Question

What is altruism? Explain why altruism is an important adaptive behavior that helps animals to pass along their genetic material.

Answer 1

Altruism is a type of behavior in which an individual performs an action that benefits another individual, often at the expense of its own survival or reproductive success. Altruism is considered an important adaptive behavior because it can help individuals to increase the survival and reproductive success of their close relatives, and therefore increase the chances that their shared genetic material will be passed on to future generations.

The underlying mechanism that allows altruism to be adaptive is known as kin selection, which is the idea that natural selection can favor behaviors that increase the survival and reproductive success of close relatives, even if these behaviors are detrimental to the individual's own survival and reproductive success. This is because close relatives share a proportion of their genetic material, and by helping their relatives to survive and reproduce, they can increase the likelihood that their own genes will be passed on to future generations.

One example of altruism in animals is seen in social insects such as bees, ants, and termites. In these species, the majority of the individuals in the colony are sterile workers, which means that they are unable to reproduce themselves. However, they engage in behaviors such as foraging for food, caring for the young, and defending the colony from predators, which increases the survival and reproductive success of the queen and her offspring, who are closely related to the workers. By helping the queen and her offspring to survive and reproduce, the workers increase the chances that their own shared genetic material will be passed on to future generations.

Answer 2

Altruism is a behavior in which an individual acts to benefit another at a cost to itself. This behavior is typically observed in social animals, such as humans, primates, and insects, and is considered an important adaptive trait that helps individuals to pass along their genetic material.

Altruism can take many forms, such as sharing food, providing protection, or caring for offspring that are not genetically related. While altruistic behaviors may appear to be detrimental to the individual performing the behavior, they can actually increase the individual's inclusive fitness, which is the sum of its own reproductive success plus that of its relatives.

This is because many social animals live in groups that are composed of related individuals, such as siblings or parents and offspring. By helping these related individuals survive and reproduce, an altruistic individual can indirectly pass along its own genes, which are shared with its relatives.

For example, if a female ground squirrel helps to care for the offspring of her siblings, she may be reducing her own reproductive success by diverting resources away from her own offspring. However, if the offspring she cares for are also carrying some of her genes, then she may be increasing the overall reproductive success of her genes in the population.

Altruism can also be maintained through reciprocal altruism, in which individuals exchange acts of kindness with one another. For example, if a group of chimpanzees regularly share food with one another, they may be more likely to help each other out in the future, which can increase their overall survival and reproductive success.

In conclusion, altruism is an important adaptive behavior that helps animals to pass along their genetic material. While it may appear to be detrimental to the individual performing the behavior, altruism can actually increase an individual's inclusive fitness by benefiting its relatives or by promoting reciprocal altruism within a group.