Insectivorans and Carnivorans Exhibit the Same Social Brain Relationship as Primates

Abstract

It has previously been thought that the social brain hypothesis applies in its full quantitative form only to primates. Using more appropriate brain indices and less error-prone statistical methods, we here show that it does in fact apply to both Insectivorans and Carnivorans, as well as to elephants and orcas. While Insectivorans form a grade on their own, reflecting a simple transition from small-brained solitary social systems to slightly larger-brained pairbonded monogamy, the Carnivorans map directly onto the primate socio-cognitive grades, dividing between loose sociality and more bonded sociality paralleling the pattern observed in monkeys. In addition, the subgroupings of species with multilevel social systems (including hyaenids elephants and orcas) map across the grades in the same way as do primates with similar societies. This suggests that common principles and trajectories underlie social evolution in mammals.