--- description: Charles Darwin's theory of evolution did not account enough for superficial factors like beauty in the survival of the fittest title: How Beauty Drives Evolution image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2d0d67b02b334f79/6988ccfb97cdffe3ea6b0aa9/richard-prum-book-evolution-beauty.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Ideas](/section/ideas/) ## Ideas Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Books](/tag/books/) ## Books Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # How Beauty Drives Evolution by [Sarah Begley](/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 11, 2017 10:57 AM CUT  Doubleday by [Sarah Begley](/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 11, 2017 10:57 AM CUT “Survival of the Fittest.” Although Darwin didn’t come up with that phrase, it has come to define his theory of evolution: that traits that improve a species’ odds of staying alive are specifically favored to be passed on. (Consider the Galápagos finches, whose beaks have changed over time to crack open different kinds of seeds.) But in [_The Evolution of Beauty_](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0385537212/?tag=timecom-20 "undefined"), ornithologist Richard O. Prum argues that superficial desires play a role as well. Take, for instance, the male club-winged manakin, a bird whose ornate feathers have evolved to produce a “song” while they fly (thanks to a series of bumps that vibrate in the wind) that attracts females. Far from making them fitter, these feathers — and the bigger bones required to support them — actually slow the manakins down, suggesting that, as Prum concludes, animal beauty standards “can be as irrational, unpredictable and dynamic” as our own. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4775443/the-evolution-of-beauty-review/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4775443/the-evolution-of-beauty-review/"},"headline":"How Beauty Drives Evolution","datePublished":"2017-05-11T10:57:29.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T04:52:17.430Z","description":"Charles Darwin's theory of evolution did not account enough for superficial factors like beauty in the survival of the fittest","url":"https://time.com/4775443/the-evolution-of-beauty-review/","keywords":["Books","Evolution","Science topic"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2d0d67b02b334f79/6988ccfb97cdffe3ea6b0aa9/richard-prum-book-evolution-beauty.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sarah Begley","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2d0d67b02b334f79/6988ccfb97cdffe3ea6b0aa9/richard-prum-book-evolution-beauty.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"\"The Evolution of Beauty\" by Richard Prum","caption":"\"The Evolution of Beauty\" by Richard Prum","creditText":"Doubleday","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/books/","name":"Books"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4775443/the-evolution-of-beauty-review/","name":"How Beauty Drives Evolution"}}]}] ```