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Evolutionary spandrels in collective animal behaviour
Collective behaviour is widespread in the animal kingdom and can enhance individual fitness. Yet not all collective behaviours are adaptations. Instead, some may be nonadaptive or ‘evolutionary spandrels’—traits that originated as by-products in the sense proposed by Stephen Jay Gould and Richard Lewontin. Here, we argue that self-organising processes provide a route through which evolutionary spandrels in collective animal behaviour can occur, and we provide three examples: spatial organisation in primate groups, division of labour in ants, and insect chorusing. We then consider how such outcomes may be co-opted into adaptive roles through exaptation and conclude by outlining the challenges associated with testing adaptive and nonadaptive hypotheses in collective behaviour research using individual-based studies, phylogenetic comparative analyses, and agent-based models.
