Question

Are humans eusocial why or why not.

Answer 1

Answer:

Explanation:

Eusociality

It refers to social organisms like honeybee where a single female or caste gives birth to the offspring and other members of the group which include non-reproductive individuals help in nourishment and protection of the off spring. Being the highest level includes the levels like caring of offspring by other members called cooperative brooding; within the group is overlapping generations and division of labor into reproductive and non-reproductive groups. The latter causes specific interactive groups in this society which are referred to as castes. It occurs in insects, crustaceans, hymenoptera (ants, bees, wasps) and termites.

Eusociality in humans

Some of the debaters like Edward Wilson categorized humans as eusocial. He argued that humans are like ants, while stating that early hominins had cooperation to feed their children while other individuals of the same group hunted and foraged. He further divided the Eusociality of humans into basic fundamentals of cooperative brooding, overlapping generations and division of labor. He further argued that the superpower gained by humans and ants is due to eusociality and regarded them as superorganisms. However, Wilson’s theory fell prey of the controversies where Herbert Gintis challenged the theory and supported the W. D. Hamilton's inclusive fitness theory and stated a group selection theory. His theory was further challenged by a group of Scientists who published the criticism in the famous NATURE journal. Dawkin postulated that humans do have unrelated families and still may have cooperation but they don’t have reproductive division level. Other scientists supported the statements of Dawkins that human are not eusocial; however they argued that changes to Hamilton's rule to make it more complete.

In conclusion, in light of the above discussion, human as eusocial is a matter of controversies and still debatable. There is no fixed principal or law where by humans can be treated as eusocial or be excluded from this group.