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The limits to cost-free signalling of need between relatives

Lookup NU author(s): Dr Ben Brilot

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Abstract

Theoretical models have demonstrated the possibility of stable cost-free signalling of need between relatives. The stability of these cost-free equilibria depends on the indirect fitness cost of cheating and deceiving a donor into giving away resources. We show that this stability is highly sensitive to the distribution of need among signallers and receivers. In particular, cost-free signalling is likely to prove stable only if there is very large variation in need (such that the least-needy individuals stand to gain much less than the most-needy individuals from additional resources). We discuss whether these conditions are likely to be found in altricial avian breeding systems-the most intensively studied instance of signalling of need between relatives. We suggest that cost-free signalling is more likely to prove stable and will provide parents with more information during the earlier phases of chick growth, when parents can more easily meet the demands of a brood (and chicks are more likely to reach satiation). Later, informative yet cost-free signalling is unlikely to persist.


Publication metadata

Author(s): Brilot BO; Johnstone RA

Publication type: Article

Publication status: Published

Journal: Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B: Biological Sciences

Year: 2003

Volume: 270

Issue: 1519

Pages: 1055-1060

ISSN (print): 0962-8452

ISSN (electronic): 1471-2954

Publisher: Royal Society Publishing

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2003.2329

DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2003.2329


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