29
helpful. If individual A lives 10
times as long as individual B, but
the latter produces twice as many
offspring that then also breed, B
will pass on more genes to the next
generation than the longer-lived A.Building on the theory
Many of Darwin’s and Wallace’s
ideas have proved remarkably
accurate, despite the fact that
the workings of genetics were not
understood at the time. Although
Darwin himself had used the
term “genetic” as an adjective
to describe the as-yet-unknown
mechanism of inheritance, it was
British biologist William Bateson,
in the early 20th century, who first
used the term “genetics” in aTHE STORY OF EVOLUTION
description of the scientific process.
In 1930, British geneticist Ronald
Fisher wrote The Genetical Theory
of Natural Selection, which
combined Darwin’s theory of
natural selection with the ideas
of heredity that the 19th-century
Austrian scientist Gregor Mendel
had developed. In 1937, Ukrainian–
American geneticist Theodosius ❯❯Kin selection
The term “kin selection” was
first used by British biologist
John Maynard Smith in 1964.
It is the evolutionary strategy
that favors the reproductive
success of an organism’s
relatives, prioritizing them
above the individual’s own
survival and reproduction.
It occurs when an organism
engages in self-sacrificial
behavior that benefits its
relatives. Charles Darwin was
the first to discuss the concept
when he wrote about the
apparent paradox represented
by altruistic nonbreeding
social insects, such as worker
honeybees, which leave
reproduction to their mothers.
British evolutionary biologist
William Donald Hamilton
proposed that bees, for
example, behave in an
altruistic manner—assisting
others in reproduction—when
the genetic closeness of the
two bees and the benefit to
the recipient outweigh the
cost of altruism to the giver.
This is called Hamilton’s Rule.In honeybee colonies, female
worker bees look after the queen
bee. They build the honeycomb,
gather nectar and pollen, and feed
larvae, but they do not breed.The peacock with the most splendid
tail will attract the most peahens. Its
bright tail will be passed on to its male
offspring, which will find it similarly
easy to attract mates.Why do some die and some
live?... the answer was
clearly, that on the whole the
best fitted live.
Alfred Russel WallaceUS_024-031_Evolution_by_Natural_Selection.indd 29 12/11/18 6:24 PM