Drivers and Constraints to the Emergence of Complex Multilevel Societies in the Animal Kingdom

Project by

Ettore Camerlenghi
Early-Career Fellow 2024–2025

Our ability to form and maintain various types of social relationships—such as core family units, extended relations, and friendships with colleagues—is considered a key factor in human success. These different types of relationships together form what are known as multilevel societies, providing us with close social partners willing to invest in high-cost cooperative actions as well as a broader network of social partners offering common goods. We know that multilevel societies exist in a range of other mammals and are believed to represent the most complex social structures in vertebrates. This project aims to develop hypotheses and predictions regarding the conditions that lead to the formation of multilevel societies throughout the animal kingdom.