Practice question · Sort into groups
Sort each example by the mechanism that best explains the helping.
Groups: Kin selection · Reciprocity
- A ground squirrel's alarm call mainly warns its nearby relatives
- Two unrelated primates take turns grooming each other
- A sterile worker bee raises her highly related sisters
- A vampire bat feeds an unrelated roost-mate that will return the favor
Hints
- Ask whether the beneficiary is a RELATIVE or an unrelated partner who repays.
- Helping relatives is kin selection; helping non-relatives who reciprocate is reciprocal altruism.
Show the answer
Kin selection: A sterile worker bee raises her highly related sisters, A ground squirrel's alarm call mainly warns its nearby relatives
Reciprocity: A vampire bat feeds an unrelated roost-mate that will return the favor, Two unrelated primates take turns grooming each other
Why
Helping relatives (worker bee, squirrel alarm calls) is kin selection, spreading shared genes; helping unrelated partners who repay (bat feeding, mutual grooming) is reciprocal altruism. Relatedness versus reciprocation is the discriminator.
Practise Social Behavior and Altruism
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