Vacancy chains are a way resources are distributed where one person's success leads to success for others too.
Resources distributed through vacancy chains have common abstract qualities, regardless of species or social development.
Vacancy chains are not optional but necessary for groups when resources have specific abstract qualities. These chains may occur even in unknown creatures on other planets like Mars.
Hermit crabs can be seen as 'rich' based on the size of the snail shells they possess, which determines their level of wealth.
The distribution of wealth in hermit crabs closely resembles that of human societies, showing similarities in terms of inequality.
Factors like individual differences and wealth transfer through vacancy chains may explain the similarity in wealth distributions between hermit crabs and humans.