scholarly journals How disease constrains the evolution of social systems

2020 ◽  
Vol 287 (1932) ◽  
pp. 20201284 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oyita Udiani ◽  
Nina H. Fefferman
Keyword(s):  
Disease Risk ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Division Of Labour ◽  
Organizational Strategies ◽  
Contagious Diseases ◽  
Social Species ◽  
Animal Populations ◽  
Potential Impact ◽  
Animal Societies ◽  
Evolutionary Fitness

Animal populations are occasionally shocked by epidemics of contagious diseases. The ability of social systems to withstand epidemic shocks and mitigate disruptions could shape the evolution of complex animal societies. We present a mathematical model to explore the potential impact of disease on the evolutionary fitness of different organizational strategies for populations of social species whose survival depends on collaborative efficiency. We show that infectious diseases select for a specific feature in the organization of collaborative roles—cohort stability—and that this feature is costly, and therefore unlikely to be maintained in environments where infection risks are absent. Our study provides evidence for an often-stated (but rarely supported) claim that pathogens have been the dominant force shaping the complexity of division of labour in eusocial societies of honeybees and termites and establishes a general theoretical approach for assessing evolutionary constraints on social organization from disease risk in other collaborative taxa.

scholarly journals Group dominance increases territory size and reduces neighbour pressure in wild chimpanzees

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (5) ◽  
pp. 200577 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sylvain Lemoine ◽  
Christophe Boesch ◽  
Anna Preis ◽  
Liran Samuni ◽  
Catherine Crockford ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Group Size ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Territory Size ◽  
Social Species ◽  
Group Cooperation ◽  
Animal Populations ◽  
Group Competition ◽  
Key Resources ◽  
Term Data

Territorial social species, including humans, compete between groups over key resources. This between-group competition has evolutionary implications on adaptations like in-group cooperation even with non-kin. An emergent property of between-group competition is group dominance. Mechanisms of group dominance in wild animal populations are difficult to study, as they require long-term data on several groups within a population. Here, using long-term data on four neighbouring groups of wild western chimpanzees, we test the hypothesis that group dominance impacts the costs and benefits of between-group competition, measured by territory size and the pressure exerted by neighbouring groups. Larger groups had larger territories and suffered less neighbour pressure compared with smaller groups. Within-group increase in the number of males led to territory increase, suggesting the role of males in territory acquisition. However, variation in territory sizes and neighbour pressure was better explained by group size. This suggests that the bisexually-bonded social system of western chimpanzees, where females participate in territorial behaviour, confers a competitive advantage to larger groups and that group dominance acts through group size in this population. Considering variation in social systems offers new insights on how group dominance acts in territorial species and its evolutionary implications on within-group cooperation.

scholarly journals Polymorphism and division of labour in a socially complex ant: neuromodulation of aggression in the Australian weaver ant, Oecophylla smaragdina

2015 ◽  
Vol 282 (1811) ◽  
pp. 20150704 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Frances Kamhi ◽  
Kelley Nunn ◽  
Simon K. A. Robson ◽  
James F. A. Traniello
Keyword(s):  
Social Systems ◽  
Division Of Labour ◽  
Oecophylla Smaragdina ◽  
Minor Worker ◽  
Task Specialization ◽  
Territorial Defence ◽  
Weaver Ant ◽  
Eusocial Insects ◽  
Worker Size ◽  
Pharmacological Manipulations

Complex social structure in eusocial insects can involve worker morphological and behavioural differentiation. Neuroanatomical variation may underscore worker division of labour, but the regulatory mechanisms of size-based task specialization in polymorphic species are unknown. The Australian weaver ant, Oecophylla smaragdina , exhibits worker polyphenism: larger major workers aggressively defend arboreal territories, whereas smaller minors nurse brood. Here, we demonstrate that octopamine (OA) modulates worker size-related aggression in O. smaragdina . We found that the brains of majors had significantly higher titres of OA than those of minors and that OA was positively and specifically correlated with the frequency of aggressive responses to non-nestmates, a key component of territorial defence. Pharmacological manipulations that effectively switched OA action in major and minor worker brains reversed levels of aggression characteristic of each worker size class. Results suggest that altering OA action is sufficient to produce differences in aggression characteristic of size-related social roles. Neuromodulators therefore may generate variation in responsiveness to task-related stimuli associated with worker size differentiation and collateral behavioural specializations, a significant component of division of labour in complex social systems.

