The rapid increase in “big data” during the postgenomic era makes it crucial to appropriately measure the level of social complexity in comparative studies. We argue that commonly used qualitative classifications lump together species showing a broad range of social complexity and falsely imply that social evolution always progresses along a single linear stepwise trajectory that can be deduced from comparing extant species. To illustrate this point, we compared widely used social complexity measures in “primitively eusocial” bumble bees with “advanced eusocial” stingless bees, honey bees, and attine ants. We find that a single species can have both higher and lower levels of complexity compared with other taxa, depending on the social trait measured. We propose that measuring the complexity of individual social traits switches focus from semantic discussions and offers several directions for progress. First, quantitative social traits can be correlated with molecular, developmental, and physiological processes within and across lineages of social animals. This approach is particularly promising for identifying processes that influence or have been affected by social evolution. Second, key social complexity traits can be combined into multidimensional lineage-specific quantitative indices, enabling fine-scale comparison across species that are currently bundled within the same level of social complexity.

中文翻译：

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社会复杂性的复杂性：社会组织研究的定量多维方法

在后基因组时代，“大数据”的迅速增加使得在比较研究中适当衡量社会复杂性的水平至关重要。我们认为，常用的定性分类将具有广泛社会复杂性的物种聚集在一起，并且错误地暗示了社会进化总是沿着单个线性逐步轨迹发展，而这种轨迹可以通过比较现存物种来推导。为了说明这一点，我们将“原本为人的”大黄蜂与“高级人为”的无刺蜂，蜜蜂和普通蚂蚁的广泛使用的社会复杂性指标进行了比较。我们发现，与其他类群相比，单个物种可以具有更高或更低的复杂度，具体取决于所测社会特征。我们建议，衡量个体社会特征的复杂性应从语义讨论转向关注焦点，并为进步提供几个方向。首先，定量的社会特征可以与社会动物谱系内和跨谱系的分子，发育和生理过程相关。这种方法对于确定影响社会进化或已经受到社会进化影响的过程特别有希望。第二，关键的社会复杂性特征可以组合到多维谱系特定的定量指标中，从而能够对目前捆绑在同一社会复杂性级别中的物种进行精细的比较。以及跨社会动物世系的生理过程。这种方法对于确定影响社会进化或已经受到社会进化影响的过程特别有希望。第二，关键的社会复杂性特征可以组合到多维谱系特定的定量指标中，从而能够对目前捆绑在同一社会复杂性级别中的物种进行精细的比较。以及跨社会动物世系的生理过程。这种方法对于确定影响社会进化或已经受到社会进化影响的过程特别有希望。第二，关键的社会复杂性特征可以组合到多维谱系特定的定量指标中，从而能够对目前捆绑在同一社会复杂性级别中的物种进行精细的比较。