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Sociality is the degree to which individuals in an animal population tend to associate in ( gregariousness) and form cooperative societies.
Sociality is a survival response to evolutionary pressures. For example, when a mother wasp stays near her in the nest, are less likely to eat the larvae. (1991). 9780801420351, Comstock Publishing Associates. ISBN 9780801420351 Biologists suspect that pressures from parasites and other selected this behavior in wasps of the family Vespidae.
This wasp behaviour evidences the most fundamental characteristic of animal sociality: parental investment. Parental investment is any expenditure of (time, energy, social capital) to benefit one's offspring. Parental investment detracts from a parent's capacity to invest in future reproduction and aid to Family (including other offspring). An animal that cares for its young but shows no other sociality traits is said to be subsocial.
An animal that exhibits a high degree of sociality is called a social animal. The highest degree of sociality recognized by sociobiologists is eusociality. A eusocial taxon is one that exhibits overlapping adult generations, Reproduction division of labor, cooperative care of young, and—in the most refined cases—a biological caste system.
One characteristic of social animals is the relatively high degree of cognitive ability. Social mammal predators such as spotted hyena and lion have been found to be better than non-social predators such as leopard and tiger at solving problems that require the use of innovation.
The entomologist Charles D. Michener published a classification system for presociality in 1969, building on the earlier work of Suzanne Batra (who coined the words eusocial and quasisocial in 1966). Michener used these terms in his study of bees, but also saw a need for additional classifications: subsocial, communal, and semisocial. In his use of these words, he did not generalize beyond . E. O. Wilson later refined Batra's definition of quasisocial. Entry is linked to entries on each of the other terms, as Subsocial, Quasisocial, etc.
Subsociality is widely distributed among the winged insects, and has evolved independently many times. Insect groups that contain at least some subsocial species are shown in bold italics on a phylogenetic tree of the Neoptera (note that many non-subsocial groups are omitted): Kluge 2005, Kluge 2010, Kluge 2012
Some individual adopt a solitary but social behavior, that is, they live apart from their own species but interact with humans. This behavior has been observed in species including bottlenose dolphin, common dolphin, striped dolphin, beluga whale, Risso's dolphin, and orca. Notable individuals include Pelorus Jack (1888–1912), Tião (1994–1995), and Fungie (1983–2020). At least 32 solitary-sociable dolphins were recorded between 2008 and 2019.
Communal, quasisocial, and semisocial groups differ in a few ways. In a communal group, adults cohabit in a single nest site, but they each care for their own young. Quasisocial animals cohabit, but they also share the responsibilities of Alloparenting. (This has been observed in some Hymenoptera and spider taxa, as well as in some other .) A semisocial population has the features of communal and quasisocial populations, but they also have a biological caste system that delegates labor according to whether or not an individual is able to reproduce.
Beyond parasociality is eusociality. Eusocial insect societies have all the characteristics of a semisocial one, except overlapping generations of adults cohabit and share in the care of young. This means that more than one adult generation is alive at the same time, and that the older generations also care for the newest offspring.
Two potential examples of primitively eusocial mammals are the naked mole-rat and the Damaraland mole-rat ( Heterocephalus glaber and Fukomys damarensis, respectively). Both species are diploid and highly Inbreeding, and they aid in raising their siblings and relatives, all of whom are born from a single reproductive queen; they usually live in harsh or limiting environments. A study conducted by O'Riain and Faulkes in 2008 suggests that, due to regular inbreeding avoidance, mole rats sometimes outbreed and establish new colonies when resources are sufficient. (2025). 9783540759560, Springer. ISBN 9783540759560
Eusociality has arisen among some that live in groups in a restricted area. Synalpheus regalis are snapping shrimp that rely on fortress defense. They live in groups of closely related individuals, amidst tropical and . Each group has one breeding female; she is protected by a large number of male defenders who are armed with enlarged snapping claws. As with other eusocial societies, there is a single shared living space for the colony members, and the non-breeding members act to defend it.
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