More social species live longer, Oxford study finds

(Press-News.org) UNDER EMBARGO UNTIL 00:01 GMT MONDAY 28 OCTOBER / 20:01 ET SUNDAY 27 OCTOBER 2024 More social species live longer, Oxford study finds New research published today (28 Oct) from the University of Oxford has revealed that species that are more social live longer and produce offspring for a greater timespan. This is the first study on this topic which spans the animal kingdom, from jellyfish to humans.  

What are the benefits and costs of sociality? Social organisms may enjoy benefits such as sharing resources, being better protected from predators, and having support to raise offspring. However, by living in more tightly packed groups, social organisms may also suffer disadvantages such as the spread of disease, increased competition, aggression, and conflict.

A new study led by the University of Oxford has carried out a comprehensive assessment on the link between sociality and different life history traits such as generation time, life expectancy, and the length of their reproductive window. Up to now, research evaluating the overall impacts of sociality on performance has focused on single species or groups, such as birds or some mammals. The new study assessed 152 animal species from a wide variety of taxonomic groups, including birds, mammals, insects, and corals.

The results of the study showed that more social species live longer, postpone maturity, and are more likely to reproduce successfully than more solitary species. While social species may not be the best to adapt and benefit from a rapidly changing environment, they are often more resilient as a group. This novel finding supports the hypotheses that, even though sociality comes with some obvious costs, the overall benefits are greater.

The study also revealed that sociality does influence the reduction in an animal’s ability to reproduce or survive as they age, known as senescence. For example, social allies may help protect against predation, increasing lifespan, but the stress of social hierarchies and conflicts can have the opposite effect.

Lead author Associate Professor Rob Salguero-Gómez (Department of Biology, University of Oxford) said: “Sociality is a fundamental aspect of many animals. However, we still lack cross-taxonomic evidence of the fitness costs and benefits of being social. Here, by using an unprecedented number of animal species this work has demonstrated that species that are more social (most monkeys, humans, elephants, flamingos, and parrots) display longer life spans and reproductive windows than more solitary species (some fish, reptiles, and some insects)."

Whereas previous studies have tended to class sociality as a binary category (i.e. a species is either not social, or social), this new study recognised that sociality exists as a spectrum across animal species.* The continuum used included more ‘intermediate’ ways of sociality, such as being gregarious (e.g., wildebeests, zebras, flock-forming birds), communal (e.g., purple martin birds), or colonial (e.g., nesting birds, some wasps, coral polyps). The data were accessed via the open access COMADRE Animal Matrix Database (www.compadre-db.org), which is curated by his Associate Professor Salguero-Gómez’s research group at the University of Oxford.

Associate Professor Salguero-Gómez added: “In a post-COVID era, where the impacts of isolation have been quite tangible to humans (a highly social species), the research demonstrates that, across a comparative lens, being more social is associated with some tangible benefits."

Further research is ongoing in Associate Professor Salguero-Gómez’s research group to expand the database and combine the data with lab work and further modelling to estimate how more social populations buffer (or fail to) against climate change.

Notes to editors Interviews with Associate Professor Rob Salguero-Gómez are available on request: rob.salguero-gomez@biology.ox.ac.uk

The paper ‘More social species live longer, have longer generation times and longer reproductive windows’ will be published in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B at 00:01 GMT, Monday 28 October/ 00:01 ET Sunday 27 October 2024. It will be available online when the embargo lifts at: https://royalsocietypublishing.org/toc/rstb/2024/379/1916 To view a copy of the paper under embargo, contact Associate Professor Rob Salguero-Gómez: rob.salguero-gomez@biology.ox.ac.uk

Additional details *Sociality was classified following the proposed continuum which shows that sociality is not binary:

solitary: individuals spend their time alone, except to breed e.g. tigers gregarious: individuals spend time in groups but social interactions are loose e.g. wildebeests communal: individuals live in close proximity and often share a common nesting or dwelling area, but do not engage in cooperative breeding e.g. purple martin colonial: individuals live in close proximity and always share a common nesting or living area e.g. nesting birds social: individuals live in close proximity and form stable, organised groups, engaging in social behaviours such as cooperative breeding and hierarchical structures e.g. elephants About the University of Oxford Oxford University has been placed number 1 in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings for the ninth year running, and ​number 3 in the QS World Rankings 2024. At the heart of this success are the twin-pillars of our ground-breaking research and innovation and our distinctive educational offer.

Oxford is world-famous for research and teaching excellence and home to some of the most talented people from across the globe. Our work helps the lives of millions, solving real-world problems through a huge network of partnerships and collaborations. The breadth and interdisciplinary nature of our research alongside our personalised approach to teaching sparks imaginative and inventive insights and solutions.

Through its research commercialisation arm, Oxford University Innovation, Oxford is the highest university patent filer in the UK and is ranked first in the UK for university spinouts, having created more than 300 new companies since 1988. Over a third of these companies have been created in the past five years. The university is a catalyst for prosperity in Oxfordshire and the United Kingdom, contributing £15.7 billion to the UK economy in 2018/19, and supports more than 28,000 full time jobs.

The Department of Biology is a University of Oxford department within the Maths, Physical, and Life Sciences Division. It utilises academic strength in a broad range of bioscience disciplines to tackle global challenges such as food security, biodiversity loss, climate change and global pandemics. It also helps to train and equip the biologists of the future through holistic undergraduate and graduate courses. For more information visit www.biology.ox.ac.uk.

END