Charles Darwin’s theory of natural selection seems to describe a brutal world in which creatures compete ruthlessly to promote their own survival. Yet biologists observe that animals and even lower organisms often behave altruistically. A vervet monkey who spots a leopard, for instance, warns his fellow monkeys, even though the call may attract the leopard’s attention to the individual.
Log in
Subscribers, enter your e-mail address for full access to the Science News archives and digital editions.