Male Dolphins Use Wingmen to Find Mates

Male dolphins are healthier and live longer when they have a network of male friends. Find out how a new study revealed that this popularity also makes them more likely to find mates.

There’s a quote attributed to Charles Darwin that goes, “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, not the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change.” Experts disagree about whether it’s a verbatim quote or more of a paraphrase, but anyway it came to mind this week.

When I was growing up, the conventional wisdom was that evolution favoured rugged indivudualists rather than agreeable conformists. The strong thrived while nice guys finished last.

Lately, scientists have been uncovering more and more evidence that friendly, agreeable, supportive individuals are more likely to pass on their genes than their more dominant counterparts. This is especially true of social species.

Group Cohesion More Important than Individual Success

When it comes to social animals like wolves, apes, or humans, the cohesion of the group is often more important for natural selection than individual success. Since…