Miejsce pracy w Marksowskim humanizmie

Etyka ◽  
1970 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 113-131
Author(s):  
Zbigniew Kuderowicz
Keyword(s):  
Human Life ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Division Of Labour ◽  
Necessary Condition ◽  
A Value ◽  
Individual Personality ◽  
Free Development ◽  
Spontaneous Expression ◽  
Material Conditions ◽  
The Individual

The article deals with the attitude of Marx and Engels towards the appraisal of labour as a value, and the relation between labour and the implementation of the principle of universal development of the individual personality. First, the changes in their views on the appraisal of labour are discussed. In his Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts Marx understood labour as a spontaneous expression of human thought and the formation of a new environment in which man recognizes his own qualities. In that period Marx considered value to be an affirmation of human life and a requirement put to the individual and to society. In his later, mature works Marks refused to consider an act of labour as value and defined it as conquering nature. The act of labour was to Marx no longer a value but a process which is giving value to human products and, therefore, is a necessary condition of human existence in all social systems. Marx did not regard the act of labour as a postulate or an ideal. In his opinion, the act of labour acquired value depending on its effects for the universal development of all individuals. The Marxian ideal of a perfect man implied a series of postulates relating to the organization of labour. The author criticizes Raymond Aron’s interpretation of Marxian humanism. In the works of Marx, Aron perceives a contradiction between the postulate of universal labour and the postulate of leisure in the meaning of condition in which the idea of the perfect man is realized. According to the author, from the ideal of a perfect man results the postulate of obligatory labour for all members of the society, i.e., that everybody should contribute to the development of the productive forces in order to secure the material conditions for the development of their personality. The realization of Marxian humanism requires also the maintenance of definite proportions between labour determined by the social division of labour (necessary in this sense), and leisure which should imply not only resting but also activity towards a free development of various individual abilities. In the works of Marx there is no contradiction but a complementary relation between labour and leisure. Pobierz

Individual differences in aggressive and peaceful behavior: new insights and future directions

Behaviour ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 153 (9-11) ◽  
pp. 1139-1169 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine E. Webb ◽  
Peter Verbeek
Keyword(s):  
Biological Sciences ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Individual Variation ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Personality Research ◽  
Social Species ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
Variation Patterns ◽  
Animal Personalities ◽  
Future Work

Consistent individual differences in animal behaviour are an increasingly common focus of research across various behavioural and biological sciences. Such ‘animal personalities’ comprise a diverse repertoire of behavioural tendencies, recently expanding to incorporate the social domain. Aggression and peace, hallmarks of many social systems including that of humans, warrant integration with this literature. Specifically, animal personality research should consider the potential role of stable conflict and post-conflict behavioural tendencies. We focus our discussion primarily on examples in nonhuman primates and humans, but suggest that individual variation patterns are relevant for any social species in which these phenomena exist. In highly gregarious species, an individual’s conflict and post-conflict tendencies can affect the strength and stability of its social bonds. Because social relationships in turn impact survival and reproductive success, we also encourage future work to investigate the ultimate (i.e., fitness-relevant) consequences of individual variation in aggressive and peaceful behaviour.

