What are solitary animals?

A solitary animal just pairs up for mating or may be found taking care of young, but otherwise you don't find them with others of their own kind. For instance, Lions live in a group called a pride that consists of related females, all subadult offspring and one or males from another group (that would be related to eachother, not the females). Tigers on the otherhand are considered solitary. Females have small ranges which they share with subadult offspring. Males have larger ranges that may encompass several female ranges. Rarely are males found with females.

Animals are metazoan living things. They do not make their own food by themselves. Animals usually eat other living things (animals, plants, fungi, etc.) to get energy to live. Some are parasites, and some have photosynthetic protists as symbionts. There are millions of animal species. Some are big and some are small; some are fat and some are tall. Some live in water, others live on the ground and some animals can fly. Being able to move from one place to another is a distinctive trait (characteristic) of an animal. Some animals eat only plants; they are called herbivores. Other animals eat only meat and are called carnivores. Animals that eat both plants and meat are called omnivores. Animals are divided into groups; see animalia. Their mode of nutrition is known as heterotrophic nutrition because they eat other living organisms as food in order to survive. There are animals living in solitary and in groups. Examples of animals living in solitary are tigers, rhinoceros, cheetahs and more. Examples of animals living in groups are coyotes, bees, monkeys and more. Animals living in solitary do not have to share food with each other. Animals living in groups have better protection against becoming the prey of others. Bees and ants are grouped in a special group called a colony. In a colony, the animals work together in a special way and usually have a leader. The leader of the bees is called the Queen Bee. The animal kingdom is varied. There are many types of animals. But, the common animals you know are only about 3% of the animal kingdom. There are many other animals, such as insects and sponges. Animals can mainly be divided into two main groups, the invertebrates, and the vertebrates. The vertebrates are animals with a backbone, or spine, and the invertebrates without. Invertebrates include insects, crustaceans, molluscs, corals, worms, and much more. The vertebrates are divided into 5 groups, fish, birds, amphibians, reptiles and mammals. Animals breathe Oxygen to live. Below are some common collective nouns for groups of animals:
http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal

Group-living typically provides benefits to individual group members. For instance, most animals only have one pair of eyes to look for food or to watch for predators. Animals living in groups, however, benefit from many more pairs of eyes to provide vigilance or help forage. But living in groups may also confer costs to members. As individuals aggregate, they become more conspicuous to predators and competition for food can increase. Therefore, when deciding to join a group, individuals must weigh the cost-benefit ratio of living solitarily versus with others. When the benefits of living together outweigh the costs of living alone, animals will tend to form groups (Alexander 1974). Other benefits of groupliving may include receiving assistance to deal with pathogens (i.e., grooming), easier mating opportunities, better conservation of heat, and reduced energetic costs of movements. Other costs of group-living may include increased attack rates by predators, increased parasite burdens, misdirected parental care, and greater reproductive competition.

http://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/cooperation-conflict-and-the-evolution-ofcomplex-13236526

Animals come in many forms, sizes and shapes and are usually grouped together in the wild for different reasons. They may work together as a team to; gather food effectively and efficiently, for protection, grooming, raising of their young, for migration and to play. Sometime ago we looked at What animal sounds are called. This week we will move away from the essay articles and look on the names of animals in their respective groups in a list format. You can go through the list to see what you know, ponder over a few and learn the rest. For example

http://www.myuniversalfacts.com/2005/11/what-group-of-animals-are-called.html