Richard Prum

New Haven

Articles

Developmental evolution of social signals in the delayed plumage maturation of manakins (Aves: Pipridae)

2 weeks ago | biorxiv.org | Liam Taylor |Richard Prum |Bowdoin College

AbstractAvian plumage maturation involves replacing feathers, via discrete molts, until reaching an iteratively-regenerated definitive plumage. This process usually takes about one year. In the Neotropical lekking manakins (Pipridae), males of most species exhibit delayed plumage maturation (DPM), passing through drab predefinitive plumages for two or three years before reaching a bright, sexually dimorphic, definitive plumage.
Social context and the evolution of delayed reproduction in birds

Feb 7, 2025 | biorxiv.org | Liam Taylor |Josef C. Uyeda |Richard Prum |Bowdoin College

AbstractOne puzzling feature of avian life histories is that individuals in many different lineages delay reproduction for several years after they finish growing. Intraspecific field studies suggest that various complex social contexts--such as cooperative breeding groups, nesting colonies, and display leks--result in delayed reproduction because they require forms of sociosexual development that extend beyond physical maturation.
The World’s Most Controversial Ornithologist

Jul 19, 2024 | freakonomics.com | Steven D. Levitt |Richard Prum |Richard Dawkins

An ornithologist is someone who studies birds. I’ve actually never met an ornithologist, but I have a pretty clear picture in my head of what they might be like. Soft-spoken, introverted, and only interesting to other bird lovers. My guest today, Yale University ornithologist Richard Prum, definitely shatters those stereotypes.
Why it’s time to replace the genetic blueprint idea

Jan 19, 2024 | aeon.co | Richard Prum

In a popular article in Scientific American in 1955, at the dawn of the molecular genetic age, the Soviet defector, physicist and polymath George Gamow wrote: ‘Comparing a living cell with a factory, we can consider its nucleus as the manager’s office and the chromosomes as the filing cabinets where all the production plans and blueprints are stored.’ In May 2023, when Eric Green, director of the US National Human Genome Research Institute, announced the newly released human pangenome – a...
Artists of our own lives - Richard O Prum

Jan 19, 2024 | qoshe.com | Richard Prum

In a popular article in Scientific American in 1955, at the dawn of the molecular genetic age, the Soviet defector, physicist and polymath George Gamow wrote: ‘Comparing a living cell with a factory, we can consider its nucleus as the manager’s office and the chromosomes as the filing cabinets where all the production plans and blueprints are stored.’ In May 2023, when Eric Green, director of the US National Human Genome Research Institute, announced the newly released human pangenome – a...
Blending humanities, science to illuminate human development and sexuality

Jan 9, 2024 | news.yale.edu | Mike Cummings |Richard Prum

Yale ornithologist Richard Prum firmly believes that science and the humanities can work in concert to help people better understand the world. His own research on birds as aesthetic agents inspired Prum to read aesthetic philosophers to get a better grasp on the nature and appreciation of beauty.
Social context and the evolution of delayed reproduction in birds

Aug 3, 2023 | biorxiv.org | Liam Taylor |Richard Prum

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Performance All the Way Down

Jul 11, 2023 | press.uchicago.edu | Richard Prum

Genes, Development, and Sexual Difference An award-winning biologist and writer applies queer feminist theory to developmental genetics, arguing that individuals are not essentially male or female. The idea that gender is a performance—a tenet of queer feminist theory since the nineties—has spread from college classrooms to popular culture.