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Brief Communication Arising
Nature 451, E9-E10 (28 February 2008) | doi:10.1038/nature06744
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Wolf et al. reply
Max Wolf1, G. Sander van Doorn2, Olof Leimar3 & Franz J. Weissing1
Abstract
Replying to: F. Massol & P. Crochet Nature 451, 10.1038/nature06743 (2008).
The more an individual stands to lose, the more cautious that individual should be. We have shown1 that this basic principle gives rise to consistent individual differences in risk-related behaviour whenever individuals have different future fitness expectations. To illustrate this, we considered a model where differences in fitness expectations result from a trade-off between current and future reproduction. Massol and Crochet argue2 that the emergence of such differences depends on the shape of this trade-off. Their claim is based on the technical argument that our model has a 'branching point' only for a limited range of the trade-off parameter 
. In contrast, we show here that the emergence of individual differences is a robust phenomenon that does not depend on such details. Our analysis illustrates the important insight that a branching point is not needed for the emergence of polymorphism.
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