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In The Evolution of Beauty, Richard O. Prum argues that Charles Darwin’s underappreciated theory of sexual selection, which suggests female aesthetic preferences drive the evolution of certain traits, is as crucial as natural selection in explaining species development. Using examples from tropical birds, Prum advocates for the recognition of beauty in evolution, proposing that sexual selection promotes traits beyond mere survival, challenging entrenched patriarchal biases in scientific thought. Contains discussions of sexual aggression in ducks.