Temporary, pack based altruism as an ESS supported by niche isolation

I would like to suggest, what may be a novel mechanism whereby
altruistic behavioural traits can evolve without invoking group
selection etc.

My hypothesis is based on inclusive fitness/kin selection i.e. rb>c but
with the added factor of niche isolation making
non-compliance/deviation disadvantageous.

My apologies if I am re-inventing the wheel - please post references if
this has been proposed/demolished in the past.

It goes like this:

1. Intelligent carnivores that retain juveniles that are able to
function as part of a hunting team
a) may be able to exploit larger prey
b) may be more effective in intraspecific competition e.g. fighting for
territory or over kills.

This, of course, assumes a primordial position, in which hunting packs
of such intelligent carnivores have yet to occupy the available niche.

2. The parents in such larger family groups benefit as they gain more
resources to put into their offspring due to 1 above.

3. The progeny benefit as they gain parental support/resources. They
do not forgo fitness by remaining with their parents for an extented
period as they would have a relatively neglible chance of surviving
without the pack and will have the chance of becoming the alpha
individuals themselves.

4. Parents retain alpha reproductive status until such a time as
juveniles are able to usurp. Parents will not lose fitness by being
usurped by their offspring as this will only happen when they are weak
enough to be usurped anyway and so it is better to be usurped by
offspring than non-related individuals.

4. The niche of the population will, in time, shift so that they
become dependent upon pack strength to survive. Other organisms will
fill the old niche.

5. Genes that promote such selfish behaviour as leaving the pack will
be eliminated as there will be no non-pack niche available as solitary
hunting will be far less effective and competition with the existing
packs will be too severe. The temporary altruism will therefore become
an ESS. It may have to share this with sneaky-males, however.

6. Genes that promote pack residence but non-cooperation in hunting
etc will leave the individual away from the kill and so be eliminated,
if there isn't the intelligence in the alphas to punish such actions
(evidence from ethology?).

7. Juveniles will therefore be placed in a situation of temporary,
enforced altruism which will be broken when they are strong enough to
usurp their parents (oedipal strategy), split off with part of the pack
or win alpha status in other packs.

8. Selfish immigrants that haven't inherited the cognitive ability to
show submission etc in order to avoid injury/death will not have
advantage.

9. The carnivores will require sufficient intelligence to be able to
recognise individual group members and to process status levels.
They will also need sufficient intelligence to make co-ordinated pack
hunting feasible rather than a shambles.

10. The key cognitive feature that is required to evolve is the
ability to retain but conditionaly suppress adult behavioural patterns.
Such juvenile traits are present in non-pack animals and so there is a
basis for the evolution of this extended, temporary, conditional,
submissive juvenility.

11. Groups with this trait will have selective advantage over groups
without this trait as they will be more powerful. However, there is no
need to invoke group selection arguments to see the spread of the genes
involved.

12. Group size will be limited, at an extreme, where groups are formed
only from the progeny of a monogamous pair. However, once the trait
has spread, through group splitting etc, and become the WT within the
population, then, non-kin individuals will be sufficiently congitively
equipped i.e. temporarily submissive and altruistic, to be able to move
from one group to another without invoking lethal fights. This would
enable larger, non-kin based groups to form.

So we have:

Altruistic behavioural traits evolving as an ESS but without the
individuals being exclusively tied to altruism and therefore suffering
depressed fitness as a result.

More powerful groups will be selected but without the need to invoke
group selection.

Niche isolation and lethal action from alphas makes deviation towards
selfishness disadvantageous.


Any thoughts?

Mark Thomas
UK


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Relevant Pages

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