The success of altruistic behavior hinges on the ability to distinguish kin from unrelated individuals. hamilton proposed that an allele that produces a distinctive trait (i. e., the greenbeard effect), along with altruistic behavior directed at the bearers of this trait, could drive such an altruistic allele to high frequencies in a population. this scenario has been discovered and studied in

This scenario has been discovered and studied in slime molds.

Explanation:

The green beard effect is one of the three fundamental mechanisms of kin selection. In the 1960s, W.D. Hamilton in his work on the evolution of altruism brought it into the highlight. The other two mechanisms are kin discrimination and population viscosity. Green-beard effect functions even when the altruist and her recipients are not genealogical kin.

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