Journal article 94 views 19 downloads
Evolutionary correlates and consequences of sociality in feliform carnivorans
I. C. Scully,
Hazel Nichols 
,
Kevin Arbuckle
,
Kevin Arbuckle
Journal of Zoology
Swansea University Authors:
Hazel Nichols , Kevin Arbuckle
-
PDF | Version of Record
Copyright: 2026 The Author(s). This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.
Download (784.07KB)
DOI (Published version): 10.1111/jzo.70113
Abstract
Living in social groups has a range of evolutionary and ecological implications for animals. On the one hand, increased local density of conspecifics could intensify competition or make the group as a whole more visible to predators. On the other hand, social groups provide opportunities for coopera...
| Published in: | Journal of Zoology |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 0952-8369 1469-7998 |
| Published: |
Wiley
2026
|
| Online Access: |
Check full text
|
| URI: | https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa71421 |
| first_indexed |
2026-02-16T10:31:03Z |
|---|---|
| last_indexed |
2026-03-17T05:37:11Z |
| id |
cronfa71421 |
| recordtype |
SURis |
| fullrecord |
<?xml version="1.0"?><rfc1807><datestamp>2026-03-16T15:14:13.3189415</datestamp><bib-version>v2</bib-version><id>71421</id><entry>2026-02-16</entry><title>Evolutionary correlates and consequences of sociality in feliform carnivorans</title><swanseaauthors><author><sid>43ba12986bd7754484874c73eed0ebfe</sid><ORCID>0000-0002-4455-6065</ORCID><firstname>Hazel</firstname><surname>Nichols</surname><name>Hazel Nichols</name><active>true</active><ethesisStudent>false</ethesisStudent></author><author><sid>d1775d20b12e430869cc7be5d7d4a27e</sid><ORCID>0000-0002-9171-5874</ORCID><firstname>Kevin</firstname><surname>Arbuckle</surname><name>Kevin Arbuckle</name><active>true</active><ethesisStudent>false</ethesisStudent></author></swanseaauthors><date>2026-02-16</date><deptcode>BGPS</deptcode><abstract>Living in social groups has a range of evolutionary and ecological implications for animals. On the one hand, increased local density of conspecifics could intensify competition or make the group as a whole more visible to predators. On the other hand, social groups provide opportunities for cooperation, can potentially increase access to mating opportunities, and enable group-based antipredator mechanisms, such as increased vigilance, group defence, and dilution effects. Here, we set out to investigate the evolutionary predictors and consequences of sociality in feliform carnivorans (cats, mongooses, civets, and relatives) using a phylogenetic comparative approach. We first tested for predictors of sociality and found that sociality was more likely in larger, diurnal species which live in more open habitats, with a less slender body shape and with a more insectivorous diet. This result is consistent with the expectation from previous studies that evolution of social groups entails greater competition and ecologies that facilitate group cohesion, and perhaps are also subject to greater predation pressure. Second, we used ancestral state estimation for sociality and historical biogeographic analyses of habitats to show that sociality evolved eight times in feliforms and typically was associated with ancestral presence in or shift towards more open habitat types. Third, we investigated the consequences of sociality in terms of speciation rates and extinction risks, and found that although social species did not differ in extinction risk compared with solitary species, they did tend to have slightly lower speciation rates. Taken together, our results provide evidence for a series of costs and constraints in the evolution of sociality in mammals (e.g. in terms of competition and higher predation risk) but that these appear to be offset by the benefits provided from group-living sufficiently to avoid the longer term population consequences of higher extinction risk.