There simply is no other animal that exploits the law of comparative advantage between groups. Within groups, as we have seen, the division of labor is beautifully exploited by the ants, the mole rats, the Huia birds. But not between groups. . . . The law of comparative advantage is one of the ecological spaces that our species holds.
Matt Ridley, The Origin of Virtue: Human Instincts and the Evolution of Cooperation (1996), p. 210.
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Matt Ridley
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What makes possible the exploitation of comparative advantage across groups is trade, and part of the foundation of all trade (even at the scale of a swap between farmers) is comparative advantage.
Years ago, I wrote an explanation of the concept for a friend.