Levels of Selection and the Major Evolutionary Transitions

Cooperation among lower-level units and suppression of within-group competition are important in all the transitions—without them, no higher-level units can evolve. Mechanisms that promote cooperation include kinship, population structure, synergistic interactions, and reciprocation; mechanisms that suppress competition include division of labour, randomization (e.g. fair meiosis), policing by fellow group members, and vertical transmission.

Samir Okasha, Evolution and the Levels of Selection, p. 222-223

Date

August 19, 2023

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