Nepotism has its benefits when it comes to survival
Tuesday, October 27, 2009 - 12:42
in Psychology & Sociology
While nepotism may have negative connotations in politics and the workplace, being surrounded by your relatives does lead to better group dynamics and more cooperation in some animals. That certainly seems to be the case for spiders, according to a new study published in the open access journal BMC Evolutionary Biology. In an extensive study, the researchers found that Stegodyphus tentoriicola spiders are far more efficient at foraging for food and cooperate better when they're related to each other. Like with humans and other animals, relatedness may favour the evolution of less selfish behaviour, more collaboration and better group dynamics...