Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37381851›Full record

ArticlePhilosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences2023

Toward an evolutionary ecology of (in)equality.

Eric Alden Smith, Jennifer E Smith, Brian F Codding

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Metabolic inequality in microbial communities.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026
    Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Conceptual and analytical approaches for modelling the developmental origins of inequality.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2023
    Article
  5. Mechanisms of equality and inequality in mammalian societies.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2023
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Eric Alden SmithDepartment of Anthropology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-9482-9666
Jennifer E SmithDepartment of Biology, University of Wisconsin Eau Claire, 105 Garfield Avenue, Eau Claire, WI 54702, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-3342-4454
Brian F CoddingDepartment of Anthropology and Archaeological Center, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-7977-8568

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Inequality is increasingly recognized as a major problem in contemporary society. The causes and consequences of inequality in wealth and power have long been central concerns in the social sciences, whereas comparable research in biology has focused on dominance and reproductive skew. This theme issue builds on these existing research traditions, exploring ways they might enrich each other, with evolutionary ecology as a possibly unifying framework. Contributors investigate ways in which inequality is resisted or avoided and developed or imposed in societies of past and contemporary humans, as well as a variety of social mammals. Particular attention is paid to systematic, socially driven inequality in wealth (defined broadly) and the effects this has on differential power, health, survival and reproduction. Analyses include field studies, simulations, archaeological and ethnographic case studies, and analytical models. The results reveal similarities and divergences between human and non-human patterns in wealth, power and social dynamics. We draw on these insights to present a unifying conceptual framework for analysing the evolutionary ecology of (in)equality, with the hope of both understanding the past and improving our collective future. This article is part of the theme issue 'Evolutionary ecology of inequality'.

Indexed as

Anthropology, CulturalArchaeologyBiological EvolutionEcologyHumansegalitarianhierarchyhumansinheritancemammalswealth

Identifiers

PMID37381851
PMCPMC10291428

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.