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Hirsch BT, Kays R, Alavi S, Caillaud D, Havmoller R, Mares R, Crofoot M. Smarter foragers do not forage smarter: a test of the diet hypothesis for brain expansion. Proc Biol Sci 2024; 291:20240138. [PMID: 38808448 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2024.0138] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/18/2024] [Accepted: 04/24/2024] [Indexed: 05/30/2024] Open
Abstract
A leading hypothesis for the evolution of large brains in humans and other species is that a feedback loop exists whereby intelligent animals forage more efficiently, which results in increased energy intake that fuels the growth and maintenance of large brains. We test this hypothesis for the first time with high-resolution tracking data from four sympatric, frugivorous rainforest mammal species (42 individuals) and drone-based maps of their predominant feeding trees. We found no evidence that larger-brained primates had more efficient foraging paths than smaller brained procyonids. This refutes a key assumption of the fruit-diet hypothesis for brain evolution, suggesting that other factors such as temporal cognition, extractive foraging or sociality have been more important for brain evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ben T Hirsch
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Republic of Panamá
- College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Townsville, Australia
| | - Roland Kays
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Republic of Panamá
- North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, Raleigh, NC, USA
- Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA
| | - Shauhin Alavi
- Department for the Ecology of Animal Societies, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Konstanz, Germany
| | - Damien Caillaud
- Department of Anthropology, University of California, Davis, One Shields Ave., Davis, CA 95616, USA
| | - Rasmus Havmoller
- Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, Kobenhavn, Denmark
| | - Rafael Mares
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Republic of Panamá
| | - Margaret Crofoot
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Republic of Panamá
- Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, Kobenhavn, Denmark
- Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
- Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
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Leimar O, Quiñones AE, Bshary R. Flexible learning in complex worlds. Behav Ecol 2024; 35:arad109. [PMID: 38162692 PMCID: PMC10756056 DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arad109] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/13/2023] [Revised: 10/23/2023] [Accepted: 12/03/2023] [Indexed: 01/03/2024] Open
Abstract
Cognitive flexibility can enhance the ability to adjust to changing environments. Here, we use learning simulations to investigate the possible advantages of flexible learning in volatile (changing) environments. We compare two established learning mechanisms, one with constant learning rates and one with rates that adjust to volatility. We study an ecologically relevant case of volatility, based on observations of developing cleaner fish Labroides dimidiatus that experience a transition from a simpler to a more complex foraging environment. There are other similar transitions in nature, such as migrating to a new and different habitat. We also examine two traditional approaches to volatile environments in experimental psychology and behavioral ecology: reversal learning, and learning set formation (consisting of a sequence of different discrimination tasks). These provide experimental measures of cognitive flexibility. Concerning transitions to a complex world, we show that both constant and flexible learning rates perform well, losing only a small proportion of available rewards in the period after a transition, but flexible rates perform better than constant rates. For reversal learning, flexible rates improve the performance with each successive reversal because of increasing learning rates, but this does not happen for constant rates. For learning set formation, we find no improvement in performance with successive shifts to new stimuli to discriminate for either flexible or constant learning rates. Flexible learning rates might thus explain increasing performance in reversal learning but not in learning set formation, and this can shed light on the nature of cognitive flexibility in a given system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Olof Leimar
- Department of Zoology, Stockholm University, 106 91 Stockholm, Sweden and
| | - Andrés E Quiñones
- Institute of Biology, University of Neuchâtel, Emile-Argand 11, 2000 Neuchâtel, Switzerland
| | - Redouan Bshary
- Institute of Biology, University of Neuchâtel, Emile-Argand 11, 2000 Neuchâtel, Switzerland
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3
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Musgrave S, Koni D, Morgan D, Sanz C. Planning abilities of wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes troglodytes) in tool-using contexts. Primates 2023:10.1007/s10329-023-01106-4. [PMID: 38103142 DOI: 10.1007/s10329-023-01106-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/19/2022] [Accepted: 11/15/2023] [Indexed: 12/17/2023]
Abstract
Planning is a type of problem solving in which a course of future action is devised via mental computation. Potential advantages of planning for tool use include reduced effort to gather tools, closer alignment to an efficient tool design, and increased foraging efficiency. Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes troglodytes) in the Goualougo Triangle use a variety of different types of tools. We hypothesized that procurement strategy (brought to the termite nest, manufactured or acquired at the termite nest, or borrowed from others) reflects planning for current needs, with tool transport behavior varying by tool type and by age and sex class. It is also possible that chimpanzees anticipate the need for tools at future times, which would be evidenced by transporting multiple tool types for a sequential task. One year of video recordings at termite nests were systematically screened for tool procurement; data comprised 299 tool procurement events across 66 chimpanzees. In addition, we screened video recordings of leaf sponging and honey gathering, which resulted in another 38 procurement events. Fishing probes, which are typically used during a single visit, were typically transported to termite nests, while puncturing tools, which are durable and remain on site, were more often acquired at termite nests. Most tools transported in multiples were fishing probes, perhaps in anticipation that a single probe might not last through an entire foraging bout or might be transferred to another chimpanzee. We further documented that chimpanzees transported tool sets, comprising multiple different tool types used in sequence. Mature chimpanzees transported tools more often than did immatures. These observations suggest that chimpanzees plan tool use flexibly, reflecting the availability of raw materials and the likelihood that specific tool types will be needed for particular tasks. Developmental studies and further integration of behavioral, spatial, and archaeological data will help to illuminate the decision making and time depth of planning associated with tool technologies in living primates and hominin ancestors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephanie Musgrave
- Department of Anthropology, University of Miami, P.O. Box 248106, Coral Gables, FL, 33124-2005, USA.
| | - David Koni
- Wildlife Conservation Society, Congo Program, B.P. 14537, Brazzaville, Republic of Congo
| | - David Morgan
- Fisher Center for the Study and Conservation of Apes, Lincoln Park Zoo, 2001 N. Clark Street, Chicago, IL, 60614, USA
| | - Crickette Sanz
- Wildlife Conservation Society, Congo Program, B.P. 14537, Brazzaville, Republic of Congo
- Department of Anthropology, Washington University in Saint Louis, 1 Brookings Drive, Saint Louis, MO, 63130, USA
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Engelmann JM, Völter CJ, Goddu MK, Call J, Rakoczy H, Herrmann E. Chimpanzees prepare for alternative possible outcomes. Biol Lett 2023; 19:20230179. [PMID: 37340809 PMCID: PMC10282584 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2023.0179] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/23/2023] [Accepted: 06/02/2023] [Indexed: 06/22/2023] Open
Abstract
When facing uncertainty, humans often build mental models of alternative outcomes. Considering diverging scenarios allows agents to respond adaptively to different actual worlds by developing contingency plans (covering one's bases). In a pre-registered experiment, we tested whether chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) prepare for two mutually exclusive possibilities. Chimpanzees could access two pieces of food, but only if they successfully protected them from a human competitor. In one condition, chimpanzees could be certain about which piece of food the human experimenter would attempt to steal. In a second condition, either one of the food rewards was a potential target of the competitor. We found that chimpanzees were significantly more likely to protect both pieces of food in the second relative to the first condition, raising the possibility that chimpanzees represent and prepare effectively for different possible worlds.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jan M. Engelmann
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720-1650, USA
| | - Christoph J. Völter
- Comparative Cognition, Messerli Research Institute, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Medical University of Vienna, University of Vienna, 1210 Vienna, Austria
| | - Mariel K. Goddu
- Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
| | - Josep Call
- School of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of St Andrews, St Andrews KY16 9AJ, UK
| | - Hannes Rakoczy
- Department of Developmental Psychology, Georg-Elias Müller Institute of Psychology, University of Göttingen, 37073 Göttingen, Germany
| | - Esther Herrmann
- Department of Psychology, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth PO1 2UP, UK
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Veen J, Jang H, Raubenheimer D, van Pinxteren BOCM, Kandza V, Meirmans PG, van Dam NM, Dunker S, Hoffmann P, Worrich A, Janmaat KRL. Development of embodied capital: Diet composition, foraging skills, and botanical knowledge of forager children in the Congo Basin. Front Ecol Evol 2023. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2023.935987] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/10/2023] Open
Abstract
The embodied capital theory states that the extended juvenile period has enabled human foragers to acquire the complex foraging skills and knowledge needed to obtain food. Yet we lack detailed data on how forager children develop these skills and knowledge. Here, we examine the seasonal diet composition, foraging behavior, and botanical knowledge of Mbendjele BaYaka forager children in the Republic of the Congo. Our data, acquired through long-term observations involving full-day focal follows, show a high level of seasonal fluctuation in diet and foraging activities of BaYaka children, in response to the seasonal availability of their food sources. BaYaka children foraged more than half of the time independent from adults, predominantly collecting and eating fruits, tubers, and seeds. For these most-consumed food types, we found an early onset of specialization of foraging skills in children, similar to the gendered division in foraging in adults. Specifically, children were more likely to eat fruit and seed species when there were more boys and men in the group, and girls were more likely than boys to collect tuber species. In a botanical knowledge test, children were more accurate at identifying plant food species with increasing age, and they used fruits and trunks for species identification, more so than using leaves and barks. These results show how the foraging activities of BaYaka children may facilitate the acquisition of foraging skills and botanical knowledge and provide insights into the development of embodied capital. Additionally, BaYaka children consumed agricultural foods more than forest foods, probably reflecting BaYaka’s transition into a horticultural lifestyle. This change in diet composition may have significant consequences for the cognitive development of BaYaka children.