</abstract><type>Journal Article</type><journal>Journal of Zoology</journal><volume>0</volume><journalNumber/><paginationStart/><paginationEnd/><publisher>Wiley</publisher><placeOfPublication/><isbnPrint/><isbnElectronic/><issnPrint>0952-8369</issnPrint><issnElectronic>1469-7998</issnElectronic><keywords>group-living; habitat; activity period; body size and shape; diet; extinction risk; predation risk; speciation rate</keywords><publishedDay>26</publishedDay><publishedMonth>2</publishedMonth><publishedYear>2026</publishedYear><publishedDate>2026-02-26</publishedDate><doi>10.1111/jzo.70113</doi><url/><notes/><college>COLLEGE NANME</college><department>Biosciences Geography and Physics School</department><CollegeCode>COLLEGE CODE</CollegeCode><DepartmentCode>BGPS</DepartmentCode><institution>Swansea University</institution><apcterm>SU Library paid the OA fee (TA Institutional Deal)</apcterm><funders/><projectreference/><lastEdited>2026-03-16T15:14:13.3189415</lastEdited><Created>2026-02-16T10:27:00.0964860</Created><path><level id="1">Faculty of Science and Engineering</level><level id="2">School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Biosciences</level></path><authors><author><firstname>I. C.</firstname><surname>Scully</surname><order>1</order></author><author><firstname>Hazel</firstname><surname>Nichols</surname><orcid>0000-0002-4455-6065</orcid><order>2</order></author><author><firstname>Kevin</firstname><surname>Arbuckle</surname><orcid>0000-0002-9171-5874</orcid><order>3</order></author></authors><documents><document><filename>71421__36375__e8cfee36f75349d9ac886eb8df4a7f38.pdf</filename><originalFilename>evolutionary correlates and consequences of sociality in feliform carnivorans.pdf</originalFilename><uploaded>2026-03-09T12:17:05.5288432</uploaded><type>Output</type><contentLength>802891</contentLength><contentType>application/pdf</contentType><version>Version of Record</version><cronfaStatus>true</cronfaStatus><documentNotes>Copyright: 2026 The Author(s). This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.</documentNotes><copyrightCorrect>true</copyrightCorrect><language>eng</language><licence>http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/</licence></document></documents><OutputDurs/></rfc1807> |
| spelling |
2026-03-16T15:14:13.3189415 v2 71421 2026-02-16 Evolutionary correlates and consequences of sociality in feliform carnivorans 43ba12986bd7754484874c73eed0ebfe 0000-0002-4455-6065 Hazel Nichols Hazel Nichols true false d1775d20b12e430869cc7be5d7d4a27e 0000-0002-9171-5874 Kevin Arbuckle Kevin Arbuckle true false 2026-02-16 BGPS Living in social groups has a range of evolutionary and ecological implications for animals. On the one hand, increased local density of conspecifics could intensify competition or make the group as a whole more visible to predators. On the other hand, social groups provide opportunities for cooperation, can potentially increase access to mating opportunities, and enable group-based antipredator mechanisms, such as increased vigilance, group defence, and dilution effects. Here, we set out to investigate the evolutionary predictors and consequences of sociality in feliform carnivorans (cats, mongooses, civets, and relatives) using a phylogenetic comparative approach. We first tested for predictors of sociality and found that sociality was more likely in larger, diurnal species which live in more open habitats, with a less slender body shape and with a more insectivorous diet. This result is consistent with the expectation from previous studies that evolution of social groups entails greater competition and ecologies that facilitate group cohesion, and perhaps are also subject to greater predation pressure. Second, we used ancestral state estimation for sociality and historical biogeographic analyses of habitats to show that sociality evolved eight times in feliforms and typically was associated with ancestral presence in or shift towards more open habitat types. Third, we investigated the consequences of sociality in terms of speciation rates and extinction risks, and found that although social species did not differ in extinction risk compared with solitary species, they did tend to have slightly lower speciation rates. Taken together, our results provide evidence for a series of costs and constraints in the evolution of sociality in mammals (e.g. in terms of competition and higher predation risk) but that these appear to be offset by the benefits provided from group-living sufficiently to avoid the longer term population consequences of higher extinction risk. Journal Article Journal of Zoology 0 Wiley 0952-8369 1469-7998 group-living; habitat; activity period; body size and shape; diet; extinction risk; predation risk; speciation rate 26 2 2026 2026-02-26 10.1111/jzo.70113 COLLEGE NANME Biosciences Geography and Physics School COLLEGE CODE BGPS Swansea University SU Library paid the OA fee (TA Institutional Deal) 2026-03-16T15:14:13.3189415 2026-02-16T10:27:00.0964860 Faculty of Science and Engineering School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Biosciences I. C. Scully 1 Hazel Nichols 0000-0002-4455-6065 2 Kevin Arbuckle 0000-0002-9171-5874 3 71421__36375__e8cfee36f75349d9ac886eb8df4a7f38.pdf evolutionary correlates and consequences of sociality in feliform carnivorans.pdf 2026-03-09T12:17:05.5288432 Output 802891 application/pdf Version of Record true Copyright: 2026 The Author(s). This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. true eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
