These models also made it clear that the fundamental mechanism underlyingkin selection and reciprocal altruism is exactly the same as that underlying group selection.

The study highlights the important role ofkin selection in evolution, where organisms are more inclined to favour others to the extent to which they are genetically related.

The notion emerged just as sociobiology began promoting the genetics of behavior, and it was all too easy to consider all behavior "selfish." Explanations of cooperation, "altruism," and eusociality were reduced to genes through the concepts of inclusive fitness andkin selection. The supremacy of the individual seemed to epitomize Darwinism.

Mock summons a theory of animal behavior known askin selection to make sense of such observations as an animal favoring itself over its family and, conversely, how families bond and work cooperatively for the good of the group.

There is Fisher's (1958) fundamental theorem for population genetics, Robertson's (1966) covariance theorem for quantitative genetics, and Hamilton's (1964) rule forkin selection. Systems of gene-culture inheritance or arbitrary selective systems must also follow these fundamental results.

The chapters include life-history evolution, foraging theory, frequency-dependent selection, evolutionary game theory,kin selection, sex ratio theory, sexual selection (in 14 pages!), and the evolution of sex.

During the last week of classes, we talk about animal behavior, and I discusskin selection. Although I've taught introductory courses for almost three decades, I still get excited about how, in this and several other instances, evolution explains what would otherwise be seemingly isolated, inexplicable "facts." Without fail, my blood pressure goes up, I become more animated, and I finally end the class--not by plan, but simply in appreciation and excitement--with something like "That ...

This result "implicateskin selection," to borrow Sherman's phrase.

The example described above, with white- and black-type individuals and global compensation, represents a simple model of evolution bykin selection (Hamilton 1964; Wade 1980; Wilson 1983).

According to thekin selection theory (Hamilton 1963, 1964), the benefits of killing juveniles should decline with increasing relatedness.

This lack of distinction argues against the notion thatkin selection is important among armadillos, Loughry says.

Colonies of social insects typically consist of related individuals, a necessary condition forkin selection to operate.