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Durand‐Bessart C, Cordeiro NJ, Chapman CA, Abernethy K, Forget P, Fontaine C, Bretagnolle F. Trait matching and sampling effort shape the structure of the frugivory network in Afrotropical forests. THE NEW PHYTOLOGIST 2023; 237:1446-1462. [PMID: 36377098 PMCID: PMC10108259 DOI: 10.1111/nph.18619] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2021] [Accepted: 10/13/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
Frugivory in tropical forests is a major ecological process as most tree species rely on frugivores to disperse their seeds. However, the underlying mechanisms driving frugivore-plant networks remain understudied. Here, we evaluate the data available on the Afrotropical frugivory network to identify structural properties, as well as assess knowledge gaps. We assembled a database of frugivory interactions from the literature with > 10 000 links, between 807 tree and 285 frugivore species. We analysed the network structure using a block model that groups species with similar interaction patterns and estimates interaction probabilities among them. We investigated the species traits related to this grouping structure. This frugivory network was simplified into 14 tree and 14 frugivore blocks. The block structure depended on the sampling effort among species: Large mammals were better-studied, while smaller frugivores were the least studied. Species traits related to frugivory were strong predictors of the species composition of blocks and interactions among them. Fruits from larger trees were consumed by most frugivores, and large frugivores had higher probabilities to consume larger fruits. To conclude, this large-scale frugivory network was mainly structured by species traits involved in frugivory, and as expected by the distribution areas of species, while still being limited by sampling incompleteness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Clémentine Durand‐Bessart
- Biogeosciences, UMR 6282Université Bourgogne Franche Comte‐CNRS21000DijonFrance
- Centre d'Ecologie et des Sciences de la ConservationCESCO, UMR 7204, MNHN‐CNRS‐SU75005ParisFrance
| | - Norbert J. Cordeiro
- Department of Biology (mc WB 816)Roosevelt University430 S. Michigan AvenueChicagoIL60605USA
- Science & EducationThe Field Museum1400 S. Lake Shore DriveChicagoIL60605USA
| | - Colin A. Chapman
- Wilson Center1300 Pennsylvania Avenue NWWashingtonDC20004USA
- Department of AnthropologyCenter for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology, The George Washington UniversityWashingtonDC20037USA
- School of Life SciencesUniversity of KwaZulu‐NatalScottsville3201PietermaritzburgSouth Africa
- Shaanxi Key Laboratory for Animal ConservationNorthwest University710069Xi'anChina
| | - Katharine Abernethy
- African Forest Ecology Group, School of Natural SciencesUniversity of StirlingStirlingFK9 4LAUK
- Institut de Recherches en Ecologie TropicaleCENARESTGros Bouquet2144LibrevilleGabon
| | - Pierre‐Michel Forget
- Muséum National d'Histoire NaturelleUMR 7179 MECADEV CNRS‐MNHN1 Avenue du Petit Château91800BrunoyFrance
| | - Colin Fontaine
- Centre d'Ecologie et des Sciences de la ConservationCESCO, UMR 7204, MNHN‐CNRS‐SU75005ParisFrance
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Robbins MM, Ortmann S, Seiler N. Dietary variability of western gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla). PLoS One 2022; 17:e0271576. [PMID: 36001558 PMCID: PMC9401121 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0271576] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/06/2022] [Accepted: 07/04/2022] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Spatial and temporal variability in the availability of food resources will lead to variation in a species’ diet, which can then influence patterns of space use, sociality, and life history characteristics. Despite such potential impacts, little information is available about dietary variability for some species with large geographical ranges. Here we quantify the diet and nutritional content of plants consumed by western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) in Loango National Park, Gabon over a 2.6 year period and make comparisons with two study sites located 800 km away. The major foods consumed by the Loango gorillas differed greatly from the other two study sites, but gorillas at all three locations spent a similar proportion of feeding time consuming herbaceous vegetation and tree leaves (~ 50%) and fruit (35%). The Loango gorillas spent approximately 10% of feeding time eating nuts, which were not consumed at the other two study sites. Gorillas at those sites spent about 5% of feeding time eating insects, which were not consumed by Loango gorillas. Even though the species composition of the diet differed among the three sites, the nutritional composition of the major food items differed very little, suggesting that western gorillas consume foods of similar nutritional values to meet their dietary needs. This study shows the flexibility of diet of a species with a wide geographic distribution, which has implications for understanding variation in life history characteristics and can be useful for conservation management plans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martha M. Robbins
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
- * E-mail:
| | - Sylvia Ortmann
- Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Berlin, Germany
| | - Nicole Seiler
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
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Benítez ME, Painter MC, Guisneuf N, Bergman TJ. Answering big questions with small data: the use of field experiments in primate cognition. Curr Opin Behav Sci 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cobeha.2022.101141] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
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Allritz M, Call J, Schweller K, McEwen ES, de Guinea M, Janmaat KRL, Menzel CR, Dolins FL. Chimpanzees ( Pan troglodytes) navigate to find hidden fruit in a virtual environment. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2022; 8:eabm4754. [PMID: 35749496 PMCID: PMC9232100 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abm4754] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/20/2021] [Accepted: 05/09/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Almost all animals navigate their environment to find food, shelter, and mates. Spatial cognition of nonhuman primates in large-scale environments is notoriously difficult to study. Field research is ecologically valid, but controlling confounding variables can be difficult. Captive research enables experimental control, but space restrictions can limit generalizability. Virtual reality technology combines the best of both worlds by creating large-scale, controllable environments. We presented six chimpanzees with a seminaturalistic virtual environment, using a custom touch screen application. The chimpanzees exhibited signature behaviors reminiscent of real-life navigation: They learned to approach a landmark associated with the presence of fruit, improving efficiency over time; they located this landmark from novel starting locations and approached a different landmark when necessary. We conclude that virtual environments can allow for standardized testing with higher ecological validity than traditional tests in captivity and harbor great potential to contribute to longstanding questions in primate navigation, e.g., the use of landmarks, Euclidean maps, or spatial frames of reference.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthias Allritz
- Department of Comparative Cultural Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, Leipzig 04103, Germany
- School of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Fife KY16 9JP, UK
| | - Josep Call
- Department of Comparative Cultural Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, Leipzig 04103, Germany
| | - Ken Schweller
- Ape Cognition and Conservation Initiative, Des Moines, IA, USA
| | - Emma S. McEwen
- Department of Comparative Cultural Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, Leipzig 04103, Germany
