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Erol Akçay, Ph.D.
Department of Biology
University of Pennsylvania
Abstract
Evolution of social behaviors is one of the most fascinating and active fields of evolutionary biology. During the past half century, social evolution theory developed into a mature field with powerful tools to understand the dynamics of social traits such as cooperation under a wide range of conditions. But when these conditions themselves evolve remains a largely open question, which I argue represents the next step in the development of social evolution theory. In this talk, I will present a few examples of such co-evolutionary dynamics leading to unexpected results. In particular I will talk about two models where social network structure co-evolves with (i) a social trait such as cooperation, and (ii) with cumulative culture, and a third model where the strategies individuals play in a game co-evolves with the resource environment that determines with game is being played.
