The functions of the elaborate iridescent coloration and large "train" of peacocks have been the subject of extensive scientific debate. Charles Darwin suggested that they served to attract females, and the showy features of the males had evolved by sexual selection. More recently, Amotz Zahavi proposed in his handicap principle that these features acted as honest signals of the males' fitness, since less-fit males would be disadvantaged by the difficulty of surviving with such large and conspicuous structures.
The functions of the elaborate iridescent coloration and large "train" of peacocks, have been the subject of extensive scientific debate. Charles Darwin suggested that they served to attract females, and the showy features of the males had evolved by sexual selection More recently, Amotz Zahavi proposed in his handicap principle that these features acted as honest signals. of the males' fitness since less-fit males would be disadvantaged by the difficulty of surviving with such large and conspicuous structures.