Evolution of socially transferred materials

Description: Social transfers between conspecifics occur during highly fitness-related interactions and involve material such as milk, seminal fluids, eggs, skin secretions, regurgitate and more. Plenty of molecules affecting the receiver are transferred in these exchanges. From an evolutionary perspective, this makes such transfers intense battlegrounds for conflict, endangering the evolution of cooperation, but also facilitates a deeper or obligatory connection through strong selection pressure for conflict resolution mechanisms. From an applied perspective, deficiencies in such transfers can lead to infertility and developmental issues. The current confluence of modern molecular methods with quantitative behaviour allows us to assess genetic function across individuals, opening doors to better functional understanding of the evolution of social transfers as well as their usages for animal care and reproduction (Hakala et al. 2023).

Aim: Despite their commonalities, social transfers have been studied separately for decades, until now! For this newly emerging, interdisciplinary field of research, we bring together researchers that work on a range of social transfers and use different scientific approaches, with the aim to develop new insights, synthesise ideas, acquire research funding, and spark collaborations.