Contests are an important aspect of the lives of diverse animals, from sea anemones competing for space on a rocky shore to fallow deer stags contending for access to females. Why do animals fight? What determines when fights stop and which contestant wins? Addressing fundamental questions on contest behaviour, this volume presents theoretical and empirical perspectives across a range of species. The historical development of contest research, the evolutionary theory of both dyadic and multiparty contests, and approaches to experimental design and data analysis are discussed in the first chapters. This is followed by reviews of research in key animal taxa, from the use of aerial displays and assessment rules in butterflies and the developmental biology of weapons in beetles, through to interstate warfare in humans. The final chapter considers future directions and applications of contest research, making this a comprehensive resource for both graduate students and researchers in the field.
List of contributors; Foreword Geoff Parker; Preface; Acknowledgements; 1. Introduction to animal contests Mark Briffa and Ian C. W. Hardy; 2. Dyadic contests: modelling fights between two individuals Hanna Kokko; 3. Models of group or multi-party contests Tom N. Sherratt and Mike Mesterton-Gibbons; 4. Analysis of animal contest data Mark Briffa, Ian C. W. Hardy, Martin P. Gammell, Dómhnall J. Jennings, David Clarke and Marlène Goubault; 5. Contests in crustaceans: assessments, decisions and their underlying mechanisms Mark Briffa; 6. Aggression in spiders Robert W. Elwood and John Prenter; 7. Contest behaviour in butterflies: fighting without weapons Darrell J. Kemp; 8. Hymenopteran contests and agonistic behaviour Ian C. W. Hardy, Marlène Goubault and Tim P. Batchelor; 9. Horns and the role of development in the evolution of beetle contests Emilie C. Snell-Rood and Armin P. Moczek; 10. Contest behaviour in fishes Ryan L. Earley and Yuying Hsu; 11. Contests in amphibians Mandy L. Dyson, Michael S. Reichert and Tim R. Halliday; 12. Lizards and other reptiles as model systems for the study of contest behaviour Troy A. Baird; 13. Bird contests: from hatching to fertilisation Sarah R. Pryke; 14. Contest behaviour in ungulates Dómhnall J. Jennings and Martin P. Gammell; 15. Human contests: evolutionary theory and the analysis of interstate war Scott A. Field and Mark Briffa; 16. Prospects for animal contests Mark Briffa, Ian C. W. Hardy and Sophie L. Mowles; Index.
