Negotiation and appeasement can be more effective drivers of sociality than kin selection.

ABSTRACT: Two alternative frameworks explain the evolution of cooperation in the face of conflicting interests. Conflicts can be alleviated by kinship, the alignment of interests by virtue of shared genes, or by negotiation strategies, allowing mutually beneficial trading of services or commodities. Although negotiation often occurs in kin-structured populations, the interplay of kin- and negotiation-based mechanisms in the evolution of cooperation remains an unresolved issue. Inspired by the biology of a cooperatively breeding fish, we developed an individual-based simulation model to study the evolution of negotiation-based cooperation in relation to different levels of genetic relatedness. We show that the evolution of negotiation strategies leads to an equilibrium where subordinates appease domi

SUBMITTER: Quinones AE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4760191 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature