Early explanations of social behaviour, such as the lekking of blackcock, spoke of "the good of the species".[1]Blackcocks at the Lek watercolour and bodycolour by Archibald Thorburn, 1901.
Group selection is a proposed mechanism of evolution in which natural selection acts at the level of the group, instead of at the level of the individual or gene.
Early authors such as V. C. Wynne-Edwards and Konrad Lorenz argued that the behavior of animals could affect their survival and reproduction as groups, speaking for instance of actions for the good of the species. In the 1930s, R.A. Fisher and J.B.S. Haldane proposed the concept of kin selection, a form of altruism from the gene-centered view of evolution, arguing that animals should sacrifice for their relatives, and thereby implying that they should not sacrifice for non-relatives. From the mid-1960s, evolutionary biologists such as John Maynard Smith, W. D. Hamilton, George C. Williams, and Richard Dawkins argued that natural selection acted primarily at the level of the gene. They argued on the basis of mathematical models that individuals would not altruistically sacrifice fitness for the sake of a group unless it would ultimately increase the likelihood of an individual passing on their genes. A consensus emerged that group selection did not occur, including in special situations such as the haplodiploid social insects like honeybees (in the Hymenoptera), where kin selection explains the behaviour of non-reproductives equally well, since the only way for them to reproduce their genes is via kin.[2]
In 1994 David Sloan Wilson and Elliott Sober argued for multi-level selection, including group selection, on the grounds that groups, like individuals, could compete. In 2010 three authors including E. O. Wilson, known for his work on social insects especially ants, again revisited the arguments for group selection.[3] They argued that group selection can occur when competition between two or more groups, some containing altruistic individuals who act cooperatively together, is more important for survival than competition between individuals within each group,[3] provoking a strong rebuttal from a large group of ethologists.[2]
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^ abNowak, Martin A.; Tarnita, Corina E.; Wilson, Edward O. (August 2010). "The evolution of eusociality". Nature. 466 (7310): 1057–1062. doi:10.1038/nature09205. ISSN 1476-4687. PMC 3279739.
Groupselection is a proposed mechanism of evolution in which natural selection acts at the level of the group, instead of at the level of the individual...
Cultural groupselection is an explanatory model within cultural evolution of how cultural traits evolve according to the competitive advantage they bestow...
Social selection, within social groupsSelection (linguistics), the ability of predicates to determine the semantic content of their arguments Selection in...
popularised the term "natural selection", contrasting it with artificial selection, which is intentional, whereas natural selection is not. Variation of traits...
Kin selection is a process whereby natural selection favours a trait due to its positive effects on the reproductive success of an organism's relatives...
self-replicating molecule, a gene, a cell, an organism, a group, or a species) that is subject to natural selection. There is debate among evolutionary biologists...
Adaptation and Natural Selection (1966), which argued that altruism is not based upon group benefit per se, but results from selection that occurs "at the...
Selection bias is the bias introduced by the selection of individuals, groups, or data for analysis in such a way that proper randomization is not achieved...
book Neural Darwinism introduced the public to the theory of neuronal groupselection (TNGS) – which is the core theory underlying Edelman's explanation...
successive generations. It occurs when evolutionary processes such as natural selection and genetic drift act on genetic variation, resulting in certain characteristics...
potential of a group. In addition, the theory of groupselection is inherently tied to Darwin's theory of natural selection. Specifically, that "group-related...
Selection cutting, also known as selection system, is the silvicultural practice of harvesting trees in a way that moves a forest stand towards an uneven-aged...
considered to be in the "shadow region" of selection." Groupselection is based on the idea that all members of a given group will either succeed or fail together...
Species (or, more completely, On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life) is a...
chemistry, a selection rule, or transition rule, formally constrains the possible transitions of a system from one quantum state to another. Selection rules...
Staff Selection Commission (SSC) is an organisation under the Government of India to recruit staff for various posts in the various ministries and departments...
on groupselection. Groupselection posits that natural selection operates at the group level, favoring traits that are beneficial for the group rather...
In population genetics, directional selection is a type of natural selection in which one extreme phenotype is favored over both the other extreme and...
two distinct groups. In this more individuals acquire peripheral character value at both ends of the distribution curve. Natural selection is known to...
increasing the survival rate of the herd. This would be an instance of groupselection, a theory heavily criticized by evolutionary biologists. A socially...
1986. Evolution Through GroupSelection. Blackwell. ISBN 0-632-01541-1 Maynard Smith, J. (1964). "Groupselection and kin selection". Nature. 201 (4924):...
of multi-level (group) selection in five steps: Formation of groups: Groups could consist of parent-offspring groups or unrelated groups (in situations...
anglerfish) as organisms. If groupselection occurs, then a group could be viewed as a superorganism, optimized by group adaptation. Another view is that...
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