Rich parents give their offspring a leg up in life through inheritances and “gifts”. In a world that has normalized such wealth transfer, privilege perpetuates through bloodlines. A new paper argues that intergenerational wealth transfer, however, is not a uniquely human phenomenon.
“In North American red squirrels, a mother may store spruce cones on her territory and privilege her daughter by bequeathing a rich territory to her; daughters who receive these resources survive longer and reproduce earlier than those without.”
In the animal world, according to a new paper, differential access to inherited resources can lead to disparity in reproductive success – survival of the most privileged.
Intergenerational wealth transfer, the authors say, is seen in all sorts of animals including insects, fishes, birds, and mammals. While some animals inherit purely material wealth like tools, privileged access to mating grounds or territory, others also inherit social status from their parents.
In animals like the spotted hyena, social rank is passed down through the generations matrilineally. With status comes privileged access to food and territory. This means that some families outcompete others, sometimes leading to the extinction of the underprivileged.
Perhaps the most fascinating kind of inheritance is seen in animals that are more closely related to humans. For instance, some apes and monkeys inherit tools form their parents.
“Taï Chimpanzees and bearded capuchin monkeys inherit tools produced at nut-cracking sites via the paternal and maternal lines, respectively.”
Researchers think that knowing more about how intergenerational wealth transfer works in other animals can help us understand “the evolutionary roots of wealth inequality across the tree of life”.
Read the paper by Jennifer Smith, Natterson-Horowitz, and Michael Alfaro here.
