title: Disentangling the Correlated Evolution of Monogamy and Cooperation.
abstract: Lifetime genetic monogamy, by increasing sibling relatedness, has been proposed as an important causal factor in the evolution of altruism. Monogamy, however, could influence the subsequent evolution of cooperation in other ways. We present several alternative, non-mutually exclusive, evolutionary processes that could explain the correlated evolution of monogamy and cooperation. Our analysis of these possibilities reveals that many ecological or social factors can affect all three variables of Hamilton's Rule simultaneously, thus calling for a more holistic, systems-level approach to studying the evolution of social traits. This perspective reveals novel dimensions to coevolutionary relationships and provides solutions for assigning causality in complex cases of correlated social trait evolution, such as the sequential evolution of monogamy and cooperation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology and Center for Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, University of Kentucky, 101 Thomas Hunt Morgan Building, Lexington, KY 40506, USA. Electronic address: jacqueline.dillard@uky.edu.
authors.forename: Jacqueline R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Dillard
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology and Center for Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, University of Kentucky, 101 Thomas Hunt Morgan Building, Lexington, KY 40506, USA.
authors.forename: David F
authors.initials: DF
authors.lastname: Westneat
mesh_terms: D000533:Altruism; D005075:Biological Evolution; D010641:Phenotype; D012641:Selection, Genetic
keywords: Hamilton's Rule; coevolution; cooperative breeding; helping; mating system; relatedness