Social Animal
An animal that lives in groups with others of its kind and works together.
What is it?
Social animals live in groups, like families or herds. They cooperate to find food, protect each other, and raise young. Examples include wolves, meerkats, and dwarf mongooses. Dwarf mongooses live in family groups led by the oldest female. They work together to hunt and watch for predators. Chacoan Peccaries also live in small social groups called herds. Living in a group helps them find food and watch for danger. Peccaries are social animals that live in herds and communicate with each other. The peccary diorama you saw shows them in a group, which is how they live in the wild. The dwarf mongoose exhibit you saw also shows how they live in groups and cooperate. Pelicans are also social animals. They live in colonies and often hunt together in groups, chasing fish into shallow water. Their social behavior helps them catch more food and protect each other from predators. Chacoan Peccaries live in herds of up to 10 individuals, which helps them survive in the dry forest. The Kenyan crested guineafowl is also a social animal, living in groups called flocks. The Guereza Colobus Monkey is another social animal: it lives in groups with a clear hierarchy, where each monkey has a rank. Living in a group helps them find food and watch for predators.
Why it matters
Social animals show us how cooperation helps survival. Studying them teaches us about teamwork and communication in nature.
Where you've seen it
This list grows as you capture more social animals.
Related
社会性动物
一种与同类群体生活并一起合作的动物。
它是什么？
社会性动物群居生活，比如家庭或兽群。它们合作寻找食物、互相保护并抚养幼崽。例子包括狼、狐獴和侏獴。侏獴生活在由最年长雌性领导的家庭群体中。它们一起合作捕猎和警戒捕食者。查科西貒也生活在称为兽群的小型社会群体中。群居生活帮助它们寻找食物和警惕危险。西貒是社会性动物，生活在兽群中并互相交流。你看到的西貒立体模型展示了它们成群生活，这是它们在野外的生存方式。你看到的侏獴展品也展示了它们如何群居和合作。鹈鹕也是社会性动物。它们群居繁殖，并经常一起合作捕猎，将鱼群驱赶到浅水区。它们的社会行为帮助它们捕获更多食物并互相保护免受捕食者侵害。查科西貒生活在多达10只个体的兽群中，这有助于它们在干燥森林中生存。肯尼亚冠珠鸡也是一种社会性动物，生活在称为鸟群的群体中。髯猴是另一种社会性动物：它生活在具有明确等级制度的群体中，每只猴子都有等级。群居生活帮助它们寻找食物和警惕捕食者。
为什么重要
社会性动物向我们展示了合作如何帮助生存。研究它们教会我们关于自然界中的团队合作和沟通。
你在哪里见过它
随着你捕捉更多社会性动物，这个列表会增长。