Zoological Institute & Museum, Greifswald University, J.-S.-Bach-Str. 11/12, D-17489 Greifswald, Germany Max-Planck-Institute for Ornithology, D-82319 Seewiesen, Germany.
Mol Ecol. 2012 Feb;21(3):633-46. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-294X.2011.05233.x. Epub 2011 Aug 29.
Understanding the ecological, behavioural and genetic factors influencing animal social systems is crucial to investigating the evolution of sociality. Despite the recent advances in population genetic methods and the analysis of social interactions, long-term studies exploring the causes and consequences of social systems in wild mammals are rare. Here, we provide a synthesis of 15 years of data on the Bechstein's bat (Myotis bechsteinii), a species that raises its young in closed societies of 10-45 females living together for their entire lives and where immigration is virtually absent. We discuss the potential causes and consequences of living in closed societies, based on the available data on Bechstein's bat and other species with similar social systems. Using a combination of observational and genetic data on the bats together with genetic data on an ecto-parasite, we suggest that closed societies in Bechstein's bats are likely caused by a combination of benefits from cooperation with familiar colony members and parasite pressure. Consequences of this peculiar social system include increased sensitivity to demographic fluctuations and limits to dispersal during colony foundation, which have broad implications for conservation. We also hope to illustrate by synthesizing the results of this long-term study the diversity of tools that can be applied to hypothesize about the factors influencing a species' social system. We are convinced that with the expansion of the number of social mammals for which comparably detailed socio-genetic long-term data are available, future comparative studies will provide deeper insights into the evolution of closed societies.
了解影响动物社会系统的生态、行为和遗传因素对于研究社会性的进化至关重要。尽管近年来在群体遗传学方法和社会互动分析方面取得了进展，但对野生哺乳动物社会系统的原因和后果进行长期研究的情况仍然很少。在这里，我们综合了 15 年来有关巴氏亚种（Myotis bechsteinii）的数据，该物种在由 10-45 只雌性组成的封闭群体中抚养幼崽，这些雌性终生生活在一起，几乎没有移民。我们根据巴氏亚种和其他具有类似社会系统的物种的可用数据，讨论了生活在封闭社会中的潜在原因和后果。我们结合了对蝙蝠的观察和遗传数据以及外寄生虫的遗传数据，提出巴氏亚种的封闭社会可能是由于与熟悉的群体成员合作的好处和寄生虫压力的结合所致。这种特殊的社会系统的后果包括对种群波动的敏感性增加和在群体建立过程中扩散的限制，这对保护具有广泛的意义。我们还希望通过综合这项长期研究的结果来说明，可以应用各种工具来假设影响物种社会系统的因素。我们坚信，随着越来越多的具有类似详细社会遗传长期数据的社会性哺乳动物的出现，未来的比较研究将为深入了解封闭社会的进化提供更深入的见解。
