Abstract
Animals must make decisions about when to feed, when to court, when to sleep, and so on, in such a way as to maximise as far as possible their chances of survival and reproductive success. It is possible to formulate in mathematical terms the optimal strategy for an animal to pursue. The theoretical optimum behaviour can be compared with the actual behaviour of the animal, and perhaps shed some light on the evolution of behaviour.
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The erratum article can be found online at https://doi.org/10.1038/275162a0
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McFarland, D. Decision making in animals. Nature 269, 15–21 (1977). https://doi.org/10.1038/269015a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/269015a0
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