There isn’t much on Earth quite like an ant colony or a beehive. Lots of animals are social, but relatively few are eusocial. It’s a bizarre lifestyle, living in large multi-generational colonies with lots of members who don’t reproduce but instead dedicate their lives to protecting and nourishing the offspring of the few reproducers. In this episode, we discuss the many questions surrounding this phenomenon, including how many times this trait has evolved, why it’s apparently so beneficial, and exactly how natural selection could even produce such a strange lifestyle.
In the news: venom evolution, pointy things, early rainforests, and bone origins.
Time markers:
Intro & Announcements: 00:00:00
News: 00:05:00
Main discussion, Part 1: 00:39:00
Main discussion, Part 2: 01:15:00
Patron question: 02:02:00
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http://commondescentpodcast.wordpress.com/
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The Intro and Outro music is “On the Origin of Species” by Protodome.
More music like this at http://ocremix.org.
Musical Interludes are "Professor Umlaut" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Episode 203 - Rodents
Spook-E - Redcaps
Spook-E - Salamanders
Episode 202 - Fungi and Animals
Spook-E - Fairies
Spook-E - Gremlins
Spotlight 2024 - Dave Marshall, Palaeocast
Episode 201 - Fungi and Plants
Patron Mini-Episode Compilation #5
Episode 200 - Fungi
Spotlight 2024 - Gavin, Fia, and Mike, I Wish You Were Dead
Episode 199 - Hibernation
Episode 198 - Eels
Spotlight 2024 - Meredith Johnson, Origin Stories
Episode 197 - Durophagy (Eating Hard Stuff)
Episode 196 - Boas and Pythons
Episode 195 - Leaves
Spotlight 2024 - Travis Holland, Fossils and Fiction
Episode 194 - Alligators and Caimans
Episode 193 - Hopping
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