The companion-species hypothesis

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How can genetically prescribed selfless behaviour arise by natural selection, which is seemingly its antithesis?[1] In humans, I have proposed that eusociality could be the result of a two-species society, and that many of the traits that exist today evolved in a two-species context, with Paranthropus as a companion-species, similar to dogs, cattle and horses today.

The gene pool may not allow certain hierarchies to form, and a natural hierarchy between Australopithecines and Paranthropus as a companion-species could have supported the evolution of caste-based organization and Theory of Mind (ToM).

The interbreeding event 6 million years ago

As Popadin et al showed last year[2], the Paranthropus lineage resulted from interbreeding between ancestors of gorilla, and the common ancestor of humans, chimpanzees, and Paranthropus, 6 million years ago.

References

  1. The Evolution of Eusociality

  2. Mitochondrial pseudogenes suggest repeated inter-species hybridization in hominid evolution

The companion-species hypothesis | Ecency