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Bowerbirds, art and aesthetics : are bowerbirds artists and do they have an aesthetic sense?

Endler, John A. 2012, Bowerbirds, art and aesthetics : are bowerbirds artists and do they have an aesthetic sense?, Communicative and integrative biology, vol. 5, no. 3, May - June, pp. 281-283.

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Title Bowerbirds, art and aesthetics : are bowerbirds artists and do they have an aesthetic sense?
Author(s) Endler, John A.
Journal name Communicative and integrative biology
Volume number 5
Issue number 3
Season May - June
Start page 281
End page 283
Total pages 3
Publisher Landes Bioscience
Place of publication Austin, Tex.
Publication date 2012-05
ISSN 1942-0889
Keyword(s) bowerbirds
animal construction
animal architecture
animal art
animal aesthetics
Summary Male bowerbirds create and decorate a structure called a bower which serves only to attract females for mating, and females visit and choose one among many bower owners before deciding which male to mate with. Is what they do art, and do they have an aesthetic sense? I propose operational definitions of art, judgement, and an aesthetic sense which depend upon communication theory which allow one to get explicit answers to this question. By these definitions Great Bowerbirds are artists, judge art, and therefore have an aesthetic sense.
Language eng
Field of Research 060801 Animal Behaviour
060399 Evolutionary Biology not elsewhere classified
Socio Economic Objective 970106 Expanding Knowledge in the Biological Sciences
HERDC Research category C1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal
Copyright notice ©2012, Landes Bioscience
Persistent URL http://hdl.handle.net/10536/DRO/DU:30047053

Document type: Journal Article
Collection: School of Life and Environmental Sciences
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Created: Mon, 13 Aug 2012, 13:10:38 EST