Evolution Through Group Selection

Evolution, as Darwin conceived of it, is a product of the tendency of individuals of the same species to differ one from another. This sets up a selective process by giving some of them a better chance than others of contributing genes to the next generation, through the survival of the fittest. It is generally assumed that selection for greater individual fitness is the only valid process in causing evolutionary changes to occur. But is this process sufficient to account for all the attributes that organisms have evolved The author shows, to the contrary, that co-operation between individuals is apparently universal in animal species, and that many have become social as an aid to achieving it. If co-operation is good for the group, then one should expect selection to take place between groups, and this could lead to the evolution of adaptations like sociality, which increase group survival and success. This has been recognized previously, but it has only lately been shown that group selection can actually occur, and that group and individual selection may be concurrent. Professor Wynne-Edwards offers us a new perspective, revealing that co-operation within a group generally increases the fitness of its members.