Inclusive Fitness and Kin Selection

The biological world is full of phenomena that seem to run counter to Darwin's insight that natural selection can lead to the appearance of design. For instance, why do organisms in some species divide reproductive labor? The existence of non-reproducing organisms in such 'eusocial' species looks to be at odds with an evolutionary theory which posits traits exist because they help organisms survive and reproduce. What is the evolutionary advantage of an insect being distasteful to its predators? The distastefulness appears designed to deter predators, but can only affect the predator's actions when the insect is eaten; it is hard to see how such a trait could be passed on. This Element will cover the shared foundations of evolutionary explanations for these and other seemingly puzzling phenomena, focusing on the concepts of inclusive fitness and kin selection.

生物世界充滿了一些現象，似乎與達爾文的洞察相抵觸，即自然選擇可以導致設計的出現。例如，為什麼某些物種的生物會分工繁殖？在這種「真社會」物種中存在著不繁殖的生物，這似乎與一個進化理論相抵觸，該理論認為特徵存在是因為它們有助於生物的生存和繁殖。昆蟲對其捕食者具有不好吃的特性有什麼進化優勢？這種不好吃的特性似乎是為了嚇阻捕食者而設計的，但只有在昆蟲被吃掉時才能影響捕食者的行為；很難看出這樣的特徵如何能夠傳承下去。本文將介紹這些看似令人困惑的現象的進化解釋的共同基礎，重點關注包容性適應度和親屬選擇的概念。