2026-10-14T10:23:11Z https://api.figshare.com/v2/oai

oai:figshare.com:article/32581665 2026-10-01T05:48:46Z category_24214 item_type_3 month_year_10_2026

Data and code for manuscript "Weapon regeneration can promote unreliable signalling when reduced strength goes undetected" Lana Waller (21759035) Behavioural ecology signal reliability <p dir="ltr">In this study, we examined whether weapon regeneration undermines the honesty of weapon signals in animal contests. Using the crayfish <i>Cherax destructor</i>, we experimentally removed one chela from 40 individuals and compared them with 40 intact controls after 12 months of regeneration. We measured weapon morphology, claw strength, body growth, swimming performance and contest outcomes. We found that regenerated chelae were smaller, more slender and weaker for their size, revealing a mismatch between signal size and actual fighting ability, with few detectable costs to growth or swimming. In contests, weapon size alone predicted success when interactions were resolved through signalling, while both size and strength mattered once fights escalated. Our results suggest that unreliable signals can persist when receivers cannot detect reduced performance and only occasionally test signals through escalation.</p> 2026-10-01T05:48:46Z Dataset Dataset 10.6084/m9.figshare.32581665.v1 https://figshare.com/articles/dataset/Data_and_code_for_manuscript_Weapon_regeneration_can_promote_unreliable_signalling_when_reduced_strength_goes_undetected_/32581665 CC BY 4.0