- School of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Fife KY16 9JP, UK
| | - Miguel de Guinea
- Movement Ecology Lab, Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Edmond J. Safra Campus, Givat Ram, Jerusalem 9190401, Israel
| | - Karline R. L. Janmaat
- Evolutionary and Population Biology, Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
- Department of Cognitive Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences, Leiden University, Leiden, Netherlands
- ARTIS Amsterdam Royal Zoo, Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - Charles R. Menzel
- Language Research Center, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Francine L. Dolins
- Department of Behavioral Sciences, College of Arts, Sciences, and Letters, University of Michigan-Dearborn, Dearborn, MI, USA
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10
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García MG, de Guinea M, Bshary R, van de Waal E. Drivers and outcomes of between-group conflict in vervet monkeys. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2022; 377:20210145. [PMID: 35369750 PMCID: PMC8977665 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2021.0145] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Neighbouring groups compete over access to resources and territories in between-group encounters, which can escalate into between-group conflicts (BGCs). Both the ecological characteristics of a territory and the rival's fighting ability shape the occurrence and outcome of such contests. What remains poorly understood, however, is how seasonal variability in the ecological value of a territory together with fighting ability related to the likelihood of between-group encounters and the extent to which these escalate into conflicts. To test this, we observed and followed four vervet monkey groups in the wild, and recorded the group structure (i.e. size, composition), the locations and the outcomes of 515 BGCs. We then assessed key ecological measures at these locations, such as vegetation availability (estimated from Copernicus Sentinel 2 satellite images) and the intensity of usage of these locations. We tested to what extent these factors together influenced the occurrence and outcomes of BGCs. We found that the occurrence of BGCs increased at locations with higher vegetation availability relative to the annual vegetation availability within the group's home territory. Also, groups engaging in a BGC at locations far away from their home territory were less likely to win a BGC. Regarding group structure, we found that smaller groups systematically won BGCs against larger groups, which can be explained by potentially higher rates of individual free-riding occurring in larger groups. This study sheds light on how the ecology of encounter locations in combination with a group's social characteristics can critically impact the dynamics of BGCs in a non-human primate species. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Intergroup conflict across taxa’.
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Affiliation(s)
- Miguel Gareta García
- Inkawu Vervet Project, Mawana Game Reserve, KwaZulu Natal 3115, South Africa.,Department of Eco-Ethology, Faculty of Biology, University of Neuchâtel, Rue Emile Argand 11, Neuchâtel 2000, Switzerland
| | - Miguel de Guinea
- Movement Ecology Laboratory, Alexander Silverman Institute of Life Sciences, Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 91904, Israel
| | - Redouan Bshary
- Inkawu Vervet Project, Mawana Game Reserve, KwaZulu Natal 3115, South Africa.,Department of Eco-Ethology, Faculty of Biology, University of Neuchâtel, Rue Emile Argand 11, Neuchâtel 2000, Switzerland
| | - Erica van de Waal
- Inkawu Vervet Project, Mawana Game Reserve, KwaZulu Natal 3115, South Africa.,Department of Ecology and Evolution, Faculty of Biology and Medicine, University of Lausanne, Lausanne 1015, Switzerland
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11
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Thompson PR, Lewis MA, Edwards MA, Derocher AE. Time-dependent memory and individual variation in Arctic brown bears (Ursus arctos). MOVEMENT ECOLOGY 2022; 10:18. [PMID: 35410401 PMCID: PMC8996616 DOI: 10.1186/s40462-022-00319-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/22/2021] [Accepted: 03/24/2022] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Animal movement modelling provides unique insight about how animals perceive their landscape and how this perception may influence space use. When coupled with data describing an animal's environment, ecologists can fit statistical models to location data to describe how spatial memory informs movement. METHODS We performed such an analysis on a population of brown bears (Ursus arctos) in the Canadian Arctic using a model incorporating time-dependent spatial memory patterns. Brown bear populations in the Arctic lie on the periphery of the species' range, and as a result endure harsh environmental conditions. In this kind of environment, effective use of memory to inform movement strategies could spell the difference between survival and mortality. RESULTS The model we fit tests four alternate hypotheses (some incorporating memory; some not) against each other, and we found a high degree of individual variation in how brown bears used memory. We found that 71% (15 of 21) of the bears used complex, time-dependent spatial memory to inform their movement decisions. CONCLUSIONS These results, coupled with existing knowledge on individual variation in the population, highlight the diversity of foraging strategies for Arctic brown bears while also displaying the inference that can be drawn from this innovative movement model.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter R Thompson
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada.
| | - Mark A Lewis
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada
- Department of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada
| | - Mark A Edwards
- Mammalogy Department, Royal Alberta Museum, Edmonton, AB, Canada
- Department of Renewable Resources, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada
| | - Andrew E Derocher
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada
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12
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Watkins B, de Guinea M, Poindexter SA, Ganzhorn JU, Donati G, Eppley TM. Routes matter: the effect of seasonality on bamboo lemur navigational strategies. Anim Behav 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2022.01.019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
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13
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de Chevalier G, Bouret S, Bardo A, Simmen B, Garcia C, Prat S. Cost-Benefit Trade-Offs of Aquatic Resource Exploitation in the Context of Hominin Evolution. Front Ecol Evol 2022. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2022.812804] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
While the exploitation of aquatic fauna and flora has been documented in several primate species to date, the evolutionary contexts and mechanisms behind the emergence of this behavior in both human and non-human primates remain largely overlooked. Yet, this issue is particularly important for our understanding of human evolution, as hominins represent not only the primate group with the highest degree of adaptedness to aquatic environments, but also the only group in which true coastal and maritime adaptations have evolved. As such, in the present study we review the available literature on primate foraging strategies related to the exploitation of aquatic resources and their putative associated cognitive operations. We propose that aquatic resource consumption in extant primates can be interpreted as a highly site-specific behavioral expression of a generic adaptive foraging decision-making process, emerging in sites at which the local cost-benefit trade-offs contextually favor aquatic over terrestrial foods. Within this framework, we discuss the potential impacts that the unique intensification of this behavior in hominins may have had on the evolution of the human brain and spatial ecology.
