Evolution of division of labor: Emergence of different activities among group members

•We investigate under what conditions division of labor (DL) should evolve.•DL likely evolves when group size is large and skill learning is important.•DL also likely evolves when there is food sharing within a group.•DL by gender likely evolves when the difference between genders is large.•We discuss the evolution of DL in hominids.

The division of labor is an important component of the organization of human society. However, why this division evolved in hominids requires further investigation. Archeological evidence suggests that it appeared after the emergence of Homo sapiens and contributed to the great success of our species. We develop a mathematical model to investigate under what conditions division of labor should evolve. We assume two types of resources the acquisition of which demands different skills, and study the evolution of the strategy that an individual should use to divide its lifetime into learning and using each skill. We show that division of labor likely evolves when group size is large, skill learning is important for acquiring resources, and there is food sharing within a group. We also investigate division of labor by gender under the assumption that the genders have different efficiencies in acquiring each resource. We show that division of labor by gender likely evolves when skill learning is important and the difference in efficiencies between genders in acquiring resources is large. We discuss how the results of our analysis might apply to the evolution of division of labor in hominids.