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Social animal
 
 
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A social animal is a loosely defined term for an organism
Organism

In biology, an organism is any life thing . In at least some form, all organisms are capable of response to stimulus , reproduction, growth and developmental biology, and maintenance of homeostasis as a stable whole....
 that is highly interactive
Interaction

Interaction is a kind of action that occurs as two or more objects have an effect upon one another. The idea of a two-way effect is essential in the concept of interaction, as opposed to a one-way causal effect....
 with other members of its species
Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring....
 to the point of having a recognizable and distinct society
Society

A society is a group of humans characterized by patterns of relationships between individuals that share a distinctive culture and/or institutions....
.All mammals (and birds) are social to the extent that mothers and offspring bond
Maternal bond

The maternal bond is typically the personal relationship between a mother and her child.While it typically occurs due to pregnancy and childbirth, it may also occur between a woman and an unrelated child, such as in adoption....
. The term "social animal" is usually only applied when there is a level of social organization
Social organisation

Social organization or social institution, refers to a group of social positions, connected by social relations, performing a social role....
 that goes beyond this, with permanent groups of adults living together, and relationships between individuals that endure from one encounter to another.

Animal social behaviour and organisation is studied in comparative psychology
Comparative psychology

Psychologists and scientists do not always agree on what should be considered Comparative Psychology. Taken in its most usual, broad sense, it refers to the study of the behavior and mental life of animals other than human beings....
, ethology
Ethology

Ethology is the scientific study of animal behavior, and a branch of zoology .Although many naturalists have studied aspects of animal behavior through the centuries, the modern discipline of ethology is usually considered to have arisen with the work in the 1930s of Dutch biologist Nikolaas Tinbergen and Austrian biologist Konrad Lorenz,...
, sociobiology
Sociobiology

Sociobiology is a Neo-Darwinism synthesis of scientific disciplines that attempts to explain social behavior in all species by considering the evolutionary advantages the behaviors may have....
, behavioural ecology and computer science
Computer science

Computer science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation, and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems....
 (artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science which aims to create it. Major AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents,"...
).






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A social animal is a loosely defined term for an organism
Organism

In biology, an organism is any life thing . In at least some form, all organisms are capable of response to stimulus , reproduction, growth and developmental biology, and maintenance of homeostasis as a stable whole....
 that is highly interactive
Interaction

Interaction is a kind of action that occurs as two or more objects have an effect upon one another. The idea of a two-way effect is essential in the concept of interaction, as opposed to a one-way causal effect....
 with other members of its species
Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring....
 to the point of having a recognizable and distinct society
Society

A society is a group of humans characterized by patterns of relationships between individuals that share a distinctive culture and/or institutions....
.All mammals (and birds) are social to the extent that mothers and offspring bond
Maternal bond

The maternal bond is typically the personal relationship between a mother and her child.While it typically occurs due to pregnancy and childbirth, it may also occur between a woman and an unrelated child, such as in adoption....
. The term "social animal" is usually only applied when there is a level of social organization
Social organisation

Social organization or social institution, refers to a group of social positions, connected by social relations, performing a social role....
 that goes beyond this, with permanent groups of adults living together, and relationships between individuals that endure from one encounter to another.

Animal social behaviour and organisation is studied in comparative psychology
Comparative psychology

Psychologists and scientists do not always agree on what should be considered Comparative Psychology. Taken in its most usual, broad sense, it refers to the study of the behavior and mental life of animals other than human beings....
, ethology
Ethology

Ethology is the scientific study of animal behavior, and a branch of zoology .Although many naturalists have studied aspects of animal behavior through the centuries, the modern discipline of ethology is usually considered to have arisen with the work in the 1930s of Dutch biologist Nikolaas Tinbergen and Austrian biologist Konrad Lorenz,...
, sociobiology
Sociobiology

Sociobiology is a Neo-Darwinism synthesis of scientific disciplines that attempts to explain social behavior in all species by considering the evolutionary advantages the behaviors may have....
, behavioural ecology and computer science
Computer science

Computer science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation, and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems....
 (artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science which aims to create it. Major AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents,"...
). Typical issues in social behaviour are:

  • What is the typical size of the group? What factors limit group size
    Group size measures

    Many animals, including humans, tend to live in groups, herds, flock , bands, Pack , parties, or Bird colony of conspecific individuals. The size of these groups, as expressed by the number of participant individuals, is an important aspect of their social environment....
    ? What factors lead to groups merging or splitting?
  • Does the species show territoriality? If so, to what extent? If territories are maintained, what is their purpose? Are they held by an individual or a group?
  • Are there permanent social dominance
    Dominance hierarchy

    A dominance hierarchy is the organization of individuals in a group that occurs when competition of resources lead to aggression. Schjelderup-Ebbe, who studied the often-cited example of the pecking order in chickens, found that such social structures lead to more stable flocks in which aggression was reduced among individuals....
     relationships within the group? Is there any pattern within them?