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Mikeliban M, Kunz B, Rahmaeti T, Uomini N, Schuppli C. Orangutan mothers adjust their behaviour during food solicitations in a way that likely facilitates feeding skill acquisition in their offspring. Sci Rep 2021; 11:23679. [PMID: 34880303 PMCID: PMC8655057 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-02901-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2021] [Accepted: 11/10/2021] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Immature orangutans acquire their feeding skills over several years, via social and independent learning. So far, it has remained uninvestigated to what extent orangutan mothers are actively involved in this learning process. From a fitness point of view, it may be adaptive for mothers to facilitate their offspring’s skill acquisition to make them reach nutritional independence faster. Food solicitations are potential means to social learning which, because of their interactive nature, allow to investigate the degree of active involvement of the mother. To investigate the role of food solicitation and the role of the mother in immatures’ foraging skill acquisition, we analysed 1390 food solicitation events between 21 immature Sumatran orangutans (Pongo abelii) and their mothers, collected over 13 years at the Suaq Balimbing orangutan population. We found that solicitation rates decreased with increasing age of the immatures and increased with increasing processing complexity of the food item. Mothers were more likely to share complex items and showed the highest likelihoods of sharing around the age at which immatures are learning most of their feeding skills. Our results indicate that immature Sumatran orangutans use food solicitation to acquire feeding skills. Furthermore, mothers flexibly adjust their behaviour in a way that likely facilitates their offspring’s skill acquisition. We conclude that orangutan mothers have a more active role in the skill acquisition of their offspring than previously thought.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mulati Mikeliban
- Development and Evolution of Cognition Research Group, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, 78467, Konstanz, Germany
| | - Belinda Kunz
- Department of Anthropology, University of Zurich, CH-8006, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Tri Rahmaeti
- Department of Biology, Graduate School, Universitas Nasional, Jakarta, 12520, Indonesia
| | - Natalie Uomini
- Department of Linguistic and Cultural Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, 04103, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Caroline Schuppli
- Development and Evolution of Cognition Research Group, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, 78467, Konstanz, Germany. .,Department of Anthropology, University of Zurich, CH-8006, Zurich, Switzerland.
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15
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Lourie E, Schiffner I, Toledo S, Nathan R. Memory and Conformity, but Not Competition, Explain Spatial Partitioning Between Two Neighboring Fruit Bat Colonies. Front Ecol Evol 2021. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2021.732514] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Spatial partitioning between neighboring colonies is considered a widespread phenomenon in colonial species, reported mainly in marine birds. Partitioning is suspected to emerge due to various processes, such as competition, diet specialization, memory, information transfer, or even “foraging cultures.” Yet, empirical evidence from other taxa, and studies that tease apart the relative contribution of the processes underlying partitioning, remain scarce, mostly due to insufficiently detailed movement data. Here, we used high-resolution movement tracks (at 0.125 Hz) of 107 individuals belonging to two neighboring colonies of the Egyptian fruit bat (Rousettus aegyptiacus), a highly gregarious central-place forager, using the ATLAS reverse-GPS system in the Hula Valley, Israel. Based on comparisons between agent-based mechanistic models and observed spatial partitioning patterns, we found high levels of partitioning of both area and tree resources (<11% overlap) that were stable across different fruiting seasons. Importantly, partitioning could not have emerged if the bats’ movement was only limited by food availability and travel distances, as most commonly hypothesized. Rather than density-dependent or between-colony competition, memory, and, to a lesser extent, conformity in tree-use explain how partitioning develops. Elucidating the mechanisms that shape spatial partitioning among neighboring colonies in the wild under variable resource conditions is important for understanding the ecology and evolution of inter-group coexistence, space use patterns and sociality.
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16
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Kaufmann A. Experience-Specific Dimensions of Consciousness (Observable in Flexible and Spontaneous Action Planning Among Animals). Front Syst Neurosci 2021; 15:741579. [PMID: 34566590 PMCID: PMC8461023 DOI: 10.3389/fnsys.2021.741579] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/14/2021] [Accepted: 08/25/2021] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
The multidimensional framework to the study of consciousness, which comes as an alternative to a single sliding scale model, offers a set of experimental paradigms for investigating dimensions of animal consciousness, acknowledging the compelling urge for a novel approach. One of these dimensions investigates whether non-human animals can flexibly and spontaneously plan for a future event, and for future desires, without relying on reinforcement learning. This is a critical question since different intentional structures for action in non-human animals are described as served by different neural mechanisms underpinning the capacity to represent temporal properties. And a lack of appreciation of this variety of intentional structures and neural correlates has led many experts to doubt that animals have access to temporal reasoning and to not recognize temporality as a mark of consciousness, and as a psychological resource for their life. With respect to this, there is a significant body of ethological evidence for planning abilities in non-human animals, too often overlooked, and that instead should be taken into serious account. This could contribute to assigning consciousness profiles, across and within species, that should be tailored according to an implemented and expansive use of the multidimensional framework. This cannot be fully operational in the absence of an additional tag to its dimensions of variations: the experience-specificity of consciousness.
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17
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Robira B, Benhamou S, Masi S, Llaurens V, Riotte-Lambert L. Foraging efficiency in temporally predictable environments: is a long-term temporal memory really advantageous? ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2021; 8:210809. [PMID: 34567589 PMCID: PMC8456140 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.210809] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/19/2021] [Accepted: 09/03/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Cognitive abilities enabling animals that feed on ephemeral but yearly renewable resources to infer when resources are available may have been favoured by natural selection, but the magnitude of the benefits brought by these abilities remains poorly known. Using computer simulations, we compared the efficiencies of three main types of foragers with different abilities to process temporal information, in spatially and/or temporally homogeneous or heterogeneous environments. One was endowed with a sampling memory, which stores recent experience about the availability of the different food types. The other two were endowed with a chronological or associative memory, which stores long-term temporal information about absolute times of these availabilities or delays between them, respectively. To determine the range of possible efficiencies, we also simulated a forager without temporal cognition but which simply targeted the closest and possibly empty food sources, and a perfectly prescient forager, able to know at any time which food source was effectively providing food. The sampling, associative and chronological foragers were far more efficient than the forager without temporal cognition in temporally predictable environments, and interestingly, their efficiencies increased with the level of temporal heterogeneity. The use of a long-term temporal memory results in a foraging efficiency up to 1.16 times better (chronological memory) or 1.14 times worse (associative memory) than the use of a simple sampling memory. Our results thus show that, for everyday foraging, a long-term temporal memory did not provide a clear benefit over a simple short-term memory that keeps track of the current resource availability. Long-term temporal memories may therefore have emerged in contexts where short-term temporal cognition is useless, i.e. when the anticipation of future environmental changes is strongly needed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin Robira
- Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive, Université de Montpellier and CNRS, Montpellier, France
| | - Simon Benhamou
- Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive, Université de Montpellier and CNRS, Montpellier, France
| | - Shelly Masi
- Eco-anthropologie, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, CNRS, Université de Paris, Paris, France
| | - Violaine Llaurens
- Institut de Systématique, Evolution, Biodiversité, CNRS-École Pratique des Hautes Études, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Université Pierre-et-Marie-Curie, Paris, France
| | - Louise Riotte-Lambert
- Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health and Comparative Medicine, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK
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18
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Jang H, Oktaviani R, Kim S, Mardiastuti A, Choe JC. Do Javan gibbons (Hylobates moloch) use fruiting synchrony as a foraging strategy? Am J Primatol 2021; 83:e23319. [PMID: 34402078 DOI: 10.1002/ajp.23319] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/23/2020] [Revised: 06/16/2021] [Accepted: 07/27/2021] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Abstract
