(University of California - Riverside) Natural selection predicts that mutualisms -- interactions between members of different species that benefit both parties -- should fall apart. Individuals that gain from the cooperation of others but do not reciprocate (so-called cheaters) should arise and destabilize mutualisms. Yet to date, surprisingly little evidence of such cheating or destabilization exists. A team of biologists at the University of California, Riverside, has now found strong evidence of this cheating.
Original Article: Study finds natural selection favors cheaters