The Ecological and Evolutionary Drivers of Sociality

This Research Topic will focus on the ecological and evolutionary drivers of sociality, examining how environmental pressures (e.g., predation, habitat structure, climate variability) shape the evolution, maintenance, and breakdown of social systems. Contributions may also draw on genetic, physiological, or network-based tools to illuminate these dynamics. For the purpose of this issue, we define 'sociality' as consistent, non-random associations between individuals that involve group living, cooperative behaviors, or structured social roles beyond incidental aggregation. This may include kin-based cooperation, fission-fusion dynamics, communal care, and coordinated foraging or defense. We encourage submissions on diverse taxa, including fishes, amphibians, reptiles (e.g., lizards, snakes), ungulates, rodents, and other underrepresented vertebrate groups, in addition to well-studied birds, primates, and carnivores.

Aims:

To examine how ecological and evolutionary pressures shape social behavior across animal taxa, emphasizing environmental drivers such as predation risk, habitat structure, resource distribution, and climate variability that influence the emergence, maintenance, and breakdown of social systems.

This topic will also welcome studies incorporating behavioral, physiological, and genetic mechanisms—such as kin selection, cooperation, or conflict resolution—as mediators of ecological pressures influencing sociality. We encourage contributions that employ cutting-edge methodologies—such as social network analysis, agent-based modeling, or comparative genomics—to uncover ecological and evolutionary processes shaping social systems.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Classification
• Clinical Trial
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• FAIR² DATA Direct Submission
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Classification
• Clinical Trial
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• FAIR² DATA Direct Submission
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Review
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: sociality, ecological drivers, evolutionary dynamics, cooperative behavior, predation risk, kin selection, social network analysis, comparative genomics, environmental pressures

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.