Unicolonial Ants Pose Challenge to "Selfish Gene"
Theory
It has been a mainstay of evolutionary theory since the 1970s. Natural
selection acts purely on the level of the individual and any
cooperation observed between organisms merely hides a selfish genetic
motive. There have been two pioneering theories to explain cooperation
in the natural world given this framework: the first was William
Hamilton's (1964) theory of kin selection and the second was Robert
Trivers' (1971) theory of reciprocal altruism.
However, both of these scenarios break down where it comes to
unicolonial ants. In a paper in the journal Trends in Ecology and
Evolution (subscription required) Heikki Helantera, of the University
of Sussex, and colleagues at Rice University have investigated how
previous theories to explain cooperation don't apply for these unique
supercolonies.
Unicolonial ants carry polydomy [multiple nests in a supercolony that
all individuals rotate through] and polygyny [multiple queens in one
nest] to extremes. Colonies are huge, each being a network of hundreds
or thousands of nests, each with multiple queens. There is no worker
aggression, and there is free movement among nests on a vast scale.
The energy that might have been put into fighting and territoriality
flows into the common good, more ants.
Such a concept, a form of genuine anarchism in the animal world, was
thought to be impossible given existing theory. These ants live in
colonies where relatives exist but, with so much migration throughout
a network stretching thousands of kilometers, each ant worker is
mostly surrounded by total strangers that share none of their genes.
Only one other species has ever been known to organize themselves in
such a fashion (and if you're reading these words right now you know
who you are).
http://scienceblogs.com/primatediaries/2009/09/unicolonial_ants_pose_challeng.php?utm_source=nytwidget
_______________________________________________
Marxism-Thaxis mailing list
Marxism-Thaxis@lists.econ.utah.edu
To change your options or unsubscribe go to:
http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/marxism-thaxis
