Group size, survival and surprisingly short lifespan in socially foraging bats

BMC Ecology
Yann GagerDina K N Dechmann

Abstract

The relationships between group size, survival, and longevity vary greatly among social species. Depending on demographic and ecological circumstances, there are both positive and negative effects of group size variation on individual survival and longevity. For socially foraging species in particular there may be an optimal group size that predicts maximum individual survival that is directly related to the potential for information transfer, social coordination, and costs of conspecific interference. Our aim was to investigate this central aspect of evolutionary ecology by focusing on a socially foraging bat, Molossus molossus. This species optimizes foraging success by eavesdropping on the echolocation calls of group members to locate ephemeral food patches. We expected to find the highest survival and longest lifespans in small groups as a consequence of a trade-off between benefits of information transfer on ephemeral resources and costs of conspecific interference. In a mark-recapture study of 14 mixed-sex M. molossus social groups in Gamboa, Panama, spanning several years we found the expected relatively small and intermediate, but stable groups, with a mean size of 9.6 ± 6.7 adults and juveniles. We estimated survival p...Continue Reading

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Citations

Jan 9, 2018·Royal Society Open Science·M Teague O'MaraDina K N Dechmann
May 23, 2020·Science·Noah Snyder-MacklerJenny Tung
Jul 28, 2020·Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences·Siyu Serena DingRobert G Endres
Oct 14, 2020·Royal Society Open Science·Bridget K G BrownGerald G Carter

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Software Mentioned

Care
SURGE
R package survival
BaTLis
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