In class we’ve applied game theory to just standard games, and common understandings of it can be related primarily humans and the things we do. However, game theory can be applied in a variety of situations, and one that would typically not be considered is the application of game theory on biology and animals.
Game theory is surprisingly apparent in a lot of aspects in things like zoology and botany, from things like looking for a mate, fighting, cooperation and communication! A very interesting example of this is that there exist species that will fight to compete for a female mate, but they can actually fight on top of the female, resulting in a chance for her to be injured or die (toads). Ordinarily this wouldn’t make sense as it results in a chance for death for the female these animals are fighting to the death for, but from a game theory perspective, it makes sense. From the individual male’s point of view, what he would gain from the female would be to fertilize her eggs and spread offspring. If the female gets dies, there will be no such benefit. However, if the frog will also receive no benefit if he does not fight due to a competitor as his mate will be stolen. So the optimal choice would be to fight and expose the female to a small risk of death (Hammerstein 972-973). There are a multitude of examples of animals cooperating to improve survival and benefit themselves as it is the best choice for the given animal. For example, there exists spiders that keep frogs as pets to guard their eggs in exchange for providing them with protection and food. This is the optimal choice for the spider as even though it loses food, it leads to the best benefit for it as the spider’s eggs are protected.
In conclusion, game theory can be applied in various situations not limited to just humans. It’s application is widespread and appears throughout nature all the time with biological organisms.
References:
Hammerstein, P., & Selten, R. (1994). Game theory and evolutionary biology. Retrieved from: http://www.ens-lyon.fr/DI/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/Chapter-28-Game-theory-and-evolutionary-biology.pdf
But if male frogs only perform sexual reproduction based on their natural instincts, then are they capable of considering the well-being of the female?