When the peacock vibrates his tail, it seems those ‘eyes’ can hypnotize the one he is trying to woo. But how can the eyespots stay relatively still when the whole tail is shaken vigorously? Scanning electron microscopy revealed that the eyespot feather structure is different. Such an unwieldy tail would be a huge handicap for the peacock’s escape from predators, and contradict neo-Darwinian evolution.

By David Catchpoole
Originally published January, 2018

Links and show notes

Original article: Peacock ‘eyes’ that hypnotize

Peacock poppycock?

The beauty of the peacock tail and the problems with the theory of sexual selection

Peacock tail tale failure

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