Sociality
Degree of animal association in social groups and cooperation.
A mother wasp's behavior of remaining near her larvae to protect them from parasites is an example of sociality as an adaptive response to evolutionary pressures.[1] Jaguars are solitary animals whose only social interactions occur during courtship and mating.[2] Research indicates that social carnivores like spotted hyenas and lions demonstrate superior innovative problem-solving abilities compared to non-social predators.[3]
Quick Facts
- Field
- Sociobiology, Ethology
- Key concepts
- Parental investment
- subsociality
- presociality
- eusociality
Facts from the source article.
Key facts and history
Batra coined the words eusocial and quasisocial in 1966.[4] Charles D. Michener, an entomologist, introduced a presociality classification system in 1969 that expanded upon Suzanne Batra's earlier concepts.[4] Michener applied his terminology specifically to bee research and restricted its use to insect taxa.[5] Batra's quasisocial definition was subsequently modified by E. O. Wilson.[5]
Parental care for offspring over a period of time, known as subsociality, occurs frequently across animal groups.[6] Any duration of parental care, even extremely brief, qualifies a species as subsocial.[6] Adult animals that interact with other adults receive a different social classification rather than being labeled subsocial.[6] Animals classified as solitary-but-social feed individually yet may share sleeping sites or nests with others.[7]
Eusocial groups are characterized by multiple adult generations coexisting, joint offspring care, and reproductive labor divided among members.[8] Insect orders including Hymenoptera and Blattodea contain species that have developed eusociality.[8]
What the research sources say
Wilson writes that all animal species that have achieved eusociality first built nests that they defended from enemies.[9] Wilson argues that eusociality created superorganisms, the next level of biological complexity above that of organisms.[9] The spur to eusociality, according to Wilson, was always a patch of prized real estate that pulled group members together.[9] According to O'Riain and Faulkes' 2008 investigation, mole rats may occasionally leave their colony to breed and form new groups when adequate resources exist.[10]
Certain crustaceans, like Synalpheus regalis snapping shrimp, have developed eusociality while inhabiting confined group living spaces.[11] Colonies of Synalpheus regalis consist of genetically similar individuals where a single reproductive female is guarded by numerous males possessing enlarged snapping claws.[11]
References
- Wikipedia, "Sociality" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences", Elsevier, 2001, p. 14506; Ross, "The Social Biology of Wasps", Comstock Publishing Associates, 1991 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Sociality" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Cavalcanti, "Spatial Ecology and Social Interactions of Jaguars (Panthera Onca) in the Southern Pantanal, Brazil", Journal of Mammalogy, 14 August 2009, p. 935–945; Gadagkar, "What are social insects?", IUSSI Indian Chapter Newsletter, September 1987; Nowak, "The Evolution of Eusociality", Nature, 2010, p. 1057–1062 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Sociality" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Borrego, "Social carnivores outperform asocial carnivores on an innovative problem", Animal Behaviour, 2016, p. 21–26 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Sociality" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Michener, "Comparative Social Behavior of Bees", Annual Review of Entomology, 1969, p. 299–342; Batra, "Social behavior and nests of some nomiine bees in India (Hymenoptera, Halictidæ)", Insectes Sociaux, 1966, p. 145–153 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Sociality" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Wilson, "The Insect Societies", Belknap Press, 1971; Springer, 2008, p. 1377–1378 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Sociality" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Wilson, "The Insect Societies", Belknap Press, 1971; Choe, J.C. & B.J. Crespi. 1997. [Eds.] The evolution of Social Behavior in Insects and Arachnids. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.; Costa JT. 2006. The other insect societies. Belknap: Harvard University Press. (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Sociality" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Sussman, "Primate Ecology and Social Structure", Pearson Custom Publishing, 2003, p. 29 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Sociality" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Gadagkar, "What are social insects?", IUSSI Indian Chapter Newsletter, September 1987 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Angier, "Edward O. Wilson's New Take on Human Nature", Smithsonian Magazine, 2012. facts only, no text reused. smithsonianmag.com
- Wikipedia, "Sociality" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: O'Riain, "Ecology of Social Evolution", Springer, 2008, p. 207–223 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Sociality" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Duffy, "Multiple origins of eusociality among sponge-dwelling shrimps (Synalpheus)", Evolution, 2000, p. 503–516 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Sociality (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
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