Kin selection

High school (ages 12+)
Animals & Nature

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/kin-selection

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the mechanisms for altruism?Kin recognition and population viscosity (limited dispersal leading to interaction with neighbors)
2. What is kin selection and why do animals help their family?Kin selection is a way nature explains how animals can help relatives, even if it costs them. By helping family members, they share genes that are the same as theirs, so the genes can still spread through the family.
3. What is Hamilton's Rule and how does it help us understand animal help?Hamilton's Rule says that a helpful act will spread if the relatedness to the helper times the benefit to the helper's relatives is bigger than the cost to the helper. It shows that helping relatives can be good for a gene's survival.

Coefficient of Relatedness (r): A measure of the probability that two individuals share an allele inherited from a common ancestor.
Inclusive Fitness: An individual's total genetic contribution to the next generation, including direct and indirect (via relatives) components.
Altruism: Behavior that decreases an individual's own fitness while increasing the fitness of another individual.
Population Viscosity: The tendency for individuals to remain in close proximity to their natal location, increasing interactions with relatives.