Word: offspringâ
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...Some birds, like the nighthawk, can feign a broken wing to lure predators away from a nest. In some avian species, a female that has been inseminated by a departed male may try to hide the fact, thus tricking a new male into investing his time and resources in offspring???and genes?that are not his. In the long run, however, natural selection sharpens up both the ability to cheat and the ability to detect cheating. Trivers and Dawkins suggest that the need for deceit?and for its detection?may have been responsible for the rapid enlargement of the human...
Parents, as well as children, have genetic interests that emerge as manipulation. One of Trivers' examples: a parent may be overprotective in order to keep a grown child at home helping with the other offspring???something that promotes the self-interest of the parents and the younger kids but diminishes the chances of reproductive success for the older child. Says Trivers: "Humans are caught in an intense co-evolutionary struggle with their closest relatives. Parents, siblings and offspring are our allies as well as our opponents...
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