Gregariousness

Social animals are those animals which interact highly with other animals, usually of their own species (conspecifics), to the point of having a recognizable and distinct society. Many animals are social to the extent that mothers and offspring bond, and males and females interact to mate, but the term "social animal" is usually only applied when there is a level of social organization that goes beyond this, with permanent groups of adults living together, and relationships between individuals that endure from one encounter to another. In the case of social animals, not having those social interactions can be detrimental to the animal's development; they are crucial. These interactions and socializing help to develop emotional stability and flexibility for the span of the animal's life.

The antonym to a social animal is a solitary animal. Some insects such as the locust have both solitary and gregarious phases.

Sociality refers to the extent of organization of their social behavior. The levels of sociality include eusocial, presocial (solitary but social), subsocial, and parasocial (including communal, quasisocial, and semisocial). Animal social behavior and organization is studied in comparative psychology, ethology, sociobiology, behavioral ecology and computer science (artificial intelligence).

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