> If Darwin and Dawkins were right, the selection process in evolution would always have favoured egoism. Why, then, do so many animal groups show so many actions of altruism? Research on the evolution of social behaviour has been dominated by genetic relatedness for a long time; however, both recent empirical studies and theoretical concepts give growing evidence for ecological factors acting as very prominent additional or alternative driving forces in social evolution.

"Ecology of Social Evolution"
J. Korb,  J. Heinze (Eds.)

> Cooperation abounds in the natural world, and biologists are faced with the difficulty of reconciling this fact with the principle of the 'survival of the fittest'. One possibility is genetic kin recognition. Despite the apparent incentive for such kin recognition, however, there is relatively poor empirical support for this mechanism in nature. While altruism may initially flourish due to the operation of genetic kin recognition, it inevitably falters and ultimately fails as the ability to recognise kin is lost.

Social Evolution: The Decline and Fall of Genetic Kin Recognition
Andy Gardner and Stuart A. West. Current Biology. 18 September 2007

> The altruism of insect workers has puzzled researchers for decades. Inclusive fitness theory suggests that high relatedness has been key in promoting such altruism. Recent theory, however, indicates that the intermediate levels of relatedness found within insect societies are too low to directly cause the extreme altruism observed in many species. Instead, recent results show that workers are frequently coerced into acting altruistically. Hence, the altruism seen in many modern-day insect societies is not voluntary but enforced.

Altruism in insect societies and beyond: voluntary or enforced?
Francis L.W. Ratnieks. TRENDS in Ecology and Evolution. January 2008

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