Biology
Kin Selection and Altruism in Naked Mole-Rat Colonies
Quick fact
In naked mole-rat colonies, most individuals—the workers—never reproduce themselves, yet by helping the queen produce siblings, they pass on more copies of their genes than if they tried to breed alone.
Why this is interesting
Imagine a mammal that lives like ants, with a queen and workers that never reproduce. How could such a system evolve?