Quotes and Questions from “Divided We Fall”

(answer the question “Why?” for the following quotes)

“All this togetherness [i.e. cooperation] did not make much evolutionary sense.”

“Male lions form lifelong alliances with anywhere from one to eight others – not out of any fraternal goodwill, but rather…”

“Coalitions of four to nine males are always composed of close relatives.”

“Being left childless is not too bad from a genetic standpoint if your more successful partner is your brother or cousin.”

“If a lone hunter is certain to succeed, the benefits of helping [that hunter] could never exceed the costs.”

“Communal nursing is a major component of the lion’s cooperative mystique. And yet, as with most other forms of cooperation among lions, this behavior is not as noble as it seems.”

“Thus, milk distribution depends in large part on a pattern of surplus production and on kinship.”

What are the costs and benefits of sleeping for a female lion?

“Mothers do not form a creche to improve their cubs’ nutrition.”

“A female needs two years to rear her cubs to independence, but should her cubs die at any point, she starts mating within a few days…”

“More than a quarter of all cubs are killed by invading males.”

Males will attack even when they are outnumbered 3 to 1. Females will only attack if they outnumber the others by 2 to 1. Why?

“Numbers are a matter of life and death, and a pride of only one or two females is doomed to a futile existence...”