Smith et al. 1 present a timely and well-balanced view on evolutionary ideas in the social sciences. As a part of their review, they commented on a recent book by Thornhill and Palmer, by presenting a model that calculates fitness costs and benefits of rape, and parameterizing it with data on Ache Indians. It is indeed welcome that quantitative modelling is entering the debate about the natural history of rape, and Smith et al. conclude that the evidence for rape as an evolved adaptation is weak. However, Smith et al.'s model also predicts that rape becomes advantageous if a human male's expected reproductive value is much lower than the average. This threshold becomes milder ifcosts of rape are smaller, for example, when the rapist and victim belong to different communities. Although Smith et al. mention this, they return to the idea of the 'average male' when discussing the prospects of an adaptationist explanation of rape. For example, even in warfare, Smith et al. conclude that 'selection for special rape mechanisms [is] extremely weak'. But a male in warfare is unlikely to have average reproductive value. Reproductive values or other parameters (e.g. number of kin) are rarely equal among men during peaceful times either. Smith et al.'s model shows that selection for everyAche Indian male becoming a rapist is very unlikely. However, they fail to include phenotypic plasticity in a consistent way (even though their review otherwise discusses adjustable behaviours). Nature abounds in traits, including behaviours, that are maladaptive on average but which can pay offfor certain individuals, and the evolution of plasticity can be based on natural selection.
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机译：史密斯等。 1对社会科学中的进化思想提出了及时而均衡的观点。作为审查的一部分，他们对Thornhill和Palmer的最新著作进行了评论，提出了一种模型，该模型计算出强奸的健身成本和收益，并使用阿彻印第安人的数据对其进行参数化。确实令人欢迎的是，定量建模正在引起有关强奸自然史的争论，史密斯等人（Smith et al。结论认为，强奸作为适应性进化的证据很薄弱。然而，史密斯等人的模型还预测，如果人类男性的预期生殖价值远低于平均水平，则强奸将变得有利。如果强奸成本较小，例如在强奸犯和受害人属于不同社区的情况下，此门槛将变得较为温和。虽然史密斯等。提到这一点，他们在讨论对强奸的适应主义解释的前景时，会回到“普通男性”的观念。例如，即使在战争中，史密斯等人。结论是“对特殊强奸机制的选择极其薄弱”。但是在战争中的男性不太可能具有平均生殖价值。在和平时期，男性的生殖价值或其他参数（例如亲属数量）也很少相等。史密斯（Smith）等人的模型表明，很难选择每个印度印第安男性成为强奸犯。但是，他们未能以一致的方式包括表型可塑性（即使他们的评论另外讨论了可调节的行为）。自然界中普遍存在一些特征，包括行为，这些特征平均而言是适应不良的行为，但可以为某些个体带来回报，可塑性的演变可以基于自然选择。
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