Natural selection favors altruism when the benefit to the recipient multiplied by the coefficient of relatedness exceeds the cost to the altruist. Which of the following best describes the coefficient of relatedness?
A) It is a measure of the fraction of genes that, on average, are shared between an altruist and the organism that it benefits.
B) It is the number of generations that separate an altruist and the organism that it benefits.
C) It is a measure of the difference in frequencies of altruistic alleles in neighboring populations.
D) It is a measure of the rate of mutations in altruistic alleles.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The coefficient of relatedness quantifies the average proportion of genes shared between two individuals due to common ancestry, which is crucial in understanding the genetic basis of altruistic behaviors.

Natural Selection Favors Altruism When the Benefit to the Recipient