| | Until I read your post, I had never heard of reciprocal altruism. After some very brief research on the internet, I have concluded that the definition of altruism in the biological context and the definition of altruism as a moral code do not coincide.
As a moral code altruism is defined "the principle that man has no right to exist for his own sake, that service to others is the only justification for existence, and that self sacrifice is his highest moral duty, virtue and value" (Ayn Rand).
In the biological context, one of the preconditions of reciprocal altruism is that "the benefit of receiving aid must exceed the cost of donating." If an animal somehow benefits, it cannot be defined as a sacrifice.
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