Final answer:
Altruistic behavior is when an individual benefits others at a cost to itself, observed widely among animal species such as worker bees and meerkats, which may ultimately serve to increase the individual's inclusive fitness.
Step-by-step explanation:
The behavior that benefits others at a disadvantage to the individual is referred to as altruistic behavior. This concept is seen across various species in the animal kingdom, where individuals act in a way that lowers their own fitness to increase the fitness of others. For example, worker bees serve the queen for the benefit of the hive, despite having no reproductive abilities of their own. Meerkats serve as sentries and risk their lives to warn of danger. Wolves and wild dogs provide food for pack members who were not part of a hunt, and lemurs take care of infants that aren't their own. While these actions appear to be pure altruism, the underlying reasons and evolutionary benefits can be complex. The goal of such behaviors may ultimately contribute to the individual's 'inclusive fitness', which includes the survival of the individual's genes in the offspring of relatives.