Department of Sociobiology/Anthropology, University of Göttingen, Kellnerweg 6, Göttingen, 37077, Germany.
Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc. 2014 Feb;89(1):173-98. doi: 10.1111/brv.12050. Epub 2013 Jul 19.
The diversity of extant carnivores provides valuable opportunities for comparative research to illuminate general patterns of mammalian social evolution. Recent field studies on mongooses (Herpestidae), in particular, have generated detailed behavioural and demographic data allowing tests of assumptions and predictions of theories of social evolution. The first studies of the social systems of their closest relatives, the Malagasy Eupleridae, also have been initiated. The literature on mongooses was last reviewed over 25 years ago. In this review, we summarise the current state of knowledge on the social organisation, mating systems and social structure (especially competition and cooperation) of the two mongoose families. Our second aim is to evaluate the contributions of these studies to a better understanding of mammalian social evolution in general. Based on published reports or anecdotal information, we can classify 16 of the 34 species of Herpestidae as solitary and nine as group-living; there are insufficient data available for the remainder. There is a strong phylogenetic signal of sociality with permanent complex groups being limited to the genera Crossarchus, Helogale, Liberiictis, Mungos, and Suricata. Our review also indicates that studies of solitary and social mongooses have been conducted within different theoretical frameworks: whereas solitary species and transitions to gregariousness have been mainly investigated in relation to ecological determinants, the study of social patterns of highly social mongooses has instead been based on reproductive skew theory. In some group-living species, group size and composition were found to determine reproductive competition and cooperative breeding through group augmentation. Infanticide risk and inbreeding avoidance connect social organisation and social structure with reproductive tactics and life histories, but their specific impact on mongoose sociality is still difficult to evaluate. However, the level of reproductive skew in social mongooses is not only determined by the costs and benefits of suppressing each other's breeding attempts, but also influenced by resource abundance. Thus, dispersal, as a consequence of eviction, is also linked to the costs of co-breeding in the context of food competition. By linking these facts, we show that the socio-ecological model and reproductive skew theory share some determinants of social patterns. We also conclude that due to their long bio-geographical isolation and divergent selection pressures, future studies of the social systems of the Eupleridae will be of great value for the elucidation of general patterns in carnivore social evolution.
现存食肉动物的多样性为比较研究提供了有价值的机会，可以阐明哺乳动物社会进化的一般模式。特别是最近对猫鼬（Herpestidae）的实地研究产生了详细的行为和人口数据，允许对社会进化理论的假设和预测进行测试。对其最亲近的亲属，马达加斯加 Eupleridae 的社会系统的第一项研究也已经开始。关于猫鼬的文献综述是在 25 年前进行的。在本次综述中，我们总结了目前关于这两个猫鼬科的社会组织、交配系统和社会结构（特别是竞争与合作）的知识状况。我们的第二个目的是评估这些研究对更好地理解一般哺乳动物社会进化的贡献。根据已发表的报告或轶事信息，我们可以将 34 种猫鼬中的 16 种归类为独居，9 种归类为群居；其余的则没有足够的数据。社会习性具有强烈的系统发育信号，永久性复杂群体仅限于 Crossarchus、Helogale、Liberiictis、Mungos 和 Suricata 属。我们的综述还表明，对独居和群居猫鼬的研究是在不同的理论框架内进行的：独居物种和向群居过渡主要与生态决定因素有关，而对高度群居猫鼬的社会模式的研究则基于繁殖优势理论。在一些群居物种中，通过群体增强，群体大小和组成决定了繁殖竞争和合作繁殖。杀婴风险和近亲繁殖避免将社会组织和社会结构与繁殖策略和生活史联系起来，但它们对猫鼬社会性的具体影响仍然难以评估。然而，群居猫鼬的繁殖优势水平不仅取决于抑制对方繁殖企图的成本和收益，还受到资源丰富度的影响。因此，由于食物竞争而导致的被逐出群体的扩散也与共同繁殖的成本有关。通过将这些事实联系起来，我们表明社会-生态模型和繁殖优势理论共享一些社会模式的决定因素。我们还得出结论，由于它们在生物地理上的长期隔离和不同的选择压力，未来对 Eupleridae 社会系统的研究对于阐明食肉动物社会进化的一般模式将具有重要价值。
