStacey and WD Koenig (eds.): Cooperative breeding in birds: long term studies of ecology and behavior. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press 1990, pp. 103-130.
  • Altruism as a handicap - The limitations of kin selection and reciprocity. In: Avian Biology. Volume 26, 1995, pp. 1-3.
  • Indirect selection and individual selection in sociobiology: My personal views on theories of social behavior. In: Animal Behavior. Volume 65, 2003, pp. 859-863.
  • Is group selection necessary to explain social adaptations in microorganisms? In: Heredity. Volume 94, 2005, pp. 143-144.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Adi Hsmonai: הלך לעולמו פרופ 'אמוץ זהבי ממייסדי החברה להגנת הטבע. In: news.walla.co.il. May 13, 2017; Retrieved May 15, 2017 (Hebrew).
  2. ↑ Winner: International Prize of the Fyssen Foundation ( Memento from May 2, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
personal data
SURNAME Zahavi, Amotz
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Israeli sociobiologist and evolution theorist
DATE OF BIRTH 1928
PLACE OF BIRTH Petach Tikwa , Palestine
DATE OF DEATH May 12, 2017
Place of death Tel Aviv