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. It has applications in many fields of social science, and is used extensively in economics, logic, systems science and computer science. Initially, game theory addressed ...

climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

herpetology Herpetology (from Ancient Greek ἑρπετόν ''herpetón'', meaning "reptile" or "creeping animal") is a branch of zoology concerned with the study of amphibians (including frogs, salamanders, and caecilians (Gymnophiona)) and reptiles (in ...

, and animal behavior. One of his major discoveries was of a

rock-paper-scissors Rock, Paper, Scissors (also known by several other names and word orders) is an intransitive hand game, usually played between two people, in which each player simultaneously forms one of three shapes with an outstretched hand. These shapes a ...

game in

side-blotched lizard Side-blotched lizards are lizards of the genus ''Uta''. They are some of the most abundant and commonly observed lizards in the deserts of western North America, known for cycling between three colorized breeding patternsSinervo, B.; C.M. Lively ...

mating behaviour. He also discovered evidence of the

Baldwin effect In evolutionary biology, the Baldwin effect describes an effect of learned behaviour on evolution. James Mark Baldwin and others suggested that an organism's ''ability to learn'' new behaviours (e.g. to acclimatise to a new stressor) will affect ...

in the side-blotched lizard. Sinervo was born in

Port Arthur, Ontario Port Arthur was a city in Northern Ontario, Canada, located on Lake Superior. In January 1970, it was amalgamated with Fort William and the townships of Neebing and McIntyre to form the city of Thunder Bay. Port Arthur became the district seat ...

, Canada, and educated at

Dalhousie University Dalhousie University (commonly known as Dal) is a large public research university in Nova Scotia, Canada, with three campuses in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Halifax, a fourth in Bible Hill, Nova Scotia, Bible Hill, and a second medical school campus ...

, Nova Scotia, and the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

, Seattle. He died from cancer at age 60 on March 15, 2021.

Honors

A species of lizard was named after Sinervo, '' Phymaturus sinervoi'' 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