How Does the Social Grouping of Animals in Nature Protect Against Sickness? A Perspective
Sickness behavior is broadly represented in vertebrates, usually in association with the fever response in response to acute infections. The reactions to sickness behavior in a group member or potential group member in humans is quite variable, depending upon circumstances. In animals, the reactions...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2021-07-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnbeh.2021.672097/full |
| _version_ | 1829491790778990592 |
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| author | Lynette A. Hart Benjamin L. Hart |
| author_facet | Lynette A. Hart Benjamin L. Hart |
| author_sort | Lynette A. Hart |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Sickness behavior is broadly represented in vertebrates, usually in association with the fever response in response to acute infections. The reactions to sickness behavior in a group member or potential group member in humans is quite variable, depending upon circumstances. In animals, the reactions to sickness behavior in a group member or potential group member evoke a specific response that reflects the species-specific lifestyle. Groups of animals can employ varied strategies to reduce or address exposure to sickness. Most of these have scarcely been studied in nature from a disease perspective: (1) adjusting exposure to sick conspecifics or contaminated areas; (2) caring for a sick group member; (3) peripheralization and agonistic behaviors to strange non-group conspecifics; and (4) using special strategies at parturition when newborn are healthy but vulnerable. Unexplored in this regard is infanticide, where newborn that are born with very little immunity until they receive antibody-rich colostrum, could be a target of maternal infanticide if they manifest signs of sickness and could be infectious to littermates. The strategies used by different species are highly specific and dependent upon the particular circumstances. What is needed is a more general awareness and consideration of the possibilities that avoiding or adapting to sickness behavior may be driving some social behaviors of animals in nature. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-15T00:45:00Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-76756b8805cd4c0fb291a9267e12db62 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1662-5153 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-15T00:45:00Z |
| publishDate | 2021-07-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience |
| spelling | doaj.art-76756b8805cd4c0fb291a9267e12db622022-12-21T22:41:34ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience1662-51532021-07-011510.3389/fnbeh.2021.672097672097How Does the Social Grouping of Animals in Nature Protect Against Sickness? A PerspectiveLynette A. Hart0Benjamin L. Hart1Department of Population Health and Reproduction, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, United StatesDepartment of Anatomy, Physiology and Cell Biology, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, United StatesSickness behavior is broadly represented in vertebrates, usually in association with the fever response in response to acute infections. The reactions to sickness behavior in a group member or potential group member in humans is quite variable, depending upon circumstances. In animals, the reactions to sickness behavior in a group member or potential group member evoke a specific response that reflects the species-specific lifestyle. Groups of animals can employ varied strategies to reduce or address exposure to sickness. Most of these have scarcely been studied in nature from a disease perspective: (1) adjusting exposure to sick conspecifics or contaminated areas; (2) caring for a sick group member; (3) peripheralization and agonistic behaviors to strange non-group conspecifics; and (4) using special strategies at parturition when newborn are healthy but vulnerable. Unexplored in this regard is infanticide, where newborn that are born with very little immunity until they receive antibody-rich colostrum, could be a target of maternal infanticide if they manifest signs of sickness and could be infectious to littermates. The strategies used by different species are highly specific and dependent upon the particular circumstances. What is needed is a more general awareness and consideration of the possibilities that avoiding or adapting to sickness behavior may be driving some social behaviors of animals in nature.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnbeh.2021.672097/fulldisease exposureinfanticideinfectionpathogensocial behavior |
| spellingShingle | Lynette A. Hart Benjamin L. Hart How Does the Social Grouping of Animals in Nature Protect Against Sickness? A Perspective Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience disease exposure infanticide infection pathogen social behavior |
| title | How Does the Social Grouping of Animals in Nature Protect Against Sickness? A Perspective |
| title_full | How Does the Social Grouping of Animals in Nature Protect Against Sickness? A Perspective |
| title_fullStr | How Does the Social Grouping of Animals in Nature Protect Against Sickness? A Perspective |
| title_full_unstemmed | How Does the Social Grouping of Animals in Nature Protect Against Sickness? A Perspective |
| title_short | How Does the Social Grouping of Animals in Nature Protect Against Sickness? A Perspective |
| title_sort | how does the social grouping of animals in nature protect against sickness a perspective |
| topic | disease exposure infanticide infection pathogen social behavior |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnbeh.2021.672097/full |
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