EVOLUTIONARY CONFLICT AND COOPERATION

Question 1

What is cooperation in evolutionary terms, and how does it relate to altruism?

Answer 1

Cooperation refers to behaviors that benefit others, often at a cost to oneself. This concept is closely related to altruism, which is the selfless concern for the welfare of others, where individuals may harm themselves for the benefit of others.

Question 2

What are the two main explanations for altruistic behavior?

Answer 2

Collective Self-Interest Altruism:

Mutual Benefit Altruism (Reciprocal Altruism):

Question 3

Mutual Benefit Altruism (Reciprocal Altruism):

Answer 3

Cooperative behavior is performed with the expectation of immediate or future returns, leading to direct benefits for the individual.

Question 4

Collective Self-Interest Altruism:

Answer 4

Individuals act in ways that benefit the group, which ultimately enhances their own survival and reproductive success.

Question 5

Explain collective self-interest altruism with an example

Answer 5

Collective self-interest altruism occurs when individuals perform actions that benefit the group, knowing that these actions will also benefit themselves indirectly. For instance, in wolf packs, individuals help care for the young and defend the territory, which enhances the survival of the pack as a whole, benefiting all members, including themselves.

Question 6

Describe mutual benefit altruism and provide an example.

Answer 6

Mutual benefit altruism is characterized by cooperative behavior that provides direct advantages to the individuals involved, rather than self-sacrifice. An example includes birds that mob predators to drive them away. This collective action protects the group, and the immediate benefit is that the individual birds avoid predation.

Question 7

What are some advantages of group selection?

Answer 7

Selective Pressure: Groups with traits that promote cooperation can outlast others.

Survival Benefits: When members sacrifice personal resources for the group (e.g., defense), it enhances group survival chances

.
Promoting Harmony: Traits that reduce aggression within groups can lead to greater group cohesion and success.

Question 8

What are the limitations of group selection theory?

Answer 8

1. Resource Constraints: Limited resources can restrict group growth and sustainability.
2. Dominance Hierarchies: Dominant individuals (e.g., female wolves) may evict less dominant or pregnant individuals to reduce competition.
3. Selfish Mutations: Genetic mutations may arise that favor selfish behaviors, undermining group cooperation.
4. Non-Evolutionary Stable Strategy (ESS): Group selection can be outcompeted by selfish strategies.

Question 9

Define kin selection and its significance in altruism.

Answer 9

Kin selection is the evolutionary strategy that favors reproductive success of an organism’s relatives, even at a cost to the organism’s own survival and reproduction. It emphasizes genetic relatedness, where individuals are more likely to engage in altruistic behaviors toward relatives due to shared genes.

Question 10

What is parent-offspring conflict?

Answer 10

Parent-offspring conflict arises because offspring seek maximum investment from parents to increase their own chances of survival and reproduction, while parents aim to minimize investment to ensure they can provide for future offspring and maintain their own reproductive potential.

Question 11

How do male and female reproductive strategies differ, and what are the implications?

Answer 11

Males typically benefit from seeking multiple mating opportunities to increase their reproductive success (quantity), while females are more selective, prioritizing high-quality mates for better offspring (quality). This difference can lead to sexual competition among males and selective mate choice among females.

Question 12

What is sexual conflict, and how does it manifest in reproductive strategies?

Answer 12

Sexual conflict occurs when the reproductive interests of males and females diverge, leading to strategies that may be detrimental to the other sex. Males may adopt aggressive tactics to secure mating, while females may evolve traits to resist such strategies, creating a constant evolutionary arms race.

Question 13

Describe some types of sexual conflict and their consequences.

Answer 13

Mating Frequency Conflict:

Mate Choice Conflict:

Parental Investment Conflict:

Sexual Antagonistic Coevolution:

Question 14

Mating Frequency Conflict

Answer 14

Males may attempt to mate more frequently than is optimal for females, causing physical exhaustion and impacting female fitness.

Question 15

Mate Choice Conflict:

Answer 15

Females select mates based on certain traits, leading males to evolve strategies to exploit or coerce females into mating.

Question 16

Parental Investment Conflict:

Answer 16

Males often invest less in current offspring to save energy for future mating opportunities, while females invest heavily in current offsprin

Question 17

Sexual Antagonistic Coevolution:

Answer 17

Adaptations in one sex can lead to counter-adaptations in the other, such as male water striders evolving grasping behaviors that females evolve to resist.

