Vero Wynne-EdwardsBorn 4 Jul 1906; died 5 Jan 1997 at age 90.English zoologist who theorized that a process group selection occurred during the evolution of species. In his book Animal Dispersion in Relation to Social Behavior (1962), he proposed that instead of Darwinian individual survival of the fittest dominating, evolution also occurred by self-regulatory mechanisms of whole species, manifested in territoriality, dominance hierarchies, and allocation of resources. Thus, evolution often favours not the animal best able to survive alone, but rather the animal best adapted to survive within the social context of the kind. Now, however, it is generally accepted that while this may occur under exceptional circumstances, it has not been a major factor in evolution. |
