Abstract
Given the extensive literature which has developed relating to optimal foraging theory (OFT) in the twenty years since Emlen’s (1966) and MacArthur and Pianka’s (1966) papers on prey choice, and the ten years since Charnov’s (1976) publication of the marginal value theorem, one might expect that rigorous tests of OFT would abound. Purported tests do abound; unfortunately, rigorous tests are less abundant (Krebs, Stephens & Sutherland 1983, Krebs & McCleery 1984, Pyke 1984). Many, if not most, extant tests do lend qualitative support to OFT, but often these tests have been constrained by their design from providing quantitative support for OFT. In general, this failure to provide quantitative support has been a result of violating the simplifying assumptions of OFT. In fact, to the extent that the assumptions have been violated we can only regard the qualitative support as suggestive.
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