PSYCH 3T03 Study Guide - Final Guide: Kin Selection, Lifesaving, Stingless Bee

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The greatest puzzle identi ed by darwin was the evolution of altruism. Because self-sacri cing altruists help other individuals reproduce, one would think that this behaviour should be naturally selected against and so should disappear over time. In many social insects, the working caste is made up of sterile females (i. e. they are biologically incapable of reproduction) Friday, april 13, 2018: yet extreme altruism is common in eusocial (caste-forming) insect colonies where workers rarely, if ever, reproduce and instead help their colony mates survive to reproduce. Many solutions to this puzzle have been o ered, including the claim that group selection favours colonies that contain altruists because these colonies produce more new colonies than groups without altruists. Explanation 1: intelligent design theory: ruled a religious theory in 2005- insect colonies simply can"t be explained by evolution- colonies were developed by an intelligent entity to work together e ciently.