Group selection

Group selection is evolutionary change caused by differences in survival or reproduction among groups, which alter the frequencies of traits in a population.

Multilevel selection: Evolutionary change produced by selection acting at multiple levels of biological organization. It places group selection within a framework that also includes selection among individuals and genes.
Kin selection: Natural selection favoring traits that increase the reproductive success of genetic relatives. It explains cooperation through shared genes rather than requiring selection among groups.
Charles Darwin: The naturalist who formulated evolution by natural selection in the nineteenth century. Darwin discussed how tribes with cooperative members might prevail over rival tribes.
Alarm calls in ground squirrels: Vocal warnings given by ground squirrels when predators are nearby. These calls illustrate how helping nearby animals may expose the caller to risk.
Between-group selection: Selection caused by differences in reproductive success among distinct groups. It identifies the group-to-group component of the process.
Inclusive fitness: An individual's genetic success through its own reproduction and effects on relatives' reproduction. It offers an accounting framework often used instead of group-selection explanations.
Vero Copner Wynne-Edwards: A British zoologist known for proposing that animal populations regulate reproduction for the good of the group. His claims about population regulation made group selection a central evolutionary controversy.
Banded mongoose cooperative breeding: A social system in which banded mongoose group members help rear young beyond their own offspring. Cooperative care raises questions about benefits to groups, relatives, and helpers.
Within-group selection: Selection caused by differences in reproductive success among members of the same group. It can oppose group advantages when individually costly traits spread within groups.
Individual selection: Selection caused by differences in reproductive success among individual organisms. It captures the opposing level of selection that can undermine group-beneficial traits.

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