Are ant supercolonies crucibles of a new major transition in evolution?
(2014) In Journal of evolutionary biology 27(9). p.1784-1796- Abstract
- The biological hierarchy of genes, cells, organisms and societies is a fundamental reality in the living world. This hierarchy of entities did not arise ex nihilo at the origin of life, but rather has been serially generated by a succession of critical events known as evolutionary transitions in individuality' (ETIs). Given the sequential nature of ETIs, it is natural to look for candidates to form the next hierarchical tier. We analyse claims that these candidates are found among supercolonies', ant populations in which discrete nests cooperate as part of a wider collective, in ways redolent of cells in a multicellular organism. Examining earlier empirical work and new data within the recently proposed Darwinian space' framework, we offer... (More)
- The biological hierarchy of genes, cells, organisms and societies is a fundamental reality in the living world. This hierarchy of entities did not arise ex nihilo at the origin of life, but rather has been serially generated by a succession of critical events known as evolutionary transitions in individuality' (ETIs). Given the sequential nature of ETIs, it is natural to look for candidates to form the next hierarchical tier. We analyse claims that these candidates are found among supercolonies', ant populations in which discrete nests cooperate as part of a wider collective, in ways redolent of cells in a multicellular organism. Examining earlier empirical work and new data within the recently proposed Darwinian space' framework, we offer a novel analysis of the evolutionary status of supercolonies and show how certain key conditions might be satisfied in any future process transforming these collaborative networks into true Darwinian individuals. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/4713993
- author
- Kennedy, P. ; Uller, Tobias LU and Helantera, H.
- organization
- publishing date
- 2014
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- biological hierarchy, Darwinian space, individuality, major transitions, in evolution, supercolony
- in
- Journal of evolutionary biology
- volume
- 27
- issue
- 9
- pages
- 1784 - 1796
- publisher
- John Wiley & Sons Inc.
- external identifiers
-
- wos:000341577300003
- scopus:84906794960
- pmid:24976004
- ISSN
- 1420-9101
- DOI
- 10.1111/jeb.12434
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 8b7191fa-e5c8-458d-91f3-0a02e2b003cb (old id 4713993)
- date added to LUP
- 2016-04-01 10:28:05
- date last changed
- 2025-04-04 13:54:55
@article{8b7191fa-e5c8-458d-91f3-0a02e2b003cb,
abstract = {{The biological hierarchy of genes, cells, organisms and societies is a fundamental reality in the living world. This hierarchy of entities did not arise ex nihilo at the origin of life, but rather has been serially generated by a succession of critical events known as evolutionary transitions in individuality' (ETIs). Given the sequential nature of ETIs, it is natural to look for candidates to form the next hierarchical tier. We analyse claims that these candidates are found among supercolonies', ant populations in which discrete nests cooperate as part of a wider collective, in ways redolent of cells in a multicellular organism. Examining earlier empirical work and new data within the recently proposed Darwinian space' framework, we offer a novel analysis of the evolutionary status of supercolonies and show how certain key conditions might be satisfied in any future process transforming these collaborative networks into true Darwinian individuals.}},
author = {{Kennedy, P. and Uller, Tobias and Helantera, H.}},
issn = {{1420-9101}},
keywords = {{biological hierarchy; Darwinian space; individuality; major transitions; in evolution; supercolony}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{9}},
pages = {{1784--1796}},
publisher = {{John Wiley & Sons Inc.}},
series = {{Journal of evolutionary biology}},
title = {{Are ant supercolonies crucibles of a new major transition in evolution?}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jeb.12434}},
doi = {{10.1111/jeb.12434}},
volume = {{27}},
year = {{2014}},
}