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Since despotism is a common evolutionary development in human history, we seek to understand the conditions under which it can originate, persist, and affect population trajectories. We describe a general system of population ecology equations representing the Ideal Free and Despotic Distributions for one and two habitats, one of which contains a despotic class that controls the distribution of resources. Using analytical and numerical solutions we derive the optimal concession strategy by despots with and without subordinate migration to an alternative habitat. We show that low concessions exponentially increase the time it takes for the despotic habitat to fill, and we discuss the trade-offs despots and subordinates confront at various levels of exploitation. Contrary to previous hypotheses, higher levels of despotism do not necessarily cause faster migration to alternative habitats. We further show how, during colonization, divergent population trajectories may arise if despotic systems experience Allee-type economies of scale.

Derived aspects of our human life history, such as short interbirth intervals and altricial newborns, have been attributed to male provisioning of nutrient-rich meat within monogamous relationships. However, many primatologists and anthropologists have questioned the relative importance of pair-bonding and biparental care, pointing to evidence that cooperative breeding better characterizes human reproductive and child-care relationships. We present a mathematical model with empirically-informed parameter ranges showing that natural selection favors cooperation among mothers over a wide range of conditions. In contrast, our analysis provides a far more narrow range of support for selection favoring male coalition-based monogamy over more promiscuous independent males, suggesting that provisioning within monogamous relationships may fall short of explaining the evolution of Homo life history. Rather, broader cooperative networks within and between the sexes provide the primary basis for our unique life history. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Derived aspects of our human life history, such as short interbirth intervals and altricial newborns, have been attributed to male provisioning of nutrient-rich meat within monogamous relationships. However, many primatologists and anthropologists have questioned the relative importance of pair-bonding and biparental care, pointing to evidence that cooperative breeding better characterizes human reproductive and child-care relationships. We present a mathematical model with empirically-informed parameter ranges showing that natural selection favors cooperation among mothers over a wide range of conditions. In contrast, our analysis provides a far more narrow range of support for selection favoring male coalition-based monogamy over more promiscuous independent males, suggesting that provisioning within monogamous relationships may fall short of explaining the evolution of Homo life history. Rather, broader cooperative networks within and between the sexes provide the primary basis for our unique life history. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quantifying the distance between cultural groups has received substantial recent interest. A key innovation, borrowed from population genetics, is the calculation of cultural F ST ( CF ST ) statistics on datasets of human culture. Measuring the variance between groups as a fraction of total variance, F ST is theoretically important in additive models of cooperation. Consistent with this, recent empirical work has confirmed that high values of pairwise CF ST (measuring cultural distance) strongly predict unwillingness to cooperate with strangers in coordination vignettes. As applications for CF ST increase, however, there is greater need to understand its meaning in naturalistic situations beyond additive cooperation. Focusing on games with both positive and negative frequency dependence and high-diversity, mixed equilibria, we derive a simple relationship between F ST and the evolution of group-beneficial traits across a broad spectrum of social interactions. Contrary to standard assumptions, this model shows why F ST can have both positive and negative marginal effects on the spread of group-beneficial traits under certain realistic conditions. These results provide broader theoretical direction for empirical applications of CF ST in the evolutionary study of culture., Competing Interests: n/a, (© The Author(s) 2024.)