I meant, it is already a strong benefit, which was not mentioned in the initial post.
Yeah, it does not handle cell differentiation, but it still changes the total exposure (i.e. income & osmoregulation) of the colony. It’s not very different, however, from what would have with single cell.
And I think this is the key here: almost every other benefit (except your 3 methods and perhaps faster healing) can be obtained with a single, larger cell. Why would we have, in such a setting, cell colonies? That’s a tough nut to crack.
A tentative answer could be that it’s easier to achieve (make two independent parts and join rather than create everything from one part), or falls under Nash equilibria (doubling the cell is beneficial, but you intermediate steps are not), so that’s just “auto-evo” at this point.
One could also invoke disposability : if a part of a colony is damaged beyond repair, it only kills x% of it, with a single cell it’s 100%.
More temporarily, there’s also the advantage of being able to split when needed (like chasing predators), but that can’t be applied to “permanent colonies” (i.e. multicellular organisms). Are temporary colonies a mere step toward it though, more likely to emerge, and fitter than loneliness, but less fit than permanent colony in every setting?
I can’t really tell more at this point, but I have the feeling that many things we discuss here should actually already be taken into account for single cell physics, upon which colony physics would be built.