Force superiority within a territory requires organized mobilization of resources

Evidence

In a sense, males compete with rival males regardless of whether sexual selection proceeds through female choice or male competition and, in many respects, the process—the intensity, consistency, and social nature of selection—is the same regardless. Why, then, do some species embark on a trajectory of overt competition leading to the evolution of weapons, while others end up dancing or singing with displays? Here is where the ingredients for arms races come into play, for these are the pieces that must fall into place if sexual selection is to trigger evolution of extreme weapons. The first ingredient is competition, the essence of all sexual selection. The second is economic defensibility. — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 191 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Hegemony is an unstable equilibrium that dominant forces must continually resecure; Physical force constitutes power because it asymmetrically orders parties’ relative preferences; Weapon evolution needs both competition and economically defensible resources — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 191 (+3 more)

Related

• Weapon evolution needs both competition and economically defensible resources (similarity 0.87)
• Uniformly distributed resources make territorial weapons uneconomical (similarity 0.83)
• Social competition environments evolve in tandem with weapons, unlike fluctuating physical environments (similarity 0.83)
• Specific ecological circumstances must align before weapon arms races begin (similarity 0.83)
• Specific conditions are required before weapons escalate into an arms race (similarity 0.83)
• Sexual selection can be far stronger than natural selection and drives weapon extremes (similarity 0.82)
• Rare localized resources translate fighting success into reproductive success (similarity 0.81)
• Weapons evolve only when reproductive benefits exceed costs (similarity 0.81)
• Weapons disappear when fights stop being duels over defensible resources (similarity 0.81)
• Competition for reproduction drives evolution of nature’s biggest weapons (similarity 0.81)
• Markets and battlefields select among rifle designs like natural selection acts on weapons (similarity 0.80)
• Losing the ecological context of competition can make extreme weapons vanish. (similarity 0.80)
• Intense competition without duel structure does not drive weapon evolution. (similarity 0.80)
• Clumped sparse resources make territorial fighting pay off reproductively (similarity 0.80)
• Sexual selection stays directionally constant while physical natural selection oscillates (similarity 0.80)

Broader Connections

• Hegemony is an unstable equilibrium that dominant forces must continually resecure #expands (0.75)
• Physical force constitutes power because it asymmetrically orders parties’ relative preferences #expands (0.60)
• Weapon evolution needs both competition and economically defensible resources #corroborates (0.60) — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 191