Promiscuity Drives Self-Referent Kin Recognition

Promiscuity Drives Self-Referent Kin Recognition

Kin selection theory has been one of the most significant advances in our understanding of social behavior . However, the discovery of widespread promiscuity has challenged the evolutionary importance of kin selection because it reduces the benefit associated with helping nestmates . This challenge would be resolved if promiscuous species evolved a self-referent kin-recognition mechanism that e...

Self-referent phenotype matching and long-term maintenance of kin recognition

Please cite this article in press as: Mateo, Behaviour (2010), doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.201 Self-referential phenotype matching, or using one’s own cues as a referent for recognizing kin, is expected in species with multiple paternity or maternity to discriminate among full siblings and halfsiblings, or in nepotistic contexts to accurately assess relatedness. It would also facilitate optimal inbre...

Human kin recognition is self- rather than family-referential.

Inclusive fitness theory predicts that organisms will tend to help close kin more than less related individuals. In a variety of birds and mammals, relatives are recognized by comparing their phenotype to an internal representation or template, which might be learned through either repeated exposure to family members or self-inspection. Mirrors are ubiquitous now, but were absent during our evo...

Kin recognition in rattlesnakes.

Snakes are often regarded as the least social of all vertebrate groups, but this assumption stems from the fact that they are secretive and difficult to observe in nature, rather than direct evidence. Recent studies have revealed a surprising degree of social complexity in snakes. Here, I examine the ability of captive-raised timber rattlesnakes (Crotalus horridus) to recognize siblings by meas...

Kin recognition in plants?