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Makuya L, Schradin C. The secret social life of solitary mammals. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2024; 121:e2402871121. [PMID: 38498729 PMCID: PMC10990138 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2402871121] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/20/2024] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Lindelani Makuya
- School of Animal, Plant & Environmental Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Wits, Johannesburg2050, South Africa
| | - Carsten Schradin
- School of Animal, Plant & Environmental Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Wits, Johannesburg2050, South Africa
- Université de Strasbourg, CNRS, Institut Pluridisciplinaire Hubert Curien UMR 7178, StrasbourgF-67000, France
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Olivier CA, Martin JS, Pilisi C, Agnani P, Kauffmann C, Hayes L, Jaeggi AV, Schradin C. Primate social organization evolved from a flexible pair-living ancestor. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2024; 121:e2215401120. [PMID: 38154063 PMCID: PMC10769843 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2215401120] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/09/2022] [Accepted: 10/26/2023] [Indexed: 12/30/2023] Open
Abstract
Explaining the evolution of primate social organization has been fundamental to understand human sociality and social evolution more broadly. It has often been suggested that the ancestor of all primates was solitary and that other forms of social organization evolved later, with transitions being driven by various life history traits and ecological factors. However, recent research showed that many understudied primate species previously assumed to be solitary actually live in pairs, and intraspecific variation in social organization is common. We built a detailed database from primary field studies quantifying the number of social units expressing different social organizations in each population. We used Bayesian phylogenetic models to infer the probability of each social organization, conditional on several socioecological and life history predictors. Here, we show that when intraspecific variation is accounted for, the ancestral social organization of primates was inferred to be variable, with the most common social organization being pair-living but with approximately 10 to 20% of social units of the ancestral population deviating from this pattern by being solitary living. Body size and activity patterns had large effects on transitions between types of social organizations. As in other mammalian clades, pair-living is closely linked to small body size and likely more common in ancestral species. Our results challenge the assumption that ancestral primates were solitary and that pair-living evolved afterward emphasizing the importance of focusing on field data and accounting for intraspecific variation, providing a flexible statistical framework for doing so.
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Affiliation(s)
- Charlotte-Anaïs Olivier
- Institut Pluridisciplinaire Hubert Curien, CNRS, Department of Ethology and Evolutionary Physiology, University of Strasbourg, Strasbourg67200, France
- School of Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg2050, South Africa
| | - Jordan S. Martin
- Human Ecology Group, Institute of Evolutionary Medicine, University of Zurich, ZurichCH-8057, Switzerland
| | - Camille Pilisi
- Institut Pluridisciplinaire Hubert Curien, CNRS, Department of Ethology and Evolutionary Physiology, University of Strasbourg, Strasbourg67200, France
| | - Paul Agnani
- Institut Pluridisciplinaire Hubert Curien, CNRS, Department of Ethology and Evolutionary Physiology, University of Strasbourg, Strasbourg67200, France
| | - Cécile Kauffmann
- Institut Pluridisciplinaire Hubert Curien, CNRS, Department of Ethology and Evolutionary Physiology, University of Strasbourg, Strasbourg67200, France
| | - Loren Hayes
- Department of Biology, Geology, and Environmental Science, University of Tennessee, Chattanooga37403, TN
| | - Adrian V. Jaeggi
- Human Ecology Group, Institute of Evolutionary Medicine, University of Zurich, ZurichCH-8057, Switzerland
| | - C. Schradin
- Institut Pluridisciplinaire Hubert Curien, CNRS, Department of Ethology and Evolutionary Physiology, University of Strasbourg, Strasbourg67200, France
- School of Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg2050, South Africa
