Co-operation and evolution

Sometimes it’s hard to find food in nature. Those best at searching – or hunting – have the best chance of surviving, reproducing, and passing on their traits to a new generation. Natural selection reigns. Around the clock, all year round. There is not an endless supply of food, space, or mates.

Everything is limited. In nature there is competition. In such an environment, surely it’s best to be strong, and grab for yourself as much as you possibly can, so as not to risk having no food? But is that entirely certain? In this wolf pack, there are strong traits for grabbing.

We can call them “grab for yourself” traits. What happens to the pack, if some strong wolves grab for themselves as much as they can? Some individuals get a small amount of food. Perhaps nothing at all. Less food means larger risk of dying.

If many wolves die, it becomes more difficult for the survivors to find a mate. So, the behaviour of grabbing might benefit this strong wolf today, by making it more full. It can bring disadvantages tomorrow, if it doesn’t find a mate. Natural selection then makes the grab for yourself traits less common in the next generation. So, grabbing is a behaviour with both advantages and disadvantages.

Is there another behaviour that doesn’t have the same disadvantages? This pack has stronger “share amongst us” traits. They share more equally the prey they managed to catch. This gives more wolves a chance of survival, even the ones who are young or weak. There will be more wolves for mating, and more cubs will survive until they are adult enough to reproduce themselves.

These strong traits for sharing are passed on and become more common. That seems good. Sharing. But that behaviour also carries a risk for an individual wolf. If there is very little food to share, the sharing behaviour might cause a wolf to get far too little food.

And if it dies from starvation, its traits will not be passed on. Natural selection sorts out the “share amongst us” genes and makes them less common in the next generation. So, sharing is also a behaviour with both advantages and disadvantages. “Share amongst us” and “grab for yourself” are two traits and two behaviours that are present in all wolves. They appear with varying strength in various individuals. Both behaviours have their advantages and disadvantages.

How much of each is best? That’s for evolution to decide. Natural selection determines the balance between the two behaviours, and which traits will be more common in the following generation. It is not always the one who is strongest or grabs the most that will pass on their genes. Those who are best adapted to the habitat will pass on their genes.

And sometimes the best adaptation is to cooperate, and share.