概括
大自然中真正的利他主义是罕见的,挑战进化论的理论. 实验表明,新鸟的配偶主要是以自私的方式行事,而不是以利他主义的方式对待他们未来的伴侣.
科学领域:
- 进化生物学 进化生物学
- 动物行为 动物行为
背景情况:
- 达尔文的自然选择理论认为,行为是基于生殖优势而演变的.
- 真正的利他主义的普遍性,即一个人为了另一个人的利益而付出代价,需要研究才能充分理解进化机制.
研究的目的:
- 通过实验评估野生鸟群中真正的利他主义的频率.
- 为了确定观察到的利他主义行为是否与自然选择原则保持一致或挑战.
主要方法:
- 一个实验旨在为野生鸟类对创造真正利他主义的机会.
- 从25个既定对中移除了一只鸟,并观察到对新潜在伴侣的反应.
- 专门分析了10个替代配偶的行为.
主要成果:
- 只有十分之一的替代配偶表现出可以被解释为培养她未来伴侣的年轻人的行为.
- 这个单一的例子被认为是潜在的生殖错误.
- 大多数配偶表现出生殖自私的行为,优先考虑自己的生殖利益.
结论:
- 真正的利他主义似乎在研究的野生鸟种群中很少见.
- 观察到的行为在很大程度上支持了自然选择的原则,即个人根据自己的生殖利益行事.
- 这些发现表明,达尔文的理论充分解释了观察到的行为,除了罕见的例外.
相关概念视频
01:03Altruism
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.
02:07Conservation of Declining Populations
Conservation of declining population focuses on ways of detecting, diagnosing, and halting a population decline. The approach uses methods to prevent populations from going extinct.
01:55Egoism and Altruism
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?
00:57Inclusive 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.
00:48Optimal Foraging
How animals obtain and eat their food is called foraging behavior. Foraging can include searching for plants and hunting for prey and depends on the species and environment.
01:20Mate 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.