BIOL 321 Chapter Notes - Chapter 13: Waggle Dance, Worker Bee, Handicap Principle
1 Aug 2017
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Communication: the transfer of information from a signaller to a receiver. Arms race between the signaller and the recipient in which the signaller is selected to better manipulate the receiver which then is selected to filter out only the beneficial information. Krebs and dawkins argue that when communication is of the manipulator/mind-reader type the signals employed should be exaggerated. When cooperative signalling is being used natural selection should favour less exaggerated signals (conspirational whispers) Zahavi"s handicap principle: if a trait is costly to produce, it may be used as an honesty signal because only those individuals that can pay the cost will typically adopt the signal in question. Honest communication may be an outcome even when deception is possible in principle as long as deception is costly. Communication systems are favoured by natural selection when they help solve problems that animals encounter in nature. Cliff swallows live in nests that serve as information centers.
