The validity of the handicap principle has spawned much debate in spite of the existence of
a formal treatment. Simple models constructed to further investigate the issue were able both
to prove and to disprove some of its claims. Here I show with the aid of a more general
model, which takes into account both assumptions presented in these previous simple
models:(1) that the previous results are not in conflict since they can be obtained as specific
cases of this general model;(2) that ESS communication need not use costly signals, that is …