Re: Hamilton meets Matata

From: Guy Hoelzer (hoelzer_at_unr.edu)
Date: 03/14/05 

Date: Mon, 14 Mar 2005 17:02:07 -0500 (EST)

in article d0v8nr$2lnj$1@darwin.ediacara.org, Robert Karl Stonjek at
rstonjek@bigpond.net.au wrote on 3/12/05 9:26 AM:

> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Guy Hoelzer" <hoelzer@unr.edu>
> Newsgroups: sci.bio.evolution
> Sent: Saturday, March 12, 2005 12:06 PM
> Subject: Re: Hamilton meets Matata
>
>
>> in article d0qtap$17sc$1@darwin.ediacara.org, Jim McGinn at
>> jimmcginn@yahoo.com wrote on 3/10/05 5:47 PM:
>>
>>> Robert Karl Stonjek wrote:
>>>> I'm just wondering how Hamilton theories are applied to real life
>>> situations
>>>> like the one involving Kanzi, probably the most famous Bonobo (Pan
>>>> paniscus).
>>>
>>>
>>>> This is neither altruistic nor kin selection, and indicates that kin
>>>> selection is coincident as far as the animals involved are concerned
>>> ie they
>>>> do not seek out those actually related, but those with whom they are
>>>> familiar
>>>
>>> I think what you are suggesting here is that if Hamilton's theories
>>> were accurate we'd expect some kind of instinct or ability to
>>> distinguish between kin and nonkin and focus assistance only (or almost
>>> only) on kin. And since, as in this example, no such mechanism is
>>> evident that this weighs against the validity of Hamilton's theory. I
>>> would agree. Unfortunately those that continue to believe in
>>> Hamilton's theory have, long ago, built up a resistance to this kind of
>>> empiricism.
>>
>> There are actually many examples of kin recognition mechanisms that have
>> been empirically elucidated. Try searching "kin recognition" through
>> something like the Science Citation Index, or you could read a rather old
>> but general review of examples in a book by Pat Colgan (1983) called
>> "Comparative Social Recognition".
>>
>> Guy Hoelzer
>>
> RKS:
> I'm not aware of any mechanism for recognising kin in primates for which no
> conditioning has occurred eg exposure to that individual *as* kin. If an
> animal and offspring were separated shortly after birth, would that parent
> recognise that offspring when reunited in adulthood?

I don't know, although I bet that the extent of mutualistic behavior (as
opposed to antagonistic behavior) would depend in part on the perceived
extent of phenotypic similarity.

> In zoos, there are
> many examples of this not occurring. Parents must smell their young and
> become familiar with that scent or they don't recognise that offspring.
>
> Other forms of conditioning can be quite bizarre but effective - in ducks,
> the mother is the first moving object that the duckling sees after hatching
> and the offspring is any object that follows the mother. How far up the
> evolutionary tree we do have to go before Hamilton kicks in??

It is actually best documented in social insects and social amoebas.
 
> Do you have references for kin recognition without conditioning ie
> recognising animals that are related but that have not previously been
> encountered?
  
I'm afraid that I don't have any particular references off-hand, but you
might be interested in the work of Burt Holldobler, who made a career of
studying communication among social insects.

[moderator's quibble: Actually, it's BERT Holldobler. - JAH]

Guy