Comments on: Kin Selection Rescued by Phylogenetics? http://myrmecos.wordpress.com/2008/05/31/kin-selection-rescued-by-phylogenetics/ Insects, Photography, Life Wed, 16 Dec 2009 14:41:16 +0000 http://wordpress.com/ hourly 1 By: Emma http://myrmecos.wordpress.com/2008/05/31/kin-selection-rescued-by-phylogenetics/#comment-1091 Emma Mon, 10 Nov 2008 19:55:44 +0000 http://myrmecos.wordpress.com/?p=564#comment-1091 sorry, the reference is supposed to be Foster et al 2006 TREE 21: 2, not 2008 sorry, the reference is supposed to be Foster et al 2006 TREE 21: 2, not 2008

]]> By: Emma http://myrmecos.wordpress.com/2008/05/31/kin-selection-rescued-by-phylogenetics/#comment-1090 Emma Mon, 10 Nov 2008 19:54:31 +0000 http://myrmecos.wordpress.com/?p=564#comment-1090 Actually, kin selection theory and its application to social insects does not depend on within-colony relatedness being particularly high. This is a common confusion. Hamilton's original theorem states that altruism (helping others with cost to oneself) can evolve, when the benefits weighted by relatedness are bigger than the cost of helping. This means, that relatedness can be low, if costs are low or benefits high. This also means that the ecological factors promoting the evolution of socialit are also included in the theory, and are by no means contradictory to the kin selection theory. For altruism to evolve, the relatedness does not have to be high, but it has to be positive; that means, that the individuals in question need to be genetically more similar than individuals drawn from the population at random. This is true in multiply mated colonies of social insects, and even those headed my multiple queens. For a balanced analysis, see Foster et al. 2008: Kin selection is the key to altruism, TREE 21:2. Actually, kin selection theory and its application to social insects does not depend on within-colony relatedness being particularly high. This is a common confusion. Hamilton’s original theorem states that altruism (helping others with cost to oneself) can evolve, when the benefits weighted by relatedness are bigger than the cost of helping. This means, that relatedness can be low, if costs are low or benefits high. This also means that the ecological factors promoting the evolution of socialit are also included in the theory, and are by no means contradictory to the kin selection theory.

For altruism to evolve, the relatedness does not have to be high, but it has to be positive; that means, that the individuals in question need to be genetically more similar than individuals drawn from the population at random. This is true in multiply mated colonies of social insects, and even those headed my multiple queens. For a balanced analysis, see Foster et al. 2008: Kin selection is the key to altruism, TREE 21:2.

]]> By: Ford http://myrmecos.wordpress.com/2008/05/31/kin-selection-rescued-by-phylogenetics/#comment-572 Ford Mon, 02 Jun 2008 16:21:56 +0000 http://myrmecos.wordpress.com/?p=564#comment-572 Doesn't a colony with one queen have high relatedness even if she mated with multiple males? Multiple mating affects how closely workers are related to each other, relative to the queen, but I'm not sure I fully understand the implications. See my post at This Week in Evolution and a comment from Ben Oldroyd. Doesn’t a colony with one queen have high relatedness even if she mated with multiple males? Multiple mating affects how closely workers are related to each other, relative to the queen, but I’m not sure I fully understand the implications. See my post at This Week in Evolution and a comment from Ben Oldroyd.

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