| title |
Evolutionary correlates and consequences of sociality in feliform carnivorans |
| spellingShingle |
Evolutionary correlates and consequences of sociality in feliform carnivorans Hazel Nichols Kevin Arbuckle |
| title_short |
Evolutionary correlates and consequences of sociality in feliform carnivorans |
| title_full |
Evolutionary correlates and consequences of sociality in feliform carnivorans |
| title_fullStr |
Evolutionary correlates and consequences of sociality in feliform carnivorans |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Evolutionary correlates and consequences of sociality in feliform carnivorans |
| title_sort |
Evolutionary correlates and consequences of sociality in feliform carnivorans |
| author_id_str_mv |
43ba12986bd7754484874c73eed0ebfe d1775d20b12e430869cc7be5d7d4a27e |
| author_id_fullname_str_mv |
43ba12986bd7754484874c73eed0ebfe_***_Hazel Nichols d1775d20b12e430869cc7be5d7d4a27e_***_Kevin Arbuckle |
| author |
Hazel Nichols Kevin Arbuckle |
| author2 |
I. C. Scully Hazel Nichols Kevin Arbuckle |
| format |
Journal article |
| container_title |
Journal of Zoology |
| container_volume |
0 |
| publishDate |
2026 |
| institution |
Swansea University |
| issn |
0952-8369 1469-7998 |
| doi_str_mv |
10.1111/jzo.70113 |
| publisher |
Wiley |
| college_str |
Faculty of Science and Engineering |
| hierarchytype |
|
| hierarchy_top_id |
facultyofscienceandengineering |
| hierarchy_top_title |
Faculty of Science and Engineering |
| hierarchy_parent_id |
facultyofscienceandengineering |
| hierarchy_parent_title |
Faculty of Science and Engineering |
| department_str |
School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Biosciences{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Science and Engineering{{{_:::_}}}School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Biosciences |
| document_store_str |
1 |
| active_str |
0 |
| description |
Living in social groups has a range of evolutionary and ecological implications for animals. On the one hand, increased local density of conspecifics could intensify competition or make the group as a whole more visible to predators. On the other hand, social groups provide opportunities for cooperation, can potentially increase access to mating opportunities, and enable group-based antipredator mechanisms, such as increased vigilance, group defence, and dilution effects. Here, we set out to investigate the evolutionary predictors and consequences of sociality in feliform carnivorans (cats, mongooses, civets, and relatives) using a phylogenetic comparative approach. We first tested for predictors of sociality and found that sociality was more likely in larger, diurnal species which live in more open habitats, with a less slender body shape and with a more insectivorous diet. This result is consistent with the expectation from previous studies that evolution of social groups entails greater competition and ecologies that facilitate group cohesion, and perhaps are also subject to greater predation pressure. Second, we used ancestral state estimation for sociality and historical biogeographic analyses of habitats to show that sociality evolved eight times in feliforms and typically was associated with ancestral presence in or shift towards more open habitat types. Third, we investigated the consequences of sociality in terms of speciation rates and extinction risks, and found that although social species did not differ in extinction risk compared with solitary species, they did tend to have slightly lower speciation rates. Taken together, our results provide evidence for a series of costs and constraints in the evolution of sociality in mammals (e.g. in terms of competition and higher predation risk) but that these appear to be offset by the benefits provided from group-living sufficiently to avoid the longer term population consequences of higher extinction risk. |
| published_date |
2026-02-26T05:33:58Z |
| _version_ |
1861150717302013952 |
| score |
11.100307 |