Repeated patterns in animal contest behaviour research

Among studies of contest behaviour that have been conducted within the framework of evolutionary theory, one can discern distinct phases of activity that have been associated with developments in an underpinning body of theory. As recounted in Geoff Parker's Foreword to this volume, the initial period of intense activity that occurred in the early to mid 1970s involved the laying down of a fundamental body of theory. During this time, contest behaviour provided the original context for the biological application of evolutionary game theory (as opposed to economic game theory, from which it derives). Game theory still acts as a cornerstone for behavioural ecology research and it is testament to its explanatory power that the Hawk–Dove game, wars of attrition and other examples of ‘Evolutionarily Stable Strategy, or ESS, thinking’ (Davies et al. 2012) still dominate undergraduate curricula in the subject. These early models stimulated empirical studies that provided evidence for ESSs in contests in diverse study systems including scorpionflies (Thornhill 1984), butterflies (Davies 1978) and red deer (Clutton-Brock et al. 1979). Studies such as these provided the early foundation for the cross-taxon approach to contests that we have continued in this book.