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Survival of the nicest: have we got evolution the wrong way round?

How humans, animals and even single-celled organisms cooperate to survive suggests there’s more to life than just competition, argues a cheering study of evolutionary biology.
  1. Jonathan R. Goodman

    1. Jonathan R. Goodman is a research associate at Cambridge Public Health, University of Cambridge, UK. His first book, Invisible Rivals, will be published in 2025.

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Humpback whales (Megaptera novangliaea) pod engaged in social foraging by herding herring and other fish with bubble net feeding technique, Chatham Strait, Alaska, USA July.

Humpback whales often forage in groups, which can help to corral the small crustaceans that they feed on. Credit: Tony Wu/NPL/SPL

Selfish Genes to Social Beings: A Cooperative History of Life Jonathan Silvertown Oxford Univ. Press (2024)

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Nature 628, 260-261 (2024)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-024-00999-5

Competing Interests

The author declares no competing interests.

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