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Levels of Selection
Wesley Maurer
Group discussion questions:
Are genes capable of expressing selection?
Is the earth a living organism (Gaia)? Why or why not?
Which level of selection best describes humanity?
Unit of Selection:
 A biological entity within the hierarchy of biological organization that is subject
to natural selection.
Levels of Selection (smallest to largest):
Gene Selection
 Primary contributor: Richard Dawkins
o Views genes as replicators which cause expression at phenotypic levels
within individuals and populations.
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Cell Selection
 Primary contributor: Leo Buss
o Selective pressures acting at the cell level which have the capability of
changing a species over time.
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Individual Selection (a.k.a. Darwinism)
 Primary contributor: Charles Darwin
o Section which favors individuals who are capable of most adequately
adapting to their environment and maximizing reproducing.
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Kin Selection
 Primary contributor: John Maynard Smith
o Favoring the reproductive success of relatives even at the cost of the
survival and/or reproduction of the individual.
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Group Selection
 Primary contributor: Wynn Edwards
o Groups within a species function together in ways which increases the
fitness of the group by means that individuals could not achieve while
acting separately from the group. 
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Gaia
 Primary contributor: Lynn Margulis
o An ecological hypothesis that suggests that living and nonliving parts of
the earth are viewed as a complex interacting system that can be thought
of as a single organism.
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References
Barlow, Connie (1991). From Gaia to Selfish Genes. Massachusetts Institute of
Technology. (compilation)
Burian, Richard M. (1984). Genes, Organisms, Population: Controversies over the Units
of Selection. MIT Press: Cambridge, MA.
Dawkins, Richard (1976; 1989; 2006). The Selfish Gene. Oxford University Press,
Oxford.
Futuyma, Douglas J. (2005). Evolution. Sinauer Associates, Inc.
Gould, Stephen Jay (2002). The Structure of Evolutionary Theory. Harvard University
Press.
Margulis, Lynn (1998). Symbiotic Planet: A New Look at Evolution. Weidenfeld and
Nicolson, London.