Tom Scott
tomwscott.bsky.social
Tom Scott
@tomwscott.bsky.social
Evolutionary theory, cooperation, conflict. U. Oxford https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=2YZbCPwAAAAJ&hl=en
New paper with @andygardner.bsky.social and @geoffwild.bsky.social in which we ask whether the ability to recognise relatives causes individuals to be more or less cooperative overall.

doi.org/10.1093/evol...
Kin-discriminating partner choice promotes the evolution of helping
Abstract. Kin selection theory predicts that individuals should evolve to help relatives, either by helping indiscriminately in a population where they do
doi.org
April 11, 2025 at 11:34 AM
Reposted by Tom Scott
New paper: "Kin-discriminating partner choice promotes the evolution of helping"

with Tom Scott (@tomwscott.bsky.social) & Geoff Wild (@geoffwild.bsky.social) #OpenAccess

doi.org/10.1093/evol...

@journal-evo.bsky.social #Image: #ChatGPT #Evolution #OA
February 17, 2025 at 9:45 AM
Reposted by Tom Scott
I’m a bit late, but new paper out led by Thomas Aubier on the evolution of altruism by the greenbeard effect! (1/6) academic.oup.com/evolut/artic...
The role of pleiotropy and population structure in the evolution of altruism through the greenbeard effect
Population genetic theory sheds light on the necessity of pleiotropy for altruism to be favored through the greenbeard effect and reveals that population s
academic.oup.com
February 25, 2025 at 4:02 PM
Reposted by Tom Scott
I'm excited to share our review on the #Evolution of kin discrimination, out now in @annualreviews.bsky.social! We aim to showcase the breadth of #KinRecognition mechanisms across diverse taxa, and explore life-history and ecological processes that promote #KinDiscrimination. doi.org/10.1146/annu...
The Evolution of Kin Discrimination Across the Tree of Life | Annual Reviews
Kin discrimination, the differential treatment of conspecifics based on kinship, occurs across the tree of life, from animals to plants to fungi to bacteria. When kin and nonkin interact, the ability ...
doi.org
January 29, 2025 at 1:21 PM
Reposted by Tom Scott
Underground intelligence: Are plant-fungi networks about collaboration or competition? 🌳📢🍄📢🌳

A new study has investigated whether trees are altruistically warning their neighbours but its more likely a case of eavesdropping 👇

bit.ly/3CgDoHR

📷Tomas Munita

@tobykiers.bsky.social
January 23, 2025 at 9:27 AM
Reposted by Tom Scott
Are plants more likely to be ‘eavesdroppers’ than altruists when tapped into fungal networks?

Read our new theory paper out today in @pnas.org w/ @stuwest.bsky.social @tomwscott.bsky.social

www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
(photo T. Munita)
January 22, 2025 at 2:34 PM
Write-up of our new paper on information transfer in plant-fungal networks: "Study shows plants are more likely to be ‘eavesdroppers’ than altruists when tapping into underground networks".

www.ox.ac.uk/news/2025-01...

@tobykiers.bsky.social
@stuwest.bsky.social
Study shows plants are more likely to be ‘eavesdroppers’ than
A new study led by the University of Oxford has used a modelling approach to show that it is unlikely that plants would evolve to warn other plants of impending attack. Instead of using their
www.ox.ac.uk
January 23, 2025 at 1:38 PM
Reposted by Tom Scott
Evolutionary theory suggests that plants are unlikely to warn other plants about herbivore attack, via routes such as shared fungal networks (the 'wood wide web'). www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
@tobykiers.bsky.social @tomwscott.bsky.social
The evolution of signaling and monitoring in plant–fungal networks | PNAS
Experiments have shown that when one plant is attacked by a pathogen or herbivore, this can lead to other plants connected to the same mycorrhizal ...
www.pnas.org
January 22, 2025 at 3:26 AM
New paper with @tobykiers.bsky.social and @stuwest.bsky.social on whether plants send signals through fungal networks to warn other plants of impending attack – theory suggests unlikely.

www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
PNAS
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a peer reviewed journal of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) - an authoritative source of high-impact, original research that broadly spans...
www.pnas.org
January 21, 2025 at 3:19 PM