Altruism in Animal Groups

Altruism in animal groups is unselfish behavior that helps another individual at a cost to the animal doing it. These acts can look risky or even harmful in the short term. Still, they can persist because they often benefit related animals or bring later rewards.

One major reason altruism evolves...

Altruism refers to behaviors that help others, improving their fitness while lowering the individual's own fitness.

For example, worker honeybees, females who do not reproduce, find and bring back food for the queen, the only female in the colony that does reproduce, and her offspring. The workers also build and maintain the hive and pro...