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Shilovsky GA, Putyatina TS, Markov AV. Evolution of Longevity as a Species-Specific Trait in Mammals. BIOCHEMISTRY. BIOKHIMIIA 2022; 87:1579-1599. [PMID: 36717448 DOI: 10.1134/s0006297922120148] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/15/2023]
Abstract
From the evolutionary point of view, the priority problem for an individual is not longevity, but adaptation to the environment associated with the need for survival, food supply, and reproduction. We see two main vectors in the evolution of mammals. One is a short lifespan and numerous offspring ensuring reproductive success (r-strategy). The other one is development of valuable skills in order compete successfully (K-strategy). Species with the K-strategy should develop and enhance specific systems (anti-aging programs) aimed at increasing the reliability and adaptability, including lifespan. These systems are signaling cascades that provide cell repair and antioxidant defense. Hence, any arbitrarily selected long-living species should be characterized by manifestation to a different extent of the longevity-favoring traits (e.g., body size, brain development, sociality, activity of body repair and antioxidant defense systems, resistance to xenobiotics and tumor formation, presence of neotenic traits). Hereafter, we will call a set of such traits as the gerontological success of a species. Longevity is not equivalent to the evolutionary or reproductive success. This difference between these phenomena reaches its peak in mammals due to the development of endothermy and cephalization associated with the cerebral cortex expansion, which leads to the upregulated production of oxidative radicals by the mitochondria (and, consequently, accelerated aging), increase in the number of non-dividing differentiated cells, accumulation of the age-related damage in these cells, and development of neurodegenerative diseases. The article presents mathematical indicators used to assess the predisposition to longevity in different species (including the standard mortality rate and basal metabolic rate, as well as their derivatives). The properties of the evolution of mammals (including the differences between modern mammals and their ancestral forms) are also discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gregory A Shilovsky
- Faculty of Biology, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, 119234, Russia. .,Institute for Information Transmission Problems, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, 127051, Russia
| | - Tatyana S Putyatina
- Faculty of Biology, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, 119234, Russia
| | - Alexander V Markov
- Faculty of Biology, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, 119234, Russia
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Qiu J, Olivier CA, Jaeggi AV, Schradin C. The evolution of marsupial social organization. Proc Biol Sci 2022; 289:20221589. [PMID: 36285501 PMCID: PMC9597405 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2022.1589] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/29/2021] [Accepted: 10/05/2022] [Indexed: 10/28/2023] Open
Abstract
It is generally believed that marsupials are more primitive than placentals mammals and mainly solitary living, representing the ancestral form of social organization of all mammals. However, field studies have observed pair and group-living in marsupial species, but no comparative study about their social evolution was ever done. Here, we describe the results of primary literature research on marsupial social organization which indicates that most species can live in pairs or groups and many show intra-specific variation in social organization. Using Bayesian phylogenetic mixed-effects models with a weak phylogenetic signal of 0.18, we found that solitary living was the most likely ancestral form (35% posterior probability), but had high uncertainty, and the combined probability of a partly sociable marsupial ancestor (65%) should not be overlooked. For Australian marsupials, group-living species were less likely to be found in tropical rainforest, and species with a variable social organization were associated with low and unpredictable precipitation representing deserts. Our results suggest that modern marsupials are more sociable than previously believed and that there is no strong support that their ancestral state was strictly solitary living, such that the assumption of a solitary ancestral state of all mammals may also need reconsideration.
