Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Inclusive Fitness00:57

Inclusive Fitness

35.9K
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.
35.9K
Altruism01:03

Altruism

40.9K
Altruistic behaviors are “unselfish” behaviors—those that help another individual at the expense of the individual carrying out the behavior. Despite the negative consequences for the altruistic animal, these behaviors are thought to have evolved for several reasons.
40.9K
Natural Selection and Mating Preferences01:06

Natural Selection and Mating Preferences

92
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,...
92
Types of Selection01:46

Types of Selection

40.2K
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...
40.2K
Egoism and Altruism01:55

Egoism and Altruism

91.4K
Voluntary behavior with the intent to help other people is called prosocial behavior. Why do people help other people? Is personal benefit such as feeling good about oneself the only reason people help one another?
91.4K
Evolutionary Psychology01:20

Evolutionary Psychology

243
Evolutionary psychology explores the origins of human behavior and mental processes by framing them within the context of natural selection, a theory famously propounded by Charles Darwin. This field asserts that many behaviors common across human societies — ranging from instinctive fear reactions to complex social interactions — arose as evolutionary adaptations. These adaptations enhanced the survival and reproductive success of our ancestors, thereby becoming embedded in the...
243

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Oxford nanopore technology R10 improved assembly metrics of Borrelia plasmids compared to R9.

BMC genomics·2026
Same author

Compartmentalization reduces conflict in multipartner plant-insect symbioses.

Science (New York, N.Y.)·2025
Same author

Reconciling Gene Tree Discordance and Biogeography in European Crows.

Molecular ecology·2025
Same author

Real-time assessment of mitochondrial DNA heteroplasmy dynamics at the single-cell level.

The EMBO journal·2024
Same author

Evolution of Chromosomal Inversions across an Avian Radiation.

Molecular biology and evolution·2024
Same author

German Ixodes inopinatus samples may not actually represent this tick species.

International journal for parasitology·2023
Same journal

Applying invasion criterion to cultural evolution.

Theoretical population biology·2026
Same journal

The joint spectrum over trees under the Kingman coalescent with varying population.

Theoretical population biology·2026
Same journal

Statistical test to compare the linkage model and the admixture model based on central limit results.

Theoretical population biology·2026
Same journal

Threshold dynamics in age-structured distributions with expanding support: A unified mathematical framework.

Theoretical population biology·2026
Same journal

Mechanistic-statistical model for the expansion of ash dieback.

Theoretical population biology·2026
Same journal

Dynamics of an intraguild predation system with optimal foraging and harvesting.

Theoretical population biology·2026
See all related articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 5, 2025

Peering into the Dynamics of Social Interactions: Measuring Play Fighting in Rats
15:01

Peering into the Dynamics of Social Interactions: Measuring Play Fighting in Rats

Published on: January 18, 2013

15.3K

Selection for altruistic defense in structured populations.

Felix Jordan1, Martin Hutzenthaler2, Dirk Metzler1

  • 1Fakultät für Biologie, Division of Evolutionary Biology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Großhaderner Str. 2, 82152 Martinsried, Germany.

Theoretical Population Biology
|December 12, 2024
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

This study models natural selection for anti-parasite defenses in structured host populations. Genetic drift and randomness in reproduction can allow altruistic defense traits to spread, even with fitness costs.

Keywords:
AltruismDefenseHost–parasiteIndividual-based simulationsKin selectionMulti-level selection

More Related Videos

A Visual Guide for Studying Behavioral Defenses to Pathogen Attacks in Leaf-Cutting Ants
08:10

A Visual Guide for Studying Behavioral Defenses to Pathogen Attacks in Leaf-Cutting Ants

Published on: October 12, 2018

11.3K
The Resident-intruder Paradigm: A Standardized Test for Aggression, Violence and Social Stress
09:12

The Resident-intruder Paradigm: A Standardized Test for Aggression, Violence and Social Stress

Published on: July 4, 2013

70.7K

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jun 5, 2025

Peering into the Dynamics of Social Interactions: Measuring Play Fighting in Rats
15:01

Peering into the Dynamics of Social Interactions: Measuring Play Fighting in Rats

Published on: January 18, 2013

15.3K
A Visual Guide for Studying Behavioral Defenses to Pathogen Attacks in Leaf-Cutting Ants
08:10

A Visual Guide for Studying Behavioral Defenses to Pathogen Attacks in Leaf-Cutting Ants

Published on: October 12, 2018

11.3K
The Resident-intruder Paradigm: A Standardized Test for Aggression, Violence and Social Stress
09:12

The Resident-intruder Paradigm: A Standardized Test for Aggression, Violence and Social Stress

Published on: July 4, 2013

70.7K

Area of Science:

  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Population Genetics
  • Theoretical Ecology

Background:

  • Understanding the evolution of costly altruistic traits is a central challenge in evolutionary biology.
  • Previous analytical work provided criteria for the spread of anti-parasite defenses in large, structured populations under specific conditions.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the robustness of existing criteria for the fixation of anti-parasite defense alleles in host populations.
  • To explore the role of genetic drift and demographic stochasticity in the spread of costly defense behaviors.
  • To examine the conditions under which altruistic defense traits can evolve in finite, structured populations.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized individual-based simulations to model natural selection acting on an anti-parasite defense allele within structured host populations.
  • Employed diffusion-based simulation approaches to analyze related population genetic models.
  • Compared simulation results against analytical criteria derived for large populations.

Main Results:

  • The analytical criterion for defense allele fixation/extinction remains accurate for finite populations and diverse migration patterns.
  • Genetic drift, arising from random reproductive and mortality events, creates inter-deme variation in allele frequencies and population sizes, facilitating defense spread.
  • In-silico evidence supports the evolution of altruistic defense traits under specific conditions in structured populations.

Conclusions:

  • The spread of costly anti-parasite defenses is influenced by population structure and stochastic effects, not solely by direct fitness benefits.
  • Genetic drift plays a crucial role in enabling the evolution of seemingly altruistic traits by generating between-deme heterogeneity.
  • The findings offer an inclusive-fitness interpretation for the spread of cooperative defense behaviors in natural populations.