by-product mutualism

A theory which views co-operation among animals, including those of different species, as a collateral effect of selfishness, in which each derives a fitness benefit of increased survival.

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His treatment embraces all forms of cooperation, from cases of by-product mutualism in which the recipient gains from an activity that the donor would have engaged in anyway, to "true" altruism where to assist another individual participants suffer fitness costs, such as a loss of mating opportunities or an increased risk of predation.

In contrast to by-product mutualism, altruism entails a cost for the donor.

These are the adversity of a common environment in the case of by-product mutualism, a common ancestry for kin selection, score keeping for reciprocal altruism, and deme structure for group selection.

Much of the debate surrounding predator inspection asks whether it is indeed an example of reciprocity or merely a case of by-product mutualism.

If this inequality holds, cooperative predator inspection is best explained by reciprocity; if not, then by-product mutualism can account for the behavior.

Many behaviors that appear, superficially, to be altruistic in character have strong elements of by-product mutualism when investigated in depth.

Cooperation Among Animals: An Evolutionary Perspective

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