Altruism (biology)

In biology, altruism is behavior by an individual that increases the fitness of another individual while decreasing its own, judged by its consequences for reproductive fitness rather than by the intentions behind it, unlike the philosophical concept of the same name. The term was coined by the French philosopher Auguste Comte as an antonym of egoism, drawing on the Italian altrui and ultimately the Latin alteri, meaning other people. Altruistic behavior appears most clearly among relatives, such as in parenting, but also shows up in wider social groups such as social insects, letting an individual increase the success of its own genes by helping relatives who share them. Biologists distinguish obligate altruism, a permanent loss of an individual's own direct reproduction as when a honey bee worker forages for the colony, from facultative altruism, a temporary loss as when a Florida scrub jay helps at a nest before later breeding on its own territory. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/