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Summary: vol. 164, no. 2 the american naturalist august 2004
The Kin Composition of Social Groups: Trading
Group Size for Degree of Altruism
Leticia Avile´s,1,2,* Jeffrey A. Fletcher,3,
and Asher D. Cutter2,
1. Department of Zoology, University of British Columbia,
Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z4, Canada;
2. Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona,
Tucson, Arizona 85721;
3. Systems Science Ph.D. Program, Portland State University,
Portland, Oregon 97207
Submitted August 27, 2003; Accepted April 20, 2004;
Electronically published July 8, 2004
Online enhancements: appendix, color versions of figures.
abstract: Why some social systems form groups composed of kin,
while others do not, has gone largely untreated in the literature.
Using an individual-based simulation model, we explore the de-
mographic consequences of making kinship a criterion in group
formation. We find that systems where social groups consist of one-
generation breeding associations may face a serious trade-off between
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