Yellowfin marmots live in colonies with a single dominant male
Maria Janicki/Alamy
Friendly groups of marmots could help settle an enduring debate in evolutionary theory about whether group characteristics are more important than individual characteristics for an individual’s chances of survival. Analysis of animal behavior provides first evidence of this evolutionary idea, known as multilevel selection, in wild animals
“What we found is that population traits are under just as strong selection, if not slightly stronger, than individual traits,” he says. Connor Filson At the University of California, Los Angeles…
Source: www.newscientist.com
