#1318 César Marín: Multilevel Selection in Evolutionary Biology
RECORDED ON JULY 21st 2026.
Dr. César Marín is Full Professor in the School of Sciences at Santo Tomas University, Chile. Since 2022, he is a Guest researcher at the Amsterdam Institute for Life and Environment, section Ecology & Evolution, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Netherlands. His primary research interest is (i) Soil Ecology, studying: Fungal Biodiversity; Fungal Biodiversity in Chile; Mycorrhizal Applications; Soil Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functioning; Soil Fire Ecology; Soil Chemistry; Root Ecology; South American Mycorrhizas. His second research interest is (ii) Multilevel selection in all sorts of systems, albeit he focuses in plant holobiont-symbiont systems.
In this episode, we talk about multilevel selection. We start by discussing units of selection, the different kinds of units of selection, and levels of selection. We critique the gene-centric view of evolution, and we talk about group selection and multilevel selection. We explore Dr. Marín’s recent bibliometric review on multilevel selection. Finally, we discuss the implications that a multilevel selection framework can have for our understanding of the evolution of multicellularity, the evolution of social behavior, the evolution of cooperation, the evolution of cultural evolution, and other phenomena.
Time Links:
Intro
Units and levels of selection
Multilevel selection
A bibliometric review on multilevel selection
Implications for the evolution of multicellularity
Implications for the evolution of social behavior
Implications for the evolution of cultural evolution
Other implications
Follow Dr. Marín’s work!
Follow Dr. Marín’s work:
Website: https://cesar-marin.com/
ResearchGate profile: https://tinyurl.com/mwbx3rnr
X handle: @cesarmarin203