Edible dormice (Glis glis) can remain entirely solitary but frequently share sleeping sites with conspecifics in groups of up to 16 adults and yearlings. Here, we analysed grouping behaviour of 4564 marked individuals, captured in a 13-year study in nest boxes in a deciduous forest. We aimed to clarify (i) whether social thermoregulation is the primary cause for group formation and (ii) which factors affect group size and composition. Dormice temporarily formed both mixed and single-sex groups in response to acute cold ambient temperatures, especially those individuals with small body mass. Thus, thermoregulatory huddling appears to be the driving force for group formation in this species. Huddling was avoided-except for conditions of severe cold load-in years of full mast seeding, which is associated with reproduction and high foraging activity. Almost all females remained solitary during reproduction and lactation. Hence, entire populations of dormice switched between predominantly solitary lives in reproductive years to social behaviour in non-reproductive years. Non-social behaviour pointed to costs of huddling in terms of competition for local food resources even when food is generally abundant. The impact of competition was mitigated by a sex ratio that was biased towards males, which avoids sharing of food resources with related females that have extremely high energy demands during lactation. Importantly, dormice preferentially huddled in male-biased groups with litter mates from previous years. The fraction of related individuals increased with group size. Hence, group composition partly offsets the costs of shared food resources via indirect fitness benefits.

中文翻译：

---

社会性温度调节的使用会随着脉冲资源消耗者中桅杆的播种和繁殖而波动。

可食用的宿舍（Glis glis）可以保持完全独立，但经常与成年动物共享睡眠地点，最多可容纳16名成年人和一岁鸽。在这里，我们分析了在一项长达13年的研究中，在落叶林的巢箱中捕获的4564个标记个体的分组行为。我们旨在澄清（i）社会体温调节是否是导致群体形成的主要原因，以及（ii）影响群体规模和组成的因素。应对急性寒冷的环境温度，尤其是那些体重较小的人，宿舍会暂时形成混合和单性两个群体。因此，温控拥挤似乎是该物种中形成群体的驱动力。避免挤作一团-除了在满杆播种的年份中严重的冷负荷条件外，这与繁殖和高觅食活动有关。在生殖和哺乳期间，几乎所有雌性都保持单生。因此，所有的休眠人群都在生殖年的主要独居生活与非生殖年的社会行为之间切换。非社会行为表明，即使在总体上食物丰富的情况下，在争夺当地粮食资源方面也要付出代价。性别偏向于男性，从而减轻了竞争的影响，从而避免了与哺乳期间能量需求极高的相关女性分享食物资源。重要的是，在偏爱男性的群体中，宿舍优先与前几年的同窝伴侣hu缩。相关个体的比例随组规模的增加而增加。因此，群体组成部分通过间接适应性福利部分抵消了共享食物资源的成本。