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Handicap principle implies emergence of dimorphic mating displays (1509.08158v3)
Published 27 Sep 2015 in q-bio.PE, math.DS, nlin.AO, and physics.bio-ph
Abstract: Species spanning the animal kingdom have evolved extravagant and costly ornaments to attract mating partners. Zahavi's handicap principle offers an elegant explanation for this: ornaments signal individual quality, and must be costly to ensure honest signalling, making mate selection more efficient. Here we incorporate the assumptions of the handicap principle into a mathematical model and show that they are sufficient to explain the heretofore puzzling observation of bimodally distributed ornament sizes in a variety of species.
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