Older animals are less social

Several groups of researchers recently studied how getting older affects the behavior of a wide variety of animals. Their findings, published in a special issue of the scientific journal Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, show that in many species, animals tend to spend less time socializing with others as they age—and this shift has some surprising benefits. As with humans, social relationships are an essential part of most animals’ lives. Living and working alongside others helps animals find food and mates and stay safe from predators. In fact, one of the studies found that the more social a species is, the longer that species is likely to live and the more offspring it is likely to produce. However, animals also have good reasons for becoming less social as they…

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The Week Junior US (Digital) - 1 Issue, Issue 244

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