A framework for conceptualizing dimensions of social organization in mammals.

ABSTRACT: Mammalian societies represent many different types of social systems. While some aspects of social systems have been extensively studied, there is little consensus on how to conceptualize social organization across species. Here, we present a framework describing eight dimensions of social organization to capture its diversity across mammalian societies. The framework uses simple information that is clearly separated from the three other aspects of social systems: social structure, care system, and mating system. By applying our framework across 208 species of all mammalian taxa, we find a rich multidimensional landscape of social organization. Correlation analysis reveals that the dimensions have relatively high independence, suggesting that social systems are able to evolve different asp

SUBMITTER: Prox L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6988527 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature