Hamilton's rule states that an altruistic allele could spread in a population if Br > C, where B represents the fitness benefit to the recipient, r is the coefficient of relatedness between altruist and recipient, and C represents the fitness cost to the altruist. If r=0.5 between the altruist and the recipient, what would the ratio of costs to benefits have to be for the altruistic allele to spread? a. C/B > 0.5 b. C/B > 0 c. C/B < 0.5 d. C/B < 0

Verified step by step guidance

1. Step 1: Understand the problem. Hamilton's rule states that an altruistic allele could spread in a population if Br > C. Here, B represents the fitness benefit to the recipient, r is the coefficient of relatedness between altruist and recipient, and C represents the fitness cost to the altruist. We are given that r=0.5 and we need to find the ratio of costs to benefits (C/B) for the altruistic allele to spread.
2. Step 2: Substitute the given value of r into the inequality. This gives us 0.5B > C.
3. Step 3: To find the ratio of costs to benefits (C/B), we need to rearrange the inequality. Divide both sides by B to isolate C/B on one side. This gives us C/B < 0.5.
4. Step 4: Look at the answer choices and find the one that matches our result. The correct answer is c. C/B < 0.5.
5. Step 5: Therefore, for the altruistic allele to spread in the population, the ratio of costs to benefits must be less than 0.5.