Population Biology Commons^™

Kin Selection And Its Discontents, David C. Queller

Biology Faculty Publications & Presentations

Kin selection is a core aspect of social evolution theory, but a small number of critics have recently challenged it. Here I address these criticisms and show that kin selection remains an important explanation for much (though not all) social evolution. I show how many of the criticisms rest on historical idiosyncrasies of the way the field happened to develop, rather than on the real logic and evidence.