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| Evolutionary biology of social expertise |
| Reuven Dukas1, Nathan W. Bailey2, Janice L. Yan1. 1McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada; 2University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Scotland, United Kingdom |
There is increasing evidence that competent handling of social interactions among conspecifics has positive effects on individual fitness. We integrated knowledge across disciplines to assess social expertise, defined as the characteristics, skills and knowledge allowing individuals with extensive social experience to perform significantly better than novices on a given social task. Data about optimal adjustment of social behavior, refinement of communication and parental care indicate that individuals in many species keep improving their social skills with experience. There is also good, though limited, information indicating heritable variation in traits that contribute to the development of social expertise. In a large series of experiments, however, we found limited evidence that individual bed bugs increase social competence with experience. Social expertise is relevant for most animals. An inevitable question is thus whether we can rely on ecological and evolutionary rationale to predict which species would show social expertise and in which tasks. |