BIO220H1 Chapter Notes - Chapter 16: Robert Trivers, Haplodiploidy, Cooperative Breeding

• School: UTSG
• Department: Biology
• Course: BIO220H1
• Professor: John Stinchcombe

Document Summary

Reading article 16 cooperation, conflict, and the evolution of complex animal. Why do organisms live in groups/form complex societies: organisms inherently competitive, but still have cooperation. Social complexity in: insects, mammals, birds, amoebas. Benefits: more pairs of eyes to look for food/watch predators, assistance to deal with pathogens (grooming, easier mating opportunities, heat conservation, reduced energetic cost of movement. Costs: more conspicuous to predators, more competition for food, more parasite burdens, misdirected parental care, more reproductive competition. So need to weigh cost-benefit ratio of living solitarily vs living in group. Can have long-term stable social groups: interactions in these often seemingly altruistic, ex: ground squirrel alarm calls for predators, ex: meerkats forgo reproduction, feed young of another group member. Reduce # offspring it will producing during it"s lifetime. Robert trivers: considers hypothetical group of animals, 1 individual has opportunity to take small risk to benefit another: Not help = best for individual"s short-term fitness.