Tropical rainforests are characterized by a high diversity of plant species. Each plant species presents with differential phenological patterns in fruit production. In some species, all individual trees produce fruit simultaneously within clustered periods; whereas in others, each individual tree fruits at irregular time intervals. By observing this pattern, some primate species use the presence of fruits in one tree as a cue to find fruit in other trees of the same synchronously fruiting tree species. Here, we investigated whether the highly frugivorous Javan gibbons (Hylobates moloch) in Gunung Halimun-Salak National Park in Indonesia have knowledge of synchronous characteristics of fruiting trees and whether they can further distinguish fruit species with different synchrony levels, that is, tree species with highly synchronous fruiting patterns versus tree species with less synchronous fruiting patterns. Across 12 months we collected biweekly phenological data on 250 trees from 10 fruit species and observed Javan gibbons' visits to those species. We found that a fruit discovery in the beginning of fruiting seasons triggered gibbons to visit trees of the same fruit species. However, gibbons' visit rates did not differ between highly synchronous and asynchronous species. Our results suggest that Javan gibbons have knowledge of synchronous characteristics of fruiting trees in general, but they do not differentiate highly synchronous versus asynchronous fruit species. We speculate that Javan gibbons, who live in relatively small ranges with very low tree density of preferred fruit species, are likely able to track and remember fruiting states of individual trees without needing to distinguish fruit species with different synchrony levels. Moreover, gibbons may make little benefit of distinguishing highly synchronous versus asynchronous fruit species, probably due to gibbons' heavy use of asynchronous figs. Our study provides an insight into how gibbon's foraging strategies may have been shaped in response to their ecological environment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Haneul Jang
- Department of Human Behavior, Ecology and Culture, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Rahayu Oktaviani
- Javan Gibbon Research and Conservation Project, Bogor, Indonesia.,Division of Ecoscience, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, South Korea
| | - Sanha Kim
- Biodiversity Foundation, Seoul, South Korea
| | - Ani Mardiastuti
- Department of Forest Resources Conservation and Ecotourism, Faculty of Forestry and Environment, IPB University, Bogor, Indonesia
| | - Jae C Choe
- Division of Ecoscience, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, South Korea
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19
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de Guinea M, Estrada A, Nekaris KAI, Van Belle S. Cognitive maps in the wild: revealing the use of metric information in black howler monkey route navigation. J Exp Biol 2021; 224:271801. [PMID: 34384101 PMCID: PMC8380465 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.242430] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/11/2021] [Accepted: 06/15/2021] [Indexed: 01/25/2023]
Abstract
When navigating, wild animals rely on internal representations of the external world – called ‘cognitive maps’ – to take movement decisions. Generally, flexible navigation is hypothesized to be supported by sophisticated spatial skills (i.e. Euclidean cognitive maps); however, constrained movements along habitual routes are the most commonly reported navigation strategy. Even though incorporating metric information (i.e. distances and angles between locations) in route-based cognitive maps would likely enhance an animal's navigation efficiency, there has been no evidence of this strategy reported for non-human animals to date. Here, we examined the properties of the cognitive map used by a wild population of primates by testing a series of cognitive hypotheses against spatially explicit movement simulations. We collected 3104 h of ranging and behavioural data on five groups of black howler monkeys (Alouatta pigra) at Palenque National Park, Mexico, from September 2016 through August 2017. We simulated correlated random walks mimicking the ranging behaviour of the study subjects and tested for differences between observed and simulated movement patterns. Our results indicated that black howler monkeys engaged in constrained movement patterns characterized by a high path recursion tendency, which limited their capacity to travel in straight lines and approach feeding trees from multiple directions. In addition, we found that the structure of observed route networks was more complex and efficient than simulated route networks, suggesting that black howler monkeys incorporate metric information into their cognitive map. Our findings not only expand the use of metric information during route navigation to non-human animals, but also highlight the importance of considering efficient route-based navigation as a cognitively demanding mechanism. Highlighted Article: Black howler monkeys rely on route-based cognitive maps, which constrain their movement decisions, but likely incorporate metric information to navigate more efficiently along frequently used routes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Miguel de Guinea
- School of Social Sciences, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, OX3 0BP, UK.,Movement Ecology Lab, Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 91904, Israel
| | - Alejandro Estrada
- Institute of Biology, National Autonomous University of Mexico, CP 04510 Mexico City, Mexico
| | | | - Sarie Van Belle
- Department of Anthropology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA
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20
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Lim JY, Wasserman MD, Veen J, Després-Einspenner ML, Kissling WD. Ecological and evolutionary significance of primates' most consumed plant families. Proc Biol Sci 2021; 288:20210737. [PMID: 34130500 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2021.0737] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Angiosperms have been essential components of primate diets for millions of years, but the relative importance of different angiosperm families remains unclear. Here, we assess the contribution and ecological and evolutionary significance of plant families to diets of wild primates by compiling an unprecedented dataset of almost 9000 dietary records from 141 primary sources covering 112 primate species. Of the 205 angiosperm plant families recorded in primate diets, only 10 were consumed by more than half of primate species. Plants of the Moraceae and Fabaceae families were the most widely and frequently consumed, and they likely represent keystone resources for primates. Over 75% of species fed on these two families, and together they made up a median of approximately 13% of primate diets. By analysing the relative proportion of different plant parts consumed, we found that Moraceae was mainly eaten as fruit and Fabaceae as non-fruit parts, with the consumption of these two families not showing a significant phylogenetic signal across primate species. Moraceae consumption was associated with small home range sizes, even though more frugivorous primates tended to have larger home ranges compared to more folivorous species, possibly due to the year-round availability of moraceous fruits and the asynchrony in their phenology. Our results suggest that primates may be intricately and subtly shaped by the plant families that they have consumed over millions of years, and highlight the importance of detailed dietary studies to better understand primate ecology and evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jun Ying Lim
- School of Biological Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.,Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, Department of Theoretical and Computational Biology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Michael D Wasserman
- Department of Anthropology and Human Biology Program, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA
| | - Jorin Veen
- Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, Department of Theoretical and Computational Biology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | | | - W Daniel Kissling
- Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, Department of Theoretical and Computational Biology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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21
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Hermer E, Murphy B, Chaine AS, Morand-Ferron J. Great tits who remember more accurately have difficulty forgetting, but variation is not driven by environmental harshness. Sci Rep 2021; 11:10083. [PMID: 33980907 PMCID: PMC8114932 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-89125-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/30/2020] [Accepted: 04/14/2021] [Indexed: 02/03/2023] Open
Abstract
The causes of individual variation in memory are poorly understood in wild animals. Harsh environments with sparse or rapidly changing food resources are hypothesized to favour more accurate spatial memory to allow animals to return to previously visited patches when current patches are depleted. A potential cost of more accurate spatial memory is proactive interference, where accurate memories block the formation of new memories. This relationship between spatial memory, proactive interference, and harsh environments has only been studied in scatter-hoarding animals. We compare spatial memory accuracy and proactive interference performance of non-scatter hoarding great tits (Parus major) from high and low elevations where harshness increases with elevation. In contrast to studies of scatter-hoarders, we did not find a significant difference between high and low elevation birds in their spatial memory accuracy or proactive interference performance. Using a variance partitioning approach, we report the first among-individual trade-off between spatial memory and proactive interference, uncovering variation in memory at the individual level where selection may act. Although we have no evidence of harsh habitats affecting spatial memory, our results suggest that if elevation produced differences in spatial memory between elevations, we could see concurrent changes in how quickly birds can forget.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ethan Hermer
- grid.28046.380000 0001 2182 2255University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON Canada
| | - Ben Murphy
- grid.7836.a0000 0004 1937 1151University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Alexis S. Chaine
- Station d’Ecologie Théorique et Expérimentale du CNRS, Moulis, France ,grid.424401.70000 0004 0384 0611Institute for Advanced Studies in Toulouse, Toulouse School of Economics, Toulouse, France
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22
