Do Lizards Play Rock-Paper-Scissors?

Dr. Barry Sinervo, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of California, Santa Cruz, has observed a three-way mating cycle in a species of North American lizard and a distant relative, the European common lizard, separated by 175 million years of evolution, making Rock-Paper-Scissors maybe the oldest game in the world.

"Some of the male lizards," writes James Ryerson in last week's New York Times Magazine, "(call their type 'rock'), use force, invading the territory of fellow males to mate with females. Others ('paper') favor deception, waiting until females are unguarded and sneaking in. Still others ('scissors') work by cooperation, joining together to protect one another’s females.

"I think it’s a philosophical point," Sinervo comments. "You have 'take by force,' deception and cooperation. Each beats one but not the other. It’s the way the very fabric of social systems is structured."

Rock-Paper-Scissors - the very fabric of social systems. Who knew?

from Bernie DeKoven, funsmith