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Affiliation(s)
- J. Qiu
- School of Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Private Bag 3, WITS 2050, Johannesburg, South Africa
- IPHC, UNISTRA, CNRS, 23 rue du Loess, 67200 Strasbourg, France
| | - C. A. Olivier
- School of Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Private Bag 3, WITS 2050, Johannesburg, South Africa
- IPHC, UNISTRA, CNRS, 23 rue du Loess, 67200 Strasbourg, France
| | - A. V. Jaeggi
- Institute of Evolutionary Medicine, University of Zurich, Wintherthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - C. Schradin
- School of Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Private Bag 3, WITS 2050, Johannesburg, South Africa
- IPHC, UNISTRA, CNRS, 23 rue du Loess, 67200 Strasbourg, France
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Strepsirrhine movement and navigation: sense and sociality. Curr Opin Behav Sci 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cobeha.2022.101133] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
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Olivier C, Jaeggi AV, Hayes LD, Schradin C. Revisiting the components of Macroscelidea social systems: Evidence for variable social organization, including pair‐living, but not for a monogamous mating system. Ethology 2022. [DOI: 10.1111/eth.13271] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Charlotte‐Anaïs Olivier
- IPHC UNISTRA CNRS Strasbourg France
- School of Animal, Plant & Environmental Sciences University of the Witwatersrand Johannesburg South Africa
| | - Adrian V. Jaeggi
- Institute of Evolutionary Medicine University of Zurich Zurich Switzerland
| | - Loren D. Hayes
- Department of Biology, Geology, and Environmental Science University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Tennessee USA
| | - Carsten Schradin
- IPHC UNISTRA CNRS Strasbourg France
- School of Animal, Plant & Environmental Sciences University of the Witwatersrand Johannesburg South Africa
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Makuya L, Olivier C, Schradin C. Field studies need to report essential information on social organisation – independent of the study focus. Ethology 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/eth.13249] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Lindelani Makuya
- School of Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences University of the Witwatersrand Johannesburg South Africa
| | - Charlotte‐Anaïs Olivier
- School of Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences University of the Witwatersrand Johannesburg South Africa
- IPHCUNISTRACNRS Strasbourg France
| | - Carsten Schradin
- School of Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences University of the Witwatersrand Johannesburg South Africa
- IPHCUNISTRACNRS Strasbourg France
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Alejandro J, Yamanashi Y, Nemoto K, Bercovitch FB, Huffman MA. Behavioral Changes of Solitary Housed Female Pygmy Slow Lorises ( Nycticebus pygmeaus) after Introduction into Group Enclosures. Animals (Basel) 2021; 11:ani11092751. [PMID: 34573717 PMCID: PMC8466228 DOI: 10.3390/ani11092751] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/31/2021] [Revised: 09/15/2021] [Accepted: 09/16/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Pygmy slow lorises (Nycticebus pygmaeus) are threatened with extinction in the wild. Their nocturnal lifestyle and small size make them difficult to study in their natural habitat, but increasing evidence suggests that they are more social than previously thought. Our study was designed to assess the sociability of pygmy slow lorises by transferring six adult females from solo cages into environmentally enriched group home cages at the Japan Monkey Centre's Slow Loris Conservation Centre. Two females were paired to create one group, while the other four were placed together in a second group. We compared their social interactions, activity budgets, and postural behaviors before and after social housing was initiated. We found that all-female slow loris groups had a high degree of sociality, preferred to stay close to each other, nested together every night, and spent less time in locomotion and more time grooming than when living alone. These results suggest that female pygmy slow lorises actively seek companions when available. The captive housing of all-female groups of lorises could lead to better husbandry practices and improved animal welfare by allowing them to have conspecific companions. We conclude that isosexual groups of pygmy slow lorises should be preferred over single housing when possible.
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Affiliation(s)
- Josue Alejandro
- Primate Research Institute (PRI), Kyoto University, Inuyama 484-8506, Japan;
- Correspondence:
| | - Yumi Yamanashi
- Wildlife Research Center (WRC), Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8203, Japan; (Y.Y.); (F.B.B.)
- Center for Research and Education of Wildlife (CREW), Kyoto City Zoo, Kyoto 606-8333, Japan
| | - Kei Nemoto
- Japan Monkey Centre (JMC), Inuyama 484-0081, Japan;
| | - Fred B. Bercovitch
- Wildlife Research Center (WRC), Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8203, Japan; (Y.Y.); (F.B.B.)
