What attributes make some individuals more likely to win a fight than others? A range of
morphological and physiological traits have been studied intensely but far less focus has …

Competition for resources is a ubiquitous feature of life, and a central topic in behavioral
ecology. Organisms use assessment strategies to resolve contests, which can be delineated …

Abstract John Maynard Smith was the founder of evolutionary game theory. He has also
been the major influence on the direction of this field, which now pervades behavioural …

Safe and effective conflict resolution is critical for survival and reproduction. Theoretical
models describe how animals resolve conflict by assessing their own and/or their …

During contests the outcome is ultimately determined by the difference in fighting ability or
resource holding potential (RHP) of opponents and the loser may make the decision to give …

Females often aggregate at particular sites for feeding or shelter, thus giving adult males the
opportunity to defend harems and increase male reproductive success. Rival males …

To determine whether animals assess each other's fighting ability in contests, researchers
usually regress contest duration over the sizes of the contestants. The predominant trend in …

Difficulties remain in distinguishing between mutual and self-assessment in animal contests
Animal Behaviour Page 1 Difficulties remain in distinguishing between mutual and self-assessment …

A rich theoretical framework exists for understanding animal conflict. When two opponents
fight over a resource, the duration, intensity and outcome of the fight ought to be determined …

In this chapter we outline and discuss statistical approaches to the analysis of contest data,
with an emphasis on testing key predictions and assumptions of the theoretical models …