Coevolution of Social Communication Systems and Social Complexity

Effective communication stands as a cornerstone for the emergence, maintenance, and evolutionary success of all forms of social behaviour, from transient aggregations and sub-sociality to cooperative breeding and advanced eusociality. This Research Topic aims to delve into the intricate co-evolutionary dynamics between social communication systems and the increasing complexity of social organization across the tree of life. We particularly welcome contributions that apply quantitative, computational, and network-based frameworks to illuminate these dynamics.We invite rigorous theoretical and empirical contributions that explore the bidirectional selective pressures at play. Specifically, we seek studies investigating how diverse ecological factors - such as intense resource defence, pervasive predator pressure, fluctuating environmental conditions, or demanding mate choice scenarios - drive the evolution of novel signalling modalities, the encoding of information content, and sophisticated signal processing capabilities within social groups. We encourage the use of information-theoretic measures, machine learning approaches, and formal mathematical modelling to quantify signal complexity, sender–receiver dynamics, and the costs and benefits associated with different communication strategies.Conversely, we are particularly interested in manuscripts that examine how the evolution of more efficient, nuanced, or complex communication networks (e.g., chemical, acoustic, visual, tactile, electrical) subsequently facilitates the emergence, stabilization, and functional optimization of intricate social structures. This encompasses phenomena such as cooperative breeding strategies, the division of labour, caste differentiation, sophisticated social learning, and complex collective decision-making. Computational approaches - including agent-based modelling, network analysis, dynamical systems theory, and evolutionary simulations - are especially encouraged as tools for formalising and testing hypotheses about these feedback processes.By integrating empirical observation with quantitative and computational methods, this Research Topic will significantly advance our understanding of the fundamental mechanisms underpinning social diversification and the origins of its extraordinary complexity across diverse taxa. Topic editors: Stephanie L. Bogart, Christophe A. H. Bousquet, Stefania Elisavet Kapsetaki Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/77760/coevolution-of-social-communication-systems-and-social-complexity