| | - Michael A. Huffman
- Primate Research Institute (PRI), Kyoto University, Inuyama 484-8506, Japan;
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Effects of Female Group Size on the Number of Males in Blue Monkey (Cercopithecus mitis) Groups. INT J PRIMATOL 2020. [DOI: 10.1007/s10764-020-00174-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
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Schradin C, Drouard F, Lemonnier G, Askew R, Olivier CA, Pillay N. Geographic intra-specific variation in social organization is driven by population density. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2020. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-020-02896-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
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Lukas D, Clutton-Brock T. Monotocy and the evolution of plural breeding in mammals. Behav Ecol 2020; 31:943-949. [PMID: 32760176 PMCID: PMC7390990 DOI: 10.1093/beheco/araa039] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/07/2019] [Revised: 03/06/2020] [Accepted: 04/14/2020] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
In many mammals, breeding females are intolerant of each other and seldom associate closely but, in some, they aggregate in groups that vary in size, stability, and kinship structure. Aggregation frequently increases competition for food, and interspecific differences in female sociality among mammals are commonly attributed to contrasts in ecological parameters, including variation in activity timing, the distribution of resources, as well as the risk of predation. However, there is increasing indication that differences in female sociality are also associated with phylogenetic relationships and with contrasts in life-history parameters. We show here that evolutionary transitions from systems where breeding females usually occupy separate ranges ("singular breeding") to systems where breeding females usually aggregate ("plural breeding") have occurred more frequently in monotocous lineages where females produce single young than in polytocous ones where they produce litters. A likely explanation of this association is that competition between breeding females for resources is reduced where they produce single young and is more intense where they produce litters. Our findings reinforce evidence that variation in life-history parameters plays an important role in shaping the evolution of social behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dieter Lukas
- Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
- Department of Human Behavior, Ecology and Culture, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
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Jaeggi AV, Miles MI, Festa-Bianchet M, Schradin C, Hayes LD. Variable social organization is ubiquitous in Artiodactyla and probably evolved from pair-living ancestors. Proc Biol Sci 2020; 287:20200035. [PMID: 32370675 PMCID: PMC7282923 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2020.0035] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/07/2020] [Accepted: 04/13/2020] [Indexed: 12/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Previous studies to understand the evolution of interspecific variation in mammalian social organization (SO; composition of social units) produced inconsistent results, possibly by ignoring intraspecific variation. Here we present systematic data on SO in artiodactyl populations, coding SO as solitary, pair-living, group-living, sex-specific or variable (different kinds of SOs in the same population). We found that 62% of 245 populations and 83% of species (83/100) exhibited variable SO. Using Bayesian phylogenetic mixed-effects models, we simultaneously tested whether research effort, habitat, sexual dimorphism, breeding seasonality or body size predicted the likelihood of different SOs and inferred the ancestral SO. Body size and sexual dimorphism were strongly associated with different SOs. Contingent on the small body size (737 g) and putative sexual monomorphism of the earliest fossil artiodactyl, the ancestral SO was most likely to be pair-living (probability = 0.76, 95% CI = 0-1), followed by variable (p = 0.19, 95% CI = 0-0.99). However, at body size values typical of extant species, variable SO becomes the dominant form (p = 0.74, 95% CI = 0.18-1.00). Distinguishing different kinds of 'variable' highlights transitions from SOs involving pair-living to SOs involving solitary and/or group-living with increasing body size and dimorphism. Our results support the assumption that ancestral artiodactyl was pair-living and highlight the ubiquity of intraspecific variation in SO.
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Affiliation(s)
- A. V. Jaeggi
- Institute of Evolutionary Medicine, University of Zurich, Wintherthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - M. I. Miles
- Department of Biology, Geology, and Environmental Science, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, USA
| | - M. Festa-Bianchet
- Département de Biologie, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Quebec, CanadaJ1K 2R1
| | - C. Schradin
- School of Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Private Bag 3, WITS 2050 Johannesburg, South Africa
- IPHC, UNISTRA, CNRS, 23 rue du Loess, 67200 Strasbourg, France
| | - L. D. Hayes
- Department of Biology, Geology, and Environmental Science, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, USA
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15
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Schradin C, Hayes LD, Pillay N, Bertelsmeier C. The evolution of intraspecific variation in social organization. Ethology 2018. [DOI: 10.1111/eth.12752] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Carsten Schradin
- Université de Strasbourg CNRS IPHC UMR 7178 Strasbourg France
- School of Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences University of the Witwatersrand Witwatersrand South Africa
| | - Loren D. Hayes
- Department of Biology, Geology, and Environmental Sciences University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Chattanooga Tennessee
| | - Neville Pillay
- School of Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences University of the Witwatersrand Witwatersrand South Africa
| | - Cleo Bertelsmeier
- Department of Ecology and Evolution University of Lausanne Lausanne Switzerland
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