Synopses & Reviews
One of the main tenets of evolutionary biology is that organisms behave so as to maximize the number of genes that will be passed on to future generations. This leads to one of two effects: parental attention and altruistic behavior; or parents producing more offspring than they will likely raise. The latter instance further leads to acute competitions, frequently leading to deprivations and even death. This book details the theory, field experiments, and natural history of sibling rivalry across a broad sweep of animals and plants. The variety of information will appeal to both academics and a broad natural history readership. In fact, most readers will relate, having all been children and most siblings or parents.
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. 413-460) and index.
Table of 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