Strategic and tactical fighting decisions in cichlid fishes with divergent social systems

Behaviour ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 151 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-71 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristina Hick ◽  
Adam R. Reddon ◽  
Constance M. O’Connor ◽  
Sigal Balshine
Keyword(s):  
Social Systems ◽  
Cichlid Fish ◽  
Group Living ◽  
Social Situation ◽  
Closely Related Species ◽  
Social Species ◽  
Hierarchy Formation ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
The Social ◽  
Contest Behaviour

The costs and benefits of engaging in a contest will differ depending on the social situation of the individuals involved. Therefore, understanding contest behaviour can help to elucidate the trade-offs of living in differing social systems and shed light on the evolution of social behaviour. In the current study, we compared contest behaviour in two closely related species of Lamprologine cichlid fish. Neolamprologus pulcher and Telmatochromis temporalis are both pair-breeding cichlids, but N. pulcher are highly social, group-living fish, while T. temporalis display no grouping behaviour. To examine how competition varies by species, sex and familiarity, we staged same-sex conspecific contests over a shelter, a resource that is highly valued by both species, where contestants were either familiar or unfamiliar to one another. When we examined tactical and strategic components of these contests, we found that the highly social species had shorter contests and engaged in fewer costly aggressive acts than did the non-social species. Individuals of the highly social species were also more likely to resolve conflicts through the use of submissive displays, while individuals of the non-social species were more likely to flee from conflict. Familiarity increased the use of submissive displays in the highly social species but not in the less social species. Our findings suggest that conflict resolution behaviour and dominance hierarchy formation are fundamentally linked to the evolution of complex social systems.

The impact of novel lyssavirus discovery

2017 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ashley C Banyard ◽  
Anthony R Fooks
Keyword(s):  
Rabies Virus ◽  
Human Exposure ◽  
Animal Health ◽  
Potential Effect ◽  
Human Populations ◽  
Human Society ◽  
Scientific Interest ◽  
Animal Populations ◽  
Potential Impact ◽  
The Impact

The global discovery of novel lyssaviruses is of continued scientific interest through its importance to both public and animal health. Lyssaviruses cause an invariably fatal encephalitis that is more commonly known as rabies. The term rabies has a long history in human society, as rabies virus (RABV) is the only pathogen that is associated with 100% fatality once the onset of clinical disease has started. Although predominantly associated across the globe with domestic and feral dog populations, the association of bats is clear. Whilst evolutionarily associated with bats, RABV is most commonly transmitted to human populations through the bite of an infected dog and dogs are considered the primary reservoir of disease. Indeed, RABV does cause more than an estimated 70000 deaths every year globally in human populations and whilst this is largely in areas where the disease is endemic, areas that remain free of rabies must remain vigilant to the risk of re-incursion of disease. Characterisation of novel lyssaviruses is of importance on several levels. Not least to investigate the pathogenesis and potential transmission routes of different lyssavirus species but also to assess the potential effect of post-exposure treatments and vaccination should human exposure occur. Bat lyssaviruses and the problems associated with novel discoveries and the potential impact they have on both human and animal populations are discussed.

Modernism, Post Modernism and Organizational Analysis 3: The Contribution of Jacques Derrida

1989 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 479-502 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Cooper
Keyword(s):  
Jacques Derrida ◽  
Organization Theory ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Division Of Labour ◽  
Organizational Analysis ◽  
Formal Organization ◽  
Post Modernism ◽  
Critical Understanding ◽  
Essential Function ◽  
The Stability

This paper, the third in a series on the relevance of the modernist-post modernist debate to organizational analysis (Cooper and Burrell 1988, Burrell 1988), examines the work of Jacques Derrida. Specifically, Derrida's work is viewed as a contribution to the analysis of process (as opposed to structure) in social systems. In this context, three interrelated themes of his work - deconstruction, writing, 'difference' — are described in some detail and their implications explored for social and organizational analysis. Derrida's account of the logic of writing shows it to be fundamental to the division of labour and therefore to significant dimensions (complexity, formalization) of formal organization. Since 'organization theuries' are themselves products of writing and the division of labour, their essential function is to explain and justify the structures they represent, they are therefore more concerned with maintaining their own consistency and the stability of the organized world they describe rather than critical understanding. This point is illustrated by a detailed deconstruction of two major approaches to the study of bureaucracy (the 'formalist' and 'expertise' models) in organization theory. Finally, it is suggested that the affinity between the logic of writing and the division of labour underlies Michel Foucault's concept of knowledge-power and the development of areas of professionalized knowledge such as accountancy.