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Ozturk KCD, Egas M, Janmaat KRL. Mandrills learn two-day time intervals in a naturalistic foraging situation. Anim Cogn 2021; 24:569-582. [PMID: 33258055 PMCID: PMC8128742 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-020-01451-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/08/2020] [Revised: 10/23/2020] [Accepted: 11/17/2020] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Primates display high efficiency in finding food in complex environments. Knowledge that many plant species produce fruit simultaneously, can help primates to anticipate fruit finding at the start of fruiting seasons. Knowledge of elapsed time can help primates decide when to revisit food trees to find ripened fruit and to return before competitors find these fruits. To investigate whether mandrills are able to learn time intervals of recurring food, we recorded the foraging choices of captive mandrills in a group setting. We used a procedure with renewable food rewards that could be searched for: carrots and grapes, hidden underground in specific places with different renewal intervals (2 and 5 days, respectively). We monitored the first choice of location for individuals, if other individuals had not already searched at the same location, to exclude possible effects of individuals following others rather than relying on memory. Throughout the study, the mandrills became increasingly likely to first search at carrot locations on carrot days, while the probability of them searching at carrot locations decreased on days without carrot. Due to model instability, our results were inconclusive about an effect of grape days on the choice of the mandrills. Cues provided by conspecifics indicating the availability of simultaneously emerging food rewards did not affect the choice of the mandrills. We conclude that mandrills can take into account elapsed time in a foraging context. Thereby, this study indicates how mandrills can use temporal cognitive abilities to overcome temporal challenges of food-finding in a group setting.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kavel C D Ozturk
- Department of Evolutionary and Population Biology, Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, Science Park 904, 1098 XH, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
| | - Martijn Egas
- Department of Evolutionary and Population Biology, Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, Science Park 904, 1098 XH, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Karline R L Janmaat
- Department of Evolutionary and Population Biology, Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, Science Park 904, 1098 XH, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- Department of Cognitive Psychology, Leiden University, Pieter de la Court, Wassenaarseweg 52, 2333 AK, Leiden, The Netherlands
- ARTIS Amsterdam Royal Zoo, Plantage Kerklaan 38-40, 1018 CZ, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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23
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Janmaat KRL, de Guinea M, Collet J, Byrne RW, Robira B, van Loon E, Jang H, Biro D, Ramos-Fernández G, Ross C, Presotto A, Allritz M, Alavi S, Van Belle S. Using natural travel paths to infer and compare primate cognition in the wild. iScience 2021; 24:102343. [PMID: 33997670 PMCID: PMC8101046 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2021.102343] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Within comparative psychology, the evolution of animal cognition is typically studied either by comparing indirect measures of cognitive abilities (e.g., relative brain size) across many species or by conducting batteries of decision-making experiments among (typically) a few captive species. Here, we propose a third, complementary approach: inferring and comparing cognitive abilities through observational field records of natural information gradients and the associated variation in decision-making outcomes, using the ranging behavior of wild animals. To demonstrate the feasibility of our proposal, we present the results of a global survey assessing the availability of long-term ranging data sets from wild primates and the willingness of primatologists to share such data. We explore three ways in which such ranging data, with or without the associated behavioral and ecological data often collected by primatologists, might be used to infer and compare spatial cognition. Finally, we suggest how ecological complexity may be best incorporated into comparative analyses. Comparing animal ranging decisions in natural habitats has untapped potential How decisions vary with natural information gradients reveals wild animal cognition Ranging data on at least 164 populations of 105 wild primate species are available We present three thought analyses to compare cognition and explain its evolution
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Affiliation(s)
- Karline R L Janmaat
- Evolutionary and Population Biology, Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.,Department of Cognitive Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences, Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands.,ARTIS Amsterdam Royal zoo, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Miguel de Guinea
- Department of Social Sciences, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, UK
| | - Julien Collet
- Oxford Navigation Group, Department of Zoology, Oxford University, Oxford, UK
| | - Richard W Byrne
- Centre for Social Learning and Cognitive Evolution, School of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of St Andrews, St Andrew, UK.,Scottish Primate Research Group, Scotland, UK
| | - Benjamin Robira
- Centre d'Écologie Fonctionnelle et Évolutive, Université de Montpellier, Montpellier, France.,Eco-anthropologie, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, CNRS, Université de Paris, Paris, France
| | - Emiel van Loon
- Theoretical and Computational Ecology, Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Haneul Jang
- Department of Human Behavior, Ecology and Culture, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Dora Biro
- Oxford Navigation Group, Department of Zoology, Oxford University, Oxford, UK.,Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, University of Rochester, Rochester, USA
| | - Gabriel Ramos-Fernández
- Department of Mathematical Modelling of Social Systems, Institute for Research on Applied Mathematics and Systems, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico.,Center for Complexity Sciences, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - Cody Ross
- Department of Human Behavior, Ecology and Culture, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Andrea Presotto
- Department of Geography and Geosciences, Salisbury University, Salisbury, MA, USA
| | - Matthias Allritz
- School of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of St Andrews, Scotland, UK
| | - Shauhin Alavi
- Department for the Ecology of Animal Societies, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behaviour, Konstanz, Germany.,Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany.,Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
| | - Sarie Van Belle
- Department of Anthropology, University of Austin at Texas, Austin, TX, USA
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24
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van der Hoek Y, Binyinyi E, Ngobobo U, Stoinski TS, Caillaud D. Daily Travel Distances of Unhabituated Grauer's Gorillas (Gorilla beringei graueri) in a Low Elevation Forest. Folia Primatol (Basel) 2021; 92:112-125. [PMID: 33756464 DOI: 10.1159/000514626] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/19/2020] [Accepted: 01/20/2021] [Indexed: 01/05/2023]
Abstract
To accurately determine the space use of animals, we need to follow animal movements over prolonged periods, which is especially challenging for the critically endangered Grauer's gorillas (Gorilla beringei graueri) in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). As a consequence, we know little about Grauer's gorillas, particularly from the lower elevational parts of their range. Between 2016 and 2018, we tracked unhabituated Grauer's gorillas in lowland forests (500-1,000 m a.s.l.), at the community-managed Nkuba Conservation Area in Nord Kivu (DRC) to provide estimates of daily travel distances (DTD), daily displacement distances (DDD), and the linearity of recorded paths expressed as the Linearity Index (LI): DDD/DTD. We found an average DTD of ∼1.3 km (range 0.05-5.0 km), with temporal variation among monthly averages; specifically, an increase in travel distance over the June-August dry season resulting in peak travel distances at the beginning of the September-December wet season. Daily displacements showed similar temporal variation, which resulted in a lack of obvious temporal patterns in LI. We conclude that the movement patterns of Grauer's gorillas in lowland forests, which are characterized by larger DTD than those of Grauer's gorillas that inhabit highland habitats, show similarity to travel distances of other predominantly frugivorous gorillas. Moreover, the observed temporal patterns in space use may be tentatively linked to temporal changes in fruit availability or consumption. These observations have consequences for our understanding of the ecological role that Grauer's gorillas play and provide baseline data to estimate current and future distributions, abundances, and carrying capacities of this highly threatened animal.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Urbain Ngobobo
- The Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International, Musanze, Rwanda
| | | | - Damien Caillaud
- Department of Anthropology, University of California, Davis, California, USA
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25
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Abstract
The search for human cognitive uniqueness often relied on low ecological tests with subjects experiencing unnatural ontogeny. Recently, neuroscience demonstrated the significance of a rich environment on the development of brain structures and cognitive abilities. This stresses the importance to consider the prior knowledge that subjects bring in any experiment. Second, recent developments in multivariate statistics control precisely for a number of factors and their interactions. Making controls in natural observations equivalent and sometimes superior to captive experimental studies without the drawbacks of the latter methods. Thus, we can now investigate complex cognition by accounting for many different factors, as required when solving tasks in nature. Combining both progresses allows us to move toward an “experience-specific cognition”, recognizing that cognition varies extensively in nature as individuals adapt to the precise challenges they experience in life. Such cognitive specialization makes cross-species comparisons more complex, while potentially identifying human cognitive uniqueness.
