(CN) — As neighbors go, the devil you know may be better than the one you don’t.
Take the North American red squirrel, a solitary and territorial creature that is one of three species of tree squirrels. Also called chickarees, red squirrels are larger than chipmunks and defend their year-round territories fiercely.
But a new study finds that red squirrels have a higher chance of survival and more offspring when living near long-term neighboring red squirrels. For this species, the length of time the same squirrels lived next to each other increased their chance of survival, sharply offsetting the effects of aging.