scholarly journals No division of labour, and subfertile foundresses, in a phyllode-gluing Acacia thrips

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
James D. J. Gilbert
Keyword(s):  
Group Size ◽  
Division Of Labour ◽  
Poor Quality ◽  
Limited Ability ◽  
Indirect Benefits ◽  
Genetic Benefits ◽  
Female Quality ◽  
Colony Productivity ◽  
Animal Societies

ABSTRACTBehavioural variation is a hallmark of animal societies, which commonly contain breeders and nonbreeders, and helpers and nonhelpers. In some cases labour is divided with nonbreeders “helping” – gaining indirectly, via genetic benefits, or directly, e.g. by augmenting group size. Conversely, they may benefit by not helping, conserving energy for breeding later. However, subordinate behaviour after inheriting a breeding position is rarely evaluated.In the Australian interior, Acacia thrips Dunatothrips aneurae (Thysanoptera) glue Acacia phyllodes together into “domiciles”. Foundresses, usually sisters, build domiciles singly or communally. Some co-foundresses are nonreproductive, and their role is currently unknown. I experimentally rejected the idea that they substantially “help” by contributing to domicile repair. Nonreproductives were less likely to repair damage than reproductives. Alternatively, they may be waiting to inherit the domicile, or simply of too poor quality to reproduce or help. To test these alternatives, in the field, I allowed repairer or nonrepairer females to “inherit” a domicile by removing their nestmate(s). Thus isolated, “nonrepairer” females took much longer to repair domiciles than “repairers”, control singletons or pairs. Although ovarian condition was equivalent across groups, after 21 days nonrepairers actually laid fewer eggs compared to other groups.Thus, labour was not divided: instead reproduction and helping covaried, probably depending on female quality and the outcome of intra-domicile competition. Nonreproductive nonhelpers were not waiting to breed. Their role, and their net effect on colony productivity, remains to be shown. They are likely subfertile, and may make the “best of a bad job” by gaining indirect benefits to the best of their limited ability.

scholarly journals Obesity-Related Metabolic Dysfunction in Dairy Cows and Horses: Comparison to Human Metabolic Syndrome

Life ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 1406
Author(s):  
Zsofia Daradics ◽  
Cristian M. Crecan ◽  
Mirela A. Rus ◽  
Iancu A. Morar ◽  
Mircea V. Mircean ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Metabolic Syndrome ◽  
Dairy Cows ◽  
Disease Risk ◽  
Cardiovascular Disease Risk ◽  
Clinical Consequence ◽  
Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease ◽  
Metabolic Dysfunction ◽  
Housing Systems ◽  
Animal Populations ◽  
Increased Risk

Obesity has become a serious health problem with frequent occurrence both in human and animal populations. It is estimated that it may affect over 85% of the human population and 70–80% of horses and cows by 2030. Fat cow syndrome (FCS) is a combination of metabolic, digestive, infectious, and reproductive disorders that affects obese periparturient dairy cows, and occurs most frequently in loose-housing systems, where periparturient and dry cows are fed and managed in one group disregarding the lactation stages. Equine metabolic syndrome (EMS) was named after human metabolic syndrome (MetS) and has insulin dysregulation as a central and consistent feature. It is often associated with obesity, although EMS may occur in a lean phenotype as well. Other inconsistent features of EMS are cardiovascular changes and adipose dysregulation. Laminitis is the main clinical consequence of EMS. MetS holds a 30-years old lead in research and represents a clustering of risk factors that comprise abdominal obesity, dyslipidemia, hypertension, and hyperglycemia (impaired fasting glucose or type 2 diabetes mellitus—T2DM), which are associated with doubled atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease risk, and a 5-fold increased risk for T2DM. The main aim of this review is to provide critical information for better understanding of the underlying mechanisms of obesity-related metabolic dysfunction in animals, especially in cows and horses, in comparison with MetS. Human medicine studies can offer suitable candidate mechanisms to fill the existing gap in the literature, which might be indispensable for owners to tackle FCS, EMS, and their consequences.

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