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26
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de Guinea M, Estrada A, Janmaat KR, Nekaris KAI, Van Belle S. Disentangling the importance of social and ecological information in goal-directed movements in a wild primate. Anim Behav 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2020.12.017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
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27
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Abreu F, Garber PA, Souto A, Presotto A, Schiel N. Navigating in a challenging semiarid environment: the use of a route-based mental map by a small-bodied neotropical primate. Anim Cogn 2021; 24:629-643. [PMID: 33394185 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-020-01465-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/19/2020] [Revised: 12/17/2020] [Accepted: 12/19/2020] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
To increase efficiency in the search for resources, many animals rely on their spatial abilities. Specifically, primates have been reported to use mostly topological and rarely Euclidean maps when navigating in large-scale space. Here, we aimed to investigate if the navigation of wild common marmosets inhabiting a semiarid environment is consistent with a topological representation and how environmental factors affect navigation. We collected 497 h of direct behavioral and GPS information on a group of marmosets using a 2-min instantaneous focal animal sampling technique. We found that our study group reused not only long-route segments (mean of 1007 m) but entire daily routes, a pattern that is not commonly seen in primates. The most frequently reused route segments were the ones closer to feeding sites, distant to resting sites, and in areas sparse in tree vegetation. We also identified a total of 56 clustered direction change points indicating that the group modified their direction of travel. These changes in direction were influenced by their close proximity to resting and feeding sites. Despite our small sample size, the obtained results are important and consistent with the contention that common marmosets navigate using a topological map that seems to benefit these animals in response to the exploitation of clustered exudate trees. Based on our findings, we hypothesize that the Caatinga landscape imposes physical restrictions in our group's navigation such as gaps in vegetation, small trees and xerophytic plants. This study, based on preliminary evidence, raises the question of whether navigation patterns are an intrinsic characteristic of a species or are ecologically dependent and change according to the environment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Filipa Abreu
- Department of Biology, Federal Rural University of Pernambuco, R. Dom Manuel de Medeiros, s/n, Dois Irmãos, Recife, PE, 52171-900, Brazil.
| | - Paul A Garber
- Department of Anthropology, Program in Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, 61801, USA
| | - Antonio Souto
- Department of Zoology, Federal University of Pernambuco, Av. Professor Moraes Rego, 1235, Recife, PE, 50670-901, Brazil
| | - Andrea Presotto
- Department of Geography and Geosciences, Salisbury University, Salisbury, USA
| | - Nicola Schiel
- Department of Biology, Federal Rural University of Pernambuco, R. Dom Manuel de Medeiros, s/n, Dois Irmãos, Recife, PE, 52171-900, Brazil
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28
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Trapanese C, Meunier H, Masi S. Do primates flexibly use spatio-temporal cues when foraging? Q J Exp Psychol (Hove) 2020; 75:232-244. [PMID: 33084504 DOI: 10.1177/1747021820970724] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Foraging in seasonal environments can be cognitively demanding. Comparative studies have associated large brain size with a frugivorous diet. We investigated the ability of three semi-free-ranging primate species with different degrees of frugivory (Ntrials: Macaca tonkeana = 419, Macaca fascicularis = 197, Sapajus apella = 346) in developing a mental representation of the spatio-temporal distribution of food using foraging experiments. Forty-two boxes were fixed on trees, and each week ("season"), some of them were filled with fruits which were either highly preferred, or less preferred. Spatial (geometrical panels) and temporal (peel skin of the available fruit) cues were present at each season to indicate where (food location), what (which food) was available, and when. To test the flexible use of the cues in primate foraging behaviour, we first removed the spatial and temporal cues one at a time, and then, we manipulated the "seasonal" order of the available fruit. We compared the foraging performances in the absence and the presence of the cues and during the usual and unusual seasonal order. The average proportion of baited boxes chosen by the subjects in presence of both cues was high (between 73% and 98%) for all species. The primates seemed to remember the spatio-temporal food availability (or used other cues) because no difference was found between trials with or without our spatial and temporal cues. When the usual seasonal pattern was changed, they flexibly adjusted the feeding choice by using the provided temporal cues. We discuss these results also in view of a possible experimental bias.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cinzia Trapanese
- UMR 7206 Eco-anthropologie (Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle-CNRS-Univ. Paris 7), Musée de l'Homme, Paris, France.,Centre de Primatologie de l'Université de Strasbourg, Niederhausbergen, France
| | - Hélène Meunier
- Centre de Primatologie de l'Université de Strasbourg, Niederhausbergen, France.,Laboratoire de Neurosciences Cognitives et Adaptatives, UMR 7364, CNRS et Université de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France
| | - Shelly Masi
- UMR 7206 Eco-anthropologie (Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle-CNRS-Univ. Paris 7), Musée de l'Homme, Paris, France
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Wessling EG, Dieguez P, Llana M, Pacheco L, Pruetz JD, Kühl HS. Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes verus) Density and Environmental Gradients at Their Biogeographical Range Edge. INT J PRIMATOL 2020. [DOI: 10.1007/s10764-020-00182-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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Meat eating by nonhuman primates: A review and synthesis. J Hum Evol 2020; 149:102882. [PMID: 33137551 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2020.102882] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/01/2020] [Revised: 08/20/2020] [Accepted: 08/21/2020] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Most nonhuman primates prey on vertebrates. Meat-eating, defined as ingestion of vertebrate tissue, occurs in 12 families, ≥39 genera, and ≥89 species. It is most common in capuchins (Cebus and Sapajus spp.), baboons (Papio spp.), bonobos (Pan paniscus), and chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and modestly common in blue monkeys (Cercopithecus mitis), callitrichids (Callithrix spp. and Saguinus spp.), and squirrel monkeys (Saimiri spp.). It is uncommon in other cercopithecines, rare in other haplorhines and in lemurs, and virtually absent in colobines. Birds are the prey class eaten by the most species (≥53), followed by reptiles (≥48), amphibians (≥38), mammals (≥35), and fish (≥7). Major hypotheses for the importance of meat eating are that it is (1) mainly an energy source, especially (1a) when plant-source foods (PSFs) with high energy return rates are scarce (energy shortfall hypothesis); (2) mainly a protein source; and (3) mainly a source of micronutrients scarce in PSFs. Meat eating bouts sometimes provide substantial energy and protein, and some chimpanzees gain substantial protein from meat monthly or annually. However, meat typically accounts for only small proportions of feeding time and of total energy and protein intake, and quantitative data are inconsistent with the energy shortfall hypothesis. PSFs and/or invertebrates are presumably the main protein sources, even for chimpanzees. Support is strongest for the micronutrient hypothesis. Most chimpanzees eat far less meat than recorded for hunter-gatherers, but the highest chimpanzee estimates approach the lowest for African hunter-gatherers. In fundamental contrast to the human predatory pattern, other primates only eat vertebrates much smaller than they are, tool-assisted predation is rare except in some capuchins and chimpanzees, and tool use in carcass processing is virtually absent. However, harvesting of small prey deserves more attention with reference to the archaeological and ethnographic record.
