David Sloan Wilson opens his new book, Does Altruism Exist?, with an old conundrum that has animated many late-night dormitory debates: If helping someone gives you pleasure, gains you points for an ...

Researchers have used several different ways of testing Hamilton's rule, the core mathematical formula of kin selection, as an explanation for the evolution of much altruistic behavior in animals.

Darwin explained how beneficial traits accumulate in natural populations, but how do costly traits evolve? In the past, two theories have addressed this problem. The theory of hitchhiking suggests ...

“Often when we see these kinds of social incompatibilities, or greater cooperation between close relatives than between strangers, it’s interpreted in the context of kin selection theory, which posits ...

SALT LAKE CITY, June 15, 2016 - It's easy to understand why natural selection favors people who help close kin at their own expense: It can increase the odds the family's genes are passed to future ...

Social interactions among individuals are widespread, both in natural and domestic populations. As a result, trait values of individuals may be affected by genes in other individuals, a phenomenon ...