The Ant and the Peacock: Altruism and Sexual Selection from Darwin to Today, by Helena Cronin

This comprehensive and engrossing study examines two major elements of evolution: the role of ornamenation in various species, and the presence of altruism in a nature deemed “red in tooth and claw.” Cronin focuses throughout the book on the contrasting views of Charles Darwin and his co-founder of evolution by natural selection, Albert Russell Wallace. Darwin appended his earlier ideas outlined in The Origin of Species in his later work, The Descent of Man. In that later work, he introduced the idea of “sexual selection.” He postulated that many evolutionary traits which appear as maladaptive to survival are actually derived from reproductive pressures. The issue of female choice among many species was a difficult idea to sell – Wallace never accepted it. He retained what Cronin deems “natural selection by good sense,” devoid of esthetics.

Cronin chronicles the history of sexual selection with craft and precision. Her writing is unambiguous, providing excellent insights into many aspects of evolutionary thinking. As she develops her theme, she aknowledges her debt to Dawkin’s work on the influence of genes manifesting as guides to adaptation. Cronin adds a new term in describing the merging of Mendelian genetics and Darwin’s gradualist concept – “modern Darwism”. She carefully explains how natural selection operates at the genetic level to achieve a “trade-off” of costs and benefits to arrive at selected traits. In this analysis, Cronin gently but firmly applies Darwinian implements to show how critics of modern Darwinism have misled themselves in seeking “alternative” answers to adapation. The have been asking the wrong questions!

This view was hotly challenged by paleontologist Stephen Gould in a now-famous essay. He viewed with horror Cronin’s application of gene selection as a definitive evolutionary process. He made a wide-ranging critique which attempted to refute applying any facets of animal behaviour to humans. The review touched off the [mostly] trans-Atlantic dispute over how adaptation actually works. It was the Sarajevo of the “Darwin Wars” between Gould and Dawkins, perhaps best summarized by Daniel Dennet. Cronin’s use of evidence should have forestalled that conflict. Cronin’s skills in applying essentials to explain adaptations are unimpeachable and her skillful prose only enhances the value of this work. It will stand for a long time as a landmark work in evolutionary studies.