How did the sharing of resources evolve? What possible advantage could there be to organisms sharing resources?

Answer 1

Great question!

This question has been asked for quite some time by evolutionary biologists and from what we can gather there is a very complex system at play here. The idea ultimately comes down to passing your genes on as far as you can down the line. For an animal to share they normally have to have to ability to conceptualize the future. This is because animals who share now, have to ability to one day call in a favor from the person it shared with before. The entire idea is similar to quid pro quo. If you scratch my back I'll scratch your back. This can help not only you survive but even your children because if you can form an alliance with someone they will help them in the future as well hopefully. Even if an animal shares with someone that doesn't share back you still can get an evolutionary advantage out of it. If your brain believes that sharing is a good thing then simply by doing that you release "feel good hormones" making you feel better of yourself. Also, if an animal shares with one animal it probably will be seen by more than just that single animal. Others will take note as well and could see you as a friendly person that they should attempt to form an alliance with as well.