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Principles of social evolution
Format: Book
Publication Date: Nov 30, 2010
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Place of Publication: Oxford; New York
Sources ID: 48036
Collection: Altruism
Visibility: Public (group default)
Abstract: (Show)
Living things are organized in a hierarchy of levels. Genes group together in cells, cells group together in organisms, and organisms group together in societies. Even different species form mutualistic partnerships. In the history of life, previously independent units have formed groups that, in time, have come to resemble individuals in their own right. Biologists term such events the major transitions. The process common to them all is social evolution. Each occurs only if natural selection favours one unit joining with another in a new kind of group. This book presents a fresh synthesis of the principles of social evolution that underlie the major transitions, and explains how the basic theory underpinning social evolution, inclusive fitness theory, is central to understanding each event. At the same time, it defends inclusive fitness theory against recent critiques. The book defines the key stages in a major transition, then picks out the shared principles operating at each stage across the transitions as a whole. It addresses in new ways the question of how, once they have arisen, organisms and societies can become more individualistic. Ranging from the evolution of cells to the evolution of social insects, and drawing examples from the latest studies of microbes, plants, insects, birds, and mammals, the book presents the first integrated treatment of the topic since Maynard Smith and Szathmáry's landmark volume of 1995. By demonstrating how deeply the major transitions resemble one another, it places social evolution at the heart of the history of life.