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Can animals like squirrels leave gifts or tribute for humans?
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Can animals like squirrels leave gifts or tribute for humans?
I believe a lot of these behaviours can fall under the umbrella term of reciprocity, or reciprocal altruism.
In evolutionary biology, reciprocal altruism is a behaviour whereby an
organism acts in a manner that temporarily reduces its fitness while
increasing another organism's fitness, with the expectation that the
other organism will act in a similar manner at a later time (...) The concept is close to the strategy of "tit for tat" used in game theory.
For example, red-winged blackbird males help defend neighbor's nests. There has been some discussion around the reasons for this behaviour, but it has been observed that males reduced the amount of defense given to neighbors when neighbor males also reduced defense for their nests. Since kin selection doesn't seem to be an important factor here, this would support a tit-for-tat strategy (animals help those who previously helped them).
Some primates do this frequently too:
A monkey will present its back to another monkey, who will pick out
parasites; after a time the roles will be reversed. Such reciprocity
will pay off, in evolutionary terms, as long as the costs of helping
are less than the benefits of being helped and as long as animals will
not gain in the long run by "cheating" – that is to say, by receiving
favours without returning them.
The example with the crows, mentioned in the comment, can be interpreted under this light too. Those crows seem to give presents expecting something in return (albeit delayed!).
What's interesting though is that altruism, at first sight, would seem to go against reproductive success. Group Selection, however, is something Darwin was already talking about in Origin of the Species.
So, back to squirrels. I didn't find particular research about them in their relationship with humans (will keep looking), but analysing it under reciprocal altruism it could be justified that they give nuts expecting a potential future benefit for them or their group. There's much more to this complex dynamic, but reciprocity is definitely a strong candidate for explaining your kind gift-presenting squirrels.
The Gift, by Marcel Mauss (complete online book) --> From an anthropology point of view, Mauss was the first one to talk about recicprocity as economics. Absolutely recommended read.
I believe a lot of these behaviours can fall under the umbrella term of reciprocity, or reciprocal altruism.
In evolutionary biology, reciprocal altruism is a behaviour whereby an organism acts in a manner that temporarily reduces its fitness while increasing another organism's fitness, with the expectation that the other organism will act in a similar manner at a later time (...) The concept is close to the strategy of "tit for tat" used in game theory.
For example, red-winged blackbird males help defend neighbor's nests. There has been some discussion around the reasons for this behaviour, but it has been observed that males reduced the amount of defense given to neighbors when neighbor males also reduced defense for their nests. Since kin selection doesn't seem to be an important factor here, this would support a tit-for-tat strategy (animals help those who previously helped them).
Some primates do this frequently too:
A monkey will present its back to another monkey, who will pick out parasites; after a time the roles will be reversed. Such reciprocity will pay off, in evolutionary terms, as long as the costs of helping are less than the benefits of being helped and as long as animals will not gain in the long run by "cheating" – that is to say, by receiving favours without returning them.
The example with the crows, mentioned in the comment, can be interpreted under this light too. Those crows seem to give presents expecting something in return (albeit delayed!).
What's interesting though is that altruism, at first sight, would seem to go against reproductive success. Group Selection, however, is something Darwin was already talking about in Origin of the Species.
So, back to squirrels. I didn't find particular research about them in their relationship with humans (will keep looking), but analysing it under reciprocal altruism it could be justified that they give nuts expecting a potential future benefit for them or their group. There's much more to this complex dynamic, but reciprocity is definitely a strong candidate for explaining your kind gift-presenting squirrels.
The Gift, by Marcel Mauss (complete online book) --> From an anthropology point of view, Mauss was the first one to talk about recicprocity as economics. Absolutely recommended read.
cats are not giving you a gift they are trying to train you to hunt, it is the same behavior cats do with their young humans domestication has unintentionally co opted the behavior becasue cats the brought proof of pest control were more likey to be tolerated/fed by humans.More
I believe a lot of these behaviours can fall under the umbrella term of reciprocity, or reciprocal altruism.
For example, red-winged blackbird males help defend neighbor's nests. There has been some discussion around the reasons for this behaviour, but it has been observed that males reduced the amount of defense given to neighbors when neighbor males also reduced defense for their nests. Since kin selection doesn't seem to be an important factor here, this would support a tit-for-tat strategy (animals help those who previously helped them).
Some primates do this frequently too:
The example with the crows, mentioned in the comment, can be interpreted under this light too. Those crows seem to give presents expecting something in return (albeit delayed!).
What's interesting though is that altruism, at first sight, would seem to go against reproductive success. Group Selection, however, is something Darwin was already talking about in Origin of the Species.
So, back to squirrels. I didn't find particular research about them in their relationship with humans (will keep looking), but analysing it under reciprocal altruism it could be justified that they give nuts expecting a potential future benefit for them or their group. There's much more to this complex dynamic, but reciprocity is definitely a strong candidate for explaining your kind gift-presenting squirrels.
Some quick references and materials:
The evolution of reciprocal sharing
The Gift, by Marcel Mauss (complete online book) --> From an anthropology point of view, Mauss was the first one to talk about recicprocity as economics. Absolutely recommended read.
Social semantics: altruism, cooperation, mutualism, strong reciprocity and group selection
I believe a lot of these behaviours can fall under the umbrella term of reciprocity, or reciprocal altruism.
For example, red-winged blackbird males help defend neighbor's nests. There has been some discussion around the reasons for this behaviour, but it has been observed that males reduced the amount of defense given to neighbors when neighbor males also reduced defense for their nests. Since kin selection doesn't seem to be an important factor here, this would support a tit-for-tat strategy (animals help those who previously helped them).
Some primates do this frequently too:
The example with the crows, mentioned in the comment, can be interpreted under this light too. Those crows seem to give presents expecting something in return (albeit delayed!).
What's interesting though is that altruism, at first sight, would seem to go against reproductive success. Group Selection, however, is something Darwin was already talking about in Origin of the Species.
So, back to squirrels. I didn't find particular research about them in their relationship with humans (will keep looking), but analysing it under reciprocal altruism it could be justified that they give nuts expecting a potential future benefit for them or their group. There's much more to this complex dynamic, but reciprocity is definitely a strong candidate for explaining your kind gift-presenting squirrels.
Some quick references and materials:
The evolution of reciprocal sharing
The Gift, by Marcel Mauss (complete online book) --> From an anthropology point of view, Mauss was the first one to talk about recicprocity as economics. Absolutely recommended read.
Social semantics: altruism, cooperation, mutualism, strongreciprocity and group selection
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