A multidimensional framework for studying social predation strategies

Journal article

Abstract:: Social predation—the act of hunting and feeding with others—is one of the most successful life-history traits in the animal kingdom. Though many predators hunt and feed together, a diversity of mechanisms exist by which individuals forage socially. However, a comprehensive framework capturing this diversity is lacking, preventing us from better understanding cooperative forms of predation, and how such behaviours have evolved and been maintained over time. We outline a framework of social predation that describes five key behavioural dimensions: sociality, communication, specialisation, resource sharing, and dependence. By reviewing examples of social predation, we demonstrate the strength of a multidimensional approach, highlighting key commonalities and differences among species, and informative cross-dimensional correlations. These patterns highlight different potential evolutionary pathways and end-points across a multidimensional social predation spectrum.

Files:: Social predation manuscript (Nature E&E_v.3).pdf

(Preview, Accepted manuscript, pdf, 308.0KB, Terms of use)

Keywords:: cooperation

hunting

mutualism

foraging

predator-prey

group living
Pubs id:: pubs:701466
UUID:: uuid:379eff38-903d-45d9-a19b-ccc01a114e9e
Local pid:: pubs:701466
Source identifiers:: 701466
Deposit date:: 2017-06-21

Notes:: This is the author accepted manuscript following peer review version of the article. The final version is available online from Nature Publishing Gruop at: 10.1038/s41559-017-0245-0

Licence:: Terms and Conditions of Use for Oxford University Research Archive

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