Animal adoption
Description
Altruism, an act that bestows a benefit on the recipient while conferring a cost to the actor, is one of the central paradoxes of evolution. In the wild, where only the fittest survive, adopting other animals' offspring is not really in line with Darwin's theory of evolution. And yet, amongst bees, dolphins, lions and several primate species, altruism may go as far as adoption. In the case of social insects, parent substitution was a flaw in Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection: the biologist noticed that non-reproductive insects who adopted and helped young ones, brought a large portion of genetic baggage from their parents.
Runtime
52 min
Series
Subjects
Genre
Date of Publication
2004
Database
Alexander Street
https://www.remote.uwosh.edu/login?url=http://www.aspresolver.com/aspresolver.asp?VAST;2110398