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Inclusive Fitness

Inclusive Fitness

Most altruistic behavior—in which one animal helps another at a cost to themselves—occurs between relatives. Scientists think these altruistic behaviors evolved because they increase the inclusive fitness of the animal providing help.

Natural Selection and Mating Preferences

Natural Selection and Mating Preferences

The principle of natural selection posits that organisms better adapted to their environment are more likely to survive and reproduce. This principle is closely intertwined with mating preferences, a key aspect of sexual selection, which evolutionary psychologists believe is driven by instincts to propagate one's genes. Such instincts significantly influence mating behaviors and preferences between genders.
Females, due to their biological roles in conception, pregnancy, and nursing,...

Types of Selection

Types of Selection

Natural selection influences the frequencies of particular alleles and phenotypes within populations in several different ways. Primarily, natural selection can be directional, stabilizing, or disruptive. Directional selection favors one extreme trait and shifts the population towards that phenotype while selecting against individuals displaying alternate traits. Stabilizing selection favors an intermediate trait with a narrow range of variation. Deviation from the optimal phenotype towards an...

Mate Choice

Mate Choice

Mate choice—the decision about whom to mate with—is a type of natural selection, since animals must reproduce to pass down their genes. Mate choice is also called intersexual selection because the behavior occurs between the sexes.

Limits to Natural Selection

Limits to Natural Selection

Organisms that are well-adapted to their environment are more likely to survive and reproduce. However, natural selection does not lead to perfectly adapted organisms. Several factors constrain natural selection.

Genetics of Speciation

Genetics of Speciation

Speciation is the evolutionary process resulting in the formation of new, distinct species—groups of reproductively isolated populations.

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Mar 1, 2026

Using the FishSim Animation Toolchain to Investigate Fish Behavior: A Case Study on Mate-Choice Copying In Sailfin Mollies

Using the FishSim Animation Toolchain to Investigate Fish Behavior: A Case Study on Mate-Choice Copying In Sailfin Mollies

Published on: November 8, 2018

A GENERAL MODEL FOR KIN SELECTION.

David C Queller¹

¹Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Rice University, P.O. Box 1892, Houston, TX, 77251, USA.

Evolution; International Journal of Organic Evolution

|June 1, 2017

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Inclusive fitness theory explains social behavior evolution. A new genic perspective offers a more general and simpler version of Hamilton's rule for understanding altruism.

Keywords:

Altruism Hamilton's rule group selection inclusive fitness kin selection

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Last Updated: Mar 1, 2026

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Published on: November 8, 2018

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Area of Science:

Evolutionary biology
Behavioral ecology
Genetics

Background:

Inclusive fitness theory is fundamental to understanding the evolution of social behavior.
It explains altruistic behaviors, especially in social insects, by considering genetic transmission to non-descendant relatives.
Hamilton's rule quantifies inclusive fitness but faces criticism for generality and precision.

Purpose of the Study:

To develop a more general and transparent formulation of Hamilton's rule.
To re-evaluate inclusive fitness theory from a genic perspective.
To provide a robust framework for studying the evolution of social behavior.

Main Methods:

Adopting a genic perspective to analyze inclusive fitness.
Deriving a generalized version of Hamilton's rule.
Theoretical modeling and conceptual analysis.

Main Results:

A highly general version of Hamilton's rule was derived.
The genic perspective simplifies and clarifies the application of inclusive fitness theory.
The revised rule maintains transparency while enhancing applicability.

Conclusions:

The genic perspective provides a powerful and general framework for inclusive fitness.
This approach resolves criticisms regarding the generality and precision of Hamilton's rule.
It offers a more robust understanding of the evolution of social and altruistic behaviors.