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Ten recent insights for our understanding of cooperation

Nature Ecology & Evolution volume 5, pages 419–430 (2021)Cite this article

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Abstract

Since Hamilton published his seminal papers in 1964, our understanding of the importance of cooperation for life on Earth has evolved beyond recognition. Early research was focused on altruism in the social insects, where the problem of cooperation was easy to see. In more recent years, research into cooperation has expanded across the entire tree of life, and has been revolutionized by advances in genetic, microbiological and analytical techniques. We highlight ten insights that have arisen from these advances, which have illuminated generalizations across different taxa, making the world simpler to explain. Furthermore, progress in these areas has opened up numerous new problems to solve, suggesting exciting directions for future research.

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Fig. 1: Cooperation across the tree of life.
Fig. 2: Group formation and relatedness.
Fig. 3: Two ways to stable mutualism.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the social evolution journal club for comments; K. Boomsma for a sentence that was very useful in our conclusion; the ERC (A.S.G., M.B.G. and S.A.W.) and St John’s College (G.A.C.) for funding; and P. Biedermann, A. MacColl and R. Sanjuán for supplying photos.

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    Stuart A. West, Guy A. Cooper, Melanie B. Ghoul & Ashleigh S. Griffin

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West, S.A., Cooper, G.A., Ghoul, M.B. et al. Ten recent insights for our understanding of cooperation. Nat Ecol Evol 5, 419–430 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-020-01384-x

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