There are costs to living in groups

Question

A. True. There is an increased risk of disease as well as increased competition for mates and food resources

B. False. Primates rarely transmit diseases to one another.

C. False. Primates rarely compete with one another for resources.

D. (b) and (c) above.

E. None of the above.

Answer 1

While living in groups can have many benefits, it also carries many downfalls. Living a solitary life means that it may be hard to find a mate as they have to actually find the mate, but acquiring a mate while living in a group means competing with everyone else also looking for a mate. Being in a group potentially gives the ability of acquiring food which an individual would have been unable to get on their own; but in a group that resource has to be split between everyone, which can negate the benefits. Living in a group means that diseases can spread quickly through the close contact, and while being in a group means that there is a smaller chance a predator will pick that individual vs if the predator found the individual on their own, an individual can hide from predators more effectively than a group can. So there is no one answer as to whether solitary or group living is better, they both come with benefits and downfalls depending on the species.