Honest signaling and the double counting of inclusive fitness
Abstract Inclusive fitness requires a careful accounting of all the fitness effects of a particular behavior. Verbal arguments can potentially exaggerate the inclusive fitness consequences of a behavior by including the fitness of relatives that was not caused by that behavior, leading to error. We...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Oxford University Press
2019-10-01
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| Series: | Evolution Letters |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1002/evl3.138 |
| _version_ | 1797763959356391424 |
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| author | Samuel R. Levin Shana M. Caro Ashleigh S. Griffin Stuart A. West |
| author_facet | Samuel R. Levin Shana M. Caro Ashleigh S. Griffin Stuart A. West |
| author_sort | Samuel R. Levin |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Inclusive fitness requires a careful accounting of all the fitness effects of a particular behavior. Verbal arguments can potentially exaggerate the inclusive fitness consequences of a behavior by including the fitness of relatives that was not caused by that behavior, leading to error. We show how this “double‐counting” error can arise, with a recent example from the signaling literature. In particular, we examine the recent debate over whether parental divorce increases parent–offspring conflict, selecting for less honest signaling. We found that, when all the inclusive fitness consequences are accounted for, parental divorce increases conflict between siblings, in a way that they can select for less honest signaling. This prediction is consistent with the empirical data. More generally, our results illustrate how verbal arguments can be misleading, emphasizing the advantage of formal mathematical models. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T19:49:47Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-23a702e7f3aa4280a61387255f889474 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2056-3744 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T19:49:47Z |
| publishDate | 2019-10-01 |
| publisher | Oxford University Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Evolution Letters |
| spelling | doaj.art-23a702e7f3aa4280a61387255f8894742023-08-02T03:17:04ZengOxford University PressEvolution Letters2056-37442019-10-013542843310.1002/evl3.138Honest signaling and the double counting of inclusive fitnessSamuel R. Levin0Shana M. Caro1Ashleigh S. Griffin2Stuart A. West3Department of Zoology University of Oxford Oxford OX1 3PS United KingdomDepartment of Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology Columbia University NY 10027 New YorkDepartment of Zoology University of Oxford Oxford OX1 3PS United KingdomDepartment of Zoology University of Oxford Oxford OX1 3PS United KingdomAbstract Inclusive fitness requires a careful accounting of all the fitness effects of a particular behavior. Verbal arguments can potentially exaggerate the inclusive fitness consequences of a behavior by including the fitness of relatives that was not caused by that behavior, leading to error. We show how this “double‐counting” error can arise, with a recent example from the signaling literature. In particular, we examine the recent debate over whether parental divorce increases parent–offspring conflict, selecting for less honest signaling. We found that, when all the inclusive fitness consequences are accounted for, parental divorce increases conflict between siblings, in a way that they can select for less honest signaling. This prediction is consistent with the empirical data. More generally, our results illustrate how verbal arguments can be misleading, emphasizing the advantage of formal mathematical models.https://doi.org/10.1002/evl3.138Beggingdouble countinginclusive fitnessparent–offspring conflictsignaling |
| spellingShingle | Samuel R. Levin Shana M. Caro Ashleigh S. Griffin Stuart A. West Honest signaling and the double counting of inclusive fitness Evolution Letters Begging double counting inclusive fitness parent–offspring conflict signaling |
| title | Honest signaling and the double counting of inclusive fitness |
| title_full | Honest signaling and the double counting of inclusive fitness |
| title_fullStr | Honest signaling and the double counting of inclusive fitness |
| title_full_unstemmed | Honest signaling and the double counting of inclusive fitness |
| title_short | Honest signaling and the double counting of inclusive fitness |
| title_sort | honest signaling and the double counting of inclusive fitness |
| topic | Begging double counting inclusive fitness parent–offspring conflict signaling |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1002/evl3.138 |
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