Group Selection

Group selection describes the interaction of two distinct evolutionary processes on two different scales: the level of the gene, and the level of group (or meme). It is a special case of multilevel selection, where to processes of natural selection interact with each other. In group selection, different forms of replicators support each other: genes increase the fitness of the memes in the groups of the individuals, and memes increase in turn the fitness of genes in their groups.

see also

• Wikipedia Entry for Group Selection