The Evolution of Sibling Rivalry

About this book

One of the main tenents of evolutionary biology is that organisms behave so as to maximize the number of their genes that will be passed on to future generations. Parents often produce more offspring then they can rear in case special opportunities or calamities occur. This frequently leads to deprivations and even death of some offspring. This book is about the evolutionary diversity, importance, and consequences of such squeezes. It reviews the theories, field experiments, and natural history of sibling rivalry across a broad sweep of organisms.

Contents

Preface; 1. General Introduction; 2. Theory I: Hamilton's Rule and the Evolutionary Limits of Selfishness; 3. Theory II: Phenotypic Models of Sublethal sibling Competition; 4. Theory III: Fatal Sibling Competition; 5. An Introduction to Sibling Rivalry in Birds; 6. Supply, Demand, and Defendability; 7. Parent-Offspring Conflict I: The Battleground; 8. Conflict Resolutions I: Begging Scrambles; 9. Conflict Resolutions II: begging as an Hones Signal; 10. Conflict Resolutions III: Clutch Size and Sexual Conflicts; 11. Tests of Parents-Offspring Conflict Vs. Collaboration; 12. Sibling Rivalry in Birds; 13. Sibling Rivalry in Mammals; 14. Sibling Rivalry in Vertberate Ecthotherms; 15. Sibling Rivalry in Invertebrates; 16. Sibling Rivalry in Plants; 17. Epilogue; Literature Cited

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