Data from: Are ant supercolonies crucibles of a new major transition in evolution?

The biological hierarchy of genes, cells, organisms and societies is a fundamental reality in the living world. This hierarchy of entities did not arise ex nihilo at the origin of life, but rather has been serially generated by a succession of critical events known as ‘evolutionary transitions in individuality’ (ETIs). Given the sequential nature of ETIs, it is natural to look for candidates to form the next hierarchical tier. We analyse claims that these candidates are found among ‘supercolonies’, ant populations in which discrete nests cooperate as part of a wider collective, in ways redolent of cells in a multicellular organism. Examining earlier empirical work and new data within the recently proposed ‘Darwinian space’ framework, we offer a novel analysis of the evolutionary status of supercolonies and show how certain key conditions might be satisfied in any future process transforming these collaborative networks into true Darwinian individuals.

基因、细胞、生物体与社会群的生物学层级结构，是生命世界的基本客观事实。这类实体层级并非在生命起源时无中生有地形成，而是通过一系列被称为"个体性进化跃迁（evolutionary transitions in individuality，ETIs）"的关键事件逐步串联生成的。鉴于个体性进化跃迁的序列性特征，探寻能够构成下一生物层级的候选对象便顺理成章。我们针对"超级蚁群（supercolonies）"可作为此类候选对象的主张展开分析：超级蚁群指的是，彼此独立的蚁巢作为更大集体的一部分协同合作的蚂蚁种群，其协作模式与多细胞生物体内的细胞颇为相似。我们借助新近提出的"达尔文空间（Darwinian space）"框架，对既往实证研究与全新数据展开梳理分析，针对超级蚁群的进化地位提出全新解读，并阐明在未来将这类协作网络转化为真正达尔文个体的过程中，若干关键条件该如何得到满足。