A few species, notably insects of the orders
Order (biology)

In Biological classification used in biology, the order is a taxonomic rank between class and family . The superorder is a rank between class and order....
 Hymenoptera
Hymenoptera

Hymenoptera is one of the larger order s of insects, comprising the sawfly, wasps, bees, and ants. The name refers to the membranous wings of the insects, and is derived from the Ancient Greek language wikt:???? : membrane and wikt:pte??? : wing....
 (ant
Ant

Ants are Eusociality insects of the family Formicidae, and along with the related wasps and bees, they belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants evolution from wasp-like ancestors in the mid-Cretaceous period between 110 and 130 million years ago and Evolutionary radiation after the rise of flowering plants....
s, bee
Bee

Bees are flying insects closely related to wasps and ants. Bees are a monophyly lineage within the superfamily Apoidea, presently classified by the unranked taxon name Anthophila....
s and wasp
WAsP

WAsP is a PC program for predicting wind climates, wind resources, and power productions from wind turbines and wind farms. The predictions are based on wind data measured at stations in the same region....
s) and Isoptera (termite
Termite

The termites are a group of social insects usually classified at the Taxonomy of Order Isoptera . As truly social animals, they are termed eusocial along with the ants and some bees and wasps which are all placed in the separate Order Hymenoptera....
s) show an extreme form of sociality, involving highly organized societies, with individual organisms specialized
Specialization

Specialisation, also spelt specialization, is an important way to generate propositional knowledge, by applying general knowledge, such as the theory of gravity, to specific instances, such as "when I release this apple, it will fall to the floor"....
 for distinct role
Role

A role or a social role is a set of connected behaviors, rights and obligations as conceptualized by actors in a social situation. It is an expected behavior in a given individual social status and social position....
s. This form of social behaviour is referred to as eusociality
Eusociality

Eusociality is a term used for the highest level of social organization in a hierarchical classification. The term "eusocial" was introduced in 1966 by Suzanne Batra and given a more definitive meaning by E....
. Some vertebrate
Vertebrate

Vertebrates are members of the subphylum Vertebrata, chordates with Vertebras or Vertebral columns. The grouping sometimes includes the hagfish, which have no vertebrae, but are genetically quite closely related to lampreys, which do have vertebrae....
s, most notably the Naked Mole Rat
Naked Mole Rat

The naked Blesmol , also known as the sand puppy, or desert mole rat is a burrowing rodent native to parts of East Africa and the only species currently classified in genus Heterocephalus....
, are also eusocial

Some animals whose social behaviour is of particular interest:

  • Human
    Human

    A human being, also human or man, is a member of a species of bipedalism primates in the family Hominidae . Mitochondrial DNA evidence indicates that modern humans originated in east Africa about 200,000 years ago....
    s (Homo sapiens)
  • Gorilla
    Gorilla

    Gorillas are the largest of the living primates. They are ground-dwelling herbivores that inhabit the forests of Africa. Gorillas are divided into two species and either four or five subspecies....
    s (Gorilla gorilla)
  • Penguin
    Penguin

    Penguins are a group of Aquatic animal, flightless bird birds living almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere. Highly adapted for life in the water, penguins have countershading dark and white plumage, and their wings have become Flipper ....
    s
  • Dog
    Dog

    The dog is a domesticated subspecies of the Gray Wolf, a member of the Canidae family of the order Carnivora. The term is used for both feral and pet varieties....
    s (Canis familiaris or Canis lupus familiaris)
  • Wolves (Canis lupus)
  • Chimpanzee
    Chimpanzee

    Chimpanzee, sometimes colloquially known as a chimp, is the common name for the two Extant taxon species of ape in the genus Pan where the Congo River forms the boundary between the native habitat of the two species:...
    s (Pan troglodytes)
  • Dolphin
    Dolphin

    File:Bottlenose_Dolphin_KSC04pd0178.jpgDolphins are marine mammals that are closely related to whales and porpoises. There are almost forty species of dolphin in seventeen genus....
    s (Delphinidae)
  • Lion
    Lion

    The lion is a member of the family Felidae and one of four big cats in the genus Panthera. With exceptionally large males exceeding 250 kg in weight, it is the second-largest living cat after the tiger....
    s (Panthera leo)
  • Bonobo
    Bonobo

    The Bonobo , which, until recently, usually was called the Pygmy Chimpanzee and less often, the Dwarf or Gracile Chimpanzee, is a great ape and one of the two species making up the genus, chimpanzee....
    s (Pan paniscus)
  • Meerkat
    Meerkat

    The meerkat or suricate Suricata suricatta is a small mammal and a member of the mongoose family. It inhabits all parts of the Kalahari Desert in Botswana and South Africa....
    s (Suricata suricatta)
  • Hyena
    Hyena

    The Hyaenidae is a mammalian family of order Carnivora. The Hyaenidae family, native to both African and Asian continents consists of four living species, the Striped Hyena and Brown Hyena , the Spotted Hyena and the Aardwolf ....
    s