You are currently viewing the summary.
View Full TextLog in to view the full text
AAAS login provides access to Science for AAAS members, and access to other journals in the Science family to users who have purchased individual subscriptions.
Register for free to read this article
As a service to the community, this article is available for free. Existing users log in.
More options
Download and print this article for your personal scholarly, research, and educational use.
Buy a single issue of Science for just $15 USD.
Summary
It's not just humans who engage in ritual combat. Groups of birds known as green wood hoopoes engage in calling contests (see p. 828), and some species of ants settle their differences with mock tournaments. For example, honeypot ants of the U.S. Southwest stage elaborate, ritualistic face-offs against nearby nests, involving hundreds of ants and sometimes lasting for days. Group displays convey the group's ability to compete. That birds and ants mount these shows of force suggests a common evolutionary pressure to minimize actual losses and demonstrates that such behaviors can emerge without organized leaders or higher thought processes.
