There is a (possibly inaccurate [0]) quote attributed to Margaret Mead, where, when asked about the first signs of civilization, said it was when they found a healed fractured femur.
So the argument was always gradual, not that social care is unique to civilization, but that it happens to an extent (such as the very long recovery period and food resources required to heal a femur) that we can arbitrarily call "civilization".
On the other hand, you could stretch that Scotsman in the opposite direction: do we really provide enough care to other people to the point we are different from animals and can claim ourselves truly civilized?
From this perspective ant helping each other is similar to cells in a body working together.