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Life-history theory, multilevel selection, and the mereological fallacy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 November 2025

Matthias Borgstede Open the ORCID record for Matthias Borgstede [Opens in a new window]
Matthias Borgstede*
Affiliation:
University of Bamberg, Faculty of Human Sciences and Education, Bamberg, Germany matthias.borgstede@uni-bamberg.de
*
*Corresponding author.
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Abstract

Life-history theory is a valuable framework to derive predictions about species-level and population-level adaptations, but it says little about variation between the individuals within a population. Conflating these different aggregate levels constitutes a mereological fallacy and may yield wrong conclusions. I argue that formal models are necessary to disentangle the mechanisms underlying individual-level and population-level variation in life-history traits.

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Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 48 , 2025 , e100
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Copyright
© The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press

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