Question 18

Inter-locus Sexual Conflict:

Answer 18

Occurs when genes at different loci have opposing evolutionary interests, leading to adaptations in one sex that prompt counter-adaptations in the other (e.g., male insects developing harassment behaviors while females evolve resistance strategies).

Question 19

Intra-locus Sexual Conflict:

Answer 19

Happens when a single locus affects traits that have different optima for males and females, such as showiness (color). Males may benefit from increased color for attracting mates, while such traits may increase predation risks for females.

Question 20

What is inclusive fitness, and how does it relate to altruism?

Answer 20

Inclusive fitness is the total effect an individual has on passing on its genes, including direct fitness (its offspring) and indirect fitness (offspring of relatives). It allows individuals to contribute to the survival of shared genes even without direct reproduction.

Question 21

What is Hamilton’s rule, and how does it predict altruistic behavior?

Answer 21

Hamilton’s rule states that altruism will evolve if the relatedness (r) multiplied by the benefit (b) to the recipient is greater than the cost (c) to the altruist: r × b > c.

This means that individuals are more likely to behave altruistically toward close relatives, enhancing the chances of shared genes being passed on.

Question 22

What are some reproductive conflicts that occur in populations?

Answer 22

Unequal investment in reproduction, leading to sexual conflict.

Differential costs of missed reproductive opportunities, influencing mating strategies.

Conflicts arise from the differing roles of males and females in reproduction, such as females incubating eggs and males competing for mates.

Question 23

What strategies do male birds employ in their first year of breeding?

Answer 23

Breed themselves.

Help their parents (Primary helper).

Help an unrelated pair (Secondary helper).

Do nothing (Delayer).

Question 24

How do the survival rates differ among male bird strategies?

Answer 24

Breeders and primary helpers: Lower survival rate.

Secondary helpers: Higher survival rate.

Helping during fledging, especially in harsh conditions, increases the number of fledging offspring due to parental care.

Question 25

How can sexual conflict be mitigated?

Answer 25

Males benefit when females invest in their offspring and current reproduction.

Strategies to reduce costs include ensuring paternity and promoting monogamy to prevent loss of mating opportunities.

Question 26

What happens when monogamy is enforced in a population?

Answer 26

Decreased courtship behavior.

Increased female survival.

Higher reproduction rates, as females do not need to defend against males, allowing for more offspring.

Question 27

What are the causes of sexual conflict?

Answer 27

Unequal investment in reproduction between sexes.

Differential costs of missed reproductive opportunities.

Can lead to arms races (different loci) or tug-of-wars (same locus).

Despite its drawbacks, it persists due to advantages for individuals engaged in the conflict.

Question 28

males reproductive strategies

Answer 28

Often mate with multiple females to maximize reproductive fitness, but this may not significantly increase offspring quantity. Males may seek quality mates.

Question 29

females reproductive strategies

Answer 29

May not mate as frequently, but multiple mating can increase offspring quantity. Females generally seek multiple mates but are more selective compared to males.

Question 30

How does parental investment influence sexual selection?

Answer 30

In this context, males contribute significantly more to offspring than females, which can shift their reproductive success to depend more on quality. This can lead to males being choosy despite their typical preference for quantity.

Question 31

hat role does conflict play in family dynamics from an evolutionary perspective?

Answer 31

nequal investment from parents in offspring.
Differential investment strategies that maximize individual fitness at the expense of others.

Question 32

How can apparently altruistic behavior in unrelated individuals arise?

Answer 32

Altruism in unrelated individuals can stem from:

Self-interest, where individuals benefit indirectly from helping others.
Reciprocity, where help is exchanged for future benefits, allowing altruism to evolve.

Question 33

What conditions favor the evolution of altruistic behavior in related individuals?

Answer 33

Altruistic behavior can evolve among relatives if:

The cost of the behavior is low.

The benefits of the behavior are high.

Individuals are closely related, increasing the chance that shared genes are passed on

Question 34

being helpers and how that relates to fitness

Answer 34

being a primary helper, your genetic information is still being passed on, just not through you directly, still contributing to fitness