Barry R. Sinervo (1961–2021) was a behavioral ecologist and evolutionary biologist. He was a full professor at University of California Santa Cruz where his research interests included

game theory Game theory is the study of mathematical models of strategic interactions among rational agents. Myerson, Roger B. (1991). ''Game Theory: Analysis of Conflict,'' Harvard University Press, p.&nbs1 Chapter-preview links, ppvii–xi It has appli ...

, climate change,

herpetology Herpetology (from Greek ἑρπετόν ''herpetón'', meaning "reptile" or "creeping animal") is the branch of zoology concerned with the study of amphibians (including frogs, toads, salamanders, newts, and caecilians (gymnophiona)) and rept ...

, and animal behavior. One of his major discoveries was of a rock-paper-scissors game in side-blotched lizard mating behaviour. He also discovered evidence of the Baldwin effect in the side-blotched lizard. Sinervo was born in Port Arthur, Ontario, Canada, and educated at

Dalhousie University Dalhousie University (commonly known as Dal) is a large public research university in Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the fou ...

, Nova Scotia, and the University of Washington, Seattle. He died from cancer at age 60 on March 15, 2021.

Honors

A species of lizard was named after Sinervo, ''

Phymaturus sinervoi ''Phymaturus sinervoi'' is a species of lizard in the family Liolaemidae. It is from Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Arg ...

'' Scolaro et al., 2012.Scolaro, José A., Fausto R. Méndez-De La Cruz & Nora R. Ibargüengoytia. 2012. A new species of ''Phymaturus'' of the ''patagonicus'' clade (Squamata, Liolaemidae) from isolated plateau of southwestern Rio Negro Province, Argentina. Zootaxa 3451: 17-30.

References

1961 births 2021 deaths University of California, Santa Cruz faculty Ethologists Evolutionary biologists American herpetologists {{US-biologist-stub