Signals in Conflict Resolution: Conventional Signals, Aggression and Territoriality

Intraspecific conflict over limited resources is widespread in the animal kingdom. Conspecifics will compete over mating opportunities, food, shelter and territories that contain these resources. Thus agonistic behavior, and the physiological and morphological traits that support it, has been shaped by both sexual and natural selection in diverse taxa. While weapons can be used to inflict injuries on an opponent, evolutionary game theory explains why conflict resolution through non-injurious means, including communication, is also widespread. The agonistic signals used to resolve conflict in this way are usually reliable indicators of fighting ability. They take a wide variety of forms across different examples of fighting. These include visual, acoustic and chemical signals. Exactly what information about fighting ability these signals contain, and how losers use this information to decide to quit a fight (and relinquish the resource) are questions that have been the focus of intensive research and have yet to be fully resolved.