Plants 'Recognize' Their Siblings 331
An anonymous reader writes to tell us that according to a recent study, Biologists have found that plants are able to recognize their own relatives. "Researchers at McMaster University have found that plants get fiercely competitive when forced to share their pot with strangers of the same species, but they're accommodating when potted with their siblings. [...] Though they lack cognition and memory, the study shows plants are capable of complex social behaviours such as altruism towards relatives, says Dudley. Like humans, the most interesting behaviours occur beneath the surface."
Link to Actual Paper (Score:4, Informative)
Roots - of all sorts. (Score:3, Informative)
http://www.pubs.royalsoc.ac.uk/media/biology_lett
Re:When will you learn?! (Score:3, Informative)
Genetic anyhow (Score:3, Informative)
They don't recognise "relatives," they just see material that is close enough to not be considered an intruder.
It doesn't quite work the same with people, as "relatives" or "siblings" can in fact be imported (re-marriage) or separated (divorce, adoption) and thus unrecognized.
Re:PETA? (Score:1, Informative)
This is a Maddox quote. Link to the original page this meme came from (with picture!) http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=s
Psychological Altruism vs Evolutionary Altruism (Score:3, Informative)
Psychological altruism is performing behavior which requires for motivation only the benefit (however broadly you are to construe benefit) of a person other than the one performing the action. So, if I'm inclined to do something nice for you, even if I don't get anything out of it, then I am an altruistic person, and such nice things are altruistic behavior.
Evolutionary altruism is having heritable traits which increase the reproductive fitness of others without increasing the reproductive fitness of the individual who has that trait. Sterility is evolutionarily altruistic (in social animals at least), and yet clearly not psychologically altruistic (you don't choose what genes you're born with).
These plants are evolutionarily altruistic. They are not psychologically altruistic, because they have no psychological traits at all.