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Sauciuc GA, Persson T. Chimpanzees Predict the Hedonic Outcome of Novel Taste Combinations: The Evolutionary Origins of Affective Forecasting. Front Psychol 2020; 11:549193. [PMID: 33192796 PMCID: PMC7646213 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.549193] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/05/2020] [Accepted: 09/07/2020] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Affective forecasting–predicting the emotional outcome of never-before experienced situations–is pervasive in our lives. When facing novel situations, we can quickly integrate bits and pieces of prior experiences to envisage possible scenarios and their outcomes, and what these might feel like. Such affective glimpses of the future often steer the decisions we make. By enabling principled decision-making in novel situations, affective forecasting confers the important adaptive advantage of eluding the potentially costly consequences of tackling such situations by trial-and-error. Affective forecasting has been hypothesized as uniquely human, yet, in a recent study we found suggestive evidence of this ability in an orangutan. To test non-verbal subjects, we capitalized on culinary examples of affective forecasting and devised a behavioral test that required the subjects to make predictions about novel juice mixes produced from familiar ingredients. In the present study, we administered the same task to two chimpanzees and found that their performance was comparable to that of the previously tested orangutan and 10 humans, who served as a comparison group. To improve the comparability of human and animal performance, in the present study we also introduced a new approach to assessing if the subjects’ performance was indicative of affective forecasting, which relies exclusively on behavioral data. The results of the study open for the possibility that affective forecasting has evolved in the common ancestor of the great apes, providing Hominids with the adaptive advantage of e.g., quickly evaluating heterogeneous food patches using hedonic prediction.
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Chimpanzees Use Least-Cost Routes to Out-of-Sight Goals. Curr Biol 2020; 30:4528-4533.e5. [PMID: 33007243 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2020.08.076] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/08/2020] [Revised: 05/26/2020] [Accepted: 08/24/2020] [Indexed: 01/05/2023]
Abstract
While the ability of naturally ranging animals to recall the location of food resources and use straight-line routes between them has been demonstrated in several studies [1, 2], it is not known whether animals can use knowledge of their landscape to walk least-cost routes [3]. This ability is likely to be particularly important for animals living in highly variable energy landscapes, where movement costs are exacerbated [4, 5]. Here, we used least-cost modeling, which determines the most efficient route assuming full knowledge of the environment, to investigate whether chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) living in a rugged, montane environment walk least-cost routes to out-of-sight goals. We compared the "costs" and geometry of observed movements with predicted least-cost routes and local knowledge (agent-based) and straight-line null models. The least-cost model performed better than the local knowledge and straight-line models across all parameters, and linear mixed modeling showed a strong relationship between the cost of observed chimpanzee travel and least-cost routes. Our study provides the first example of the ability to take least-cost routes to out-of-sight goals by chimpanzees and suggests they have spatial memory of their home range landscape. This ability may be a key trait that has enabled chimpanzees to maintain their energy balance in a low-resource environment. Our findings provide a further example of how the advanced cognitive complexity of hominins may have facilitated their adaptation to a variety of environmental conditions and lead us to hypothesize that landscape complexity may play a role in shaping cognition.
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Crockford C, Samuni L, Vigilant L, Wittig RM. Postweaning maternal care increases male chimpanzee reproductive success. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2020; 6:6/38/eaaz5746. [PMID: 32948598 PMCID: PMC7500924 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aaz5746] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/13/2019] [Accepted: 07/28/2020] [Indexed: 06/01/2023]
Abstract
Humans are unusual among animals for continuing to provision and care for their offspring until adulthood. This "prolonged dependency" is considered key for the evolution of other notable human traits, such as large brains, complex societies, and extended postreproductive lifespans. Prolonged dependency must therefore have evolved under conditions in which reproductive success is gained with parental investment and diminished with early parental loss. We tested this idea using data from wild chimpanzees, which have similarly extended immature years as humans and prolonged mother-offspring associations. Males who lost their mothers after weaning but before maturity began reproducing later and had lower average reproductive success. Thus, persistent mother-immature son associations seem vital for enhancing male reproductive success, although mothers barely provision sons after weaning. We posit that these associations lead to social gains, crucial for successful reproduction in complex social societies, and offer insights into the evolution of prolonged dependency.
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Affiliation(s)
- Catherine Crockford
- Department of Primatology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany.
- Taï Chimpanzee Project, CSRS, Abidjan, Ivory Coast
- Human Behaviour, Ecology & Culture, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Liran Samuni
- Department of Primatology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
- Taï Chimpanzee Project, CSRS, Abidjan, Ivory Coast
- Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, USA
| | - Linda Vigilant
- Department of Primatology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Roman M Wittig
- Department of Primatology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
- Taï Chimpanzee Project, CSRS, Abidjan, Ivory Coast
- Human Behaviour, Ecology & Culture, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
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Valenta K, Daegling DJ, Nevo O, Ledogar J, Sarkar D, Kalbitzer U, Bortolamiol S, Omeja P, Chapman CA, Ayasse M, Kay R, Williams B. Fruit Selectivity in Anthropoid Primates: Size Matters. INT J PRIMATOL 2020. [DOI: 10.1007/s10764-020-00158-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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Abreu F, Souto A, Schiel N. Wild common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus) employ spatial cognitive abilities to improve their food search and consumption: an experimental approach in small-scale space. Primates 2020; 61:807-816. [PMID: 32383127 DOI: 10.1007/s10329-020-00826-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/08/2019] [Accepted: 04/24/2020] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
The ability of an animal to integrate and retain spatial information of resources often depends on the spatial memory and the speed at which this memory crystallizes. These become especially important once foragers reach their target area. However, very little is known about how wild common marmosets encode spatial information when feeding rewards are near to each other in a small-scale space. With this in mind, we performed field experiments to test foraging decisions related to a small-scale space setting. Specifically, we tested the (i) short- and (ii) long-term spatial memory, as well as (iii) the ability to remember the spatial location of resources after a single visit (one-trial spatial learning). The study was conducted with four groups of wild common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus) living in a semiarid Caatinga environment. We observed that individuals were able to retain spatial information of food sources on both a short- and long-term basis and to learn the spatial location of these resources after a single visit. We suggest that such abilities during foraging can improve the search for scattered resources with fluctuations of food availability. Presumably, this would be particularly advantageous in Caatinga, with its vegetation exhibiting asynchronous phenological patterns. Altogether, our results demonstrate that common marmosets employ all three studied spatial cognitive abilities to improve their food search and consumption.
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Affiliation(s)
- Filipa Abreu
- Department of Biology, Federal Rural University of Pernambuco, R. Dom Manuel de Medeiros, s/n, Recife, PE, 52171-900, Brazil.
| | - Antonio Souto
- Department of Zoology, Federal University of Pernambuco, Av. Professor Moraes Rego, 1235, Recife, PE, 50670-901, Brazil
| | - Nicola Schiel
- Department of Biology, Federal Rural University of Pernambuco, R. Dom Manuel de Medeiros, s/n, Recife, PE, 52171-900, Brazil
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Salmi R, Presotto A, Scarry CJ, Hawman P, Doran-Sheehy DM. Spatial cognition in western gorillas (Gorilla gorilla): an analysis of distance, linearity, and speed of travel routes. Anim Cogn 2020; 23:545-557. [PMID: 32060749 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-020-01358-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2019] [Revised: 01/27/2020] [Accepted: 01/31/2020] [Indexed: 01/04/2023]
Abstract
Spatial memory allows animals to retain information regarding the location, distribution, and quality of feeding sites to optimize foraging decisions. Western gorillas inhabit a complex environment with spatiotemporal fluctuations of resource availability, prefer fruits when available, and travel long distances to reach them. Here, we examined movement patterns-such as linearity, distance, and speed of traveling-to assess whether gorillas optimize travel when reaching out-of-sight valued resources. Our results show that gorillas travel patterns are affected by the activity they perform next, the type of food they feed on, and their preference level to specific fruits, suggesting they are able to optimize foraging based on spatial knowledge of their resources. Additionally, gorillas left in the direction of the next resource as soon as they started traveling and decelerated before approaching food resources, as evidence that they have a representation of their exact locations. Moreover, home range familiarity did not influence gorillas' movement patterns, as travel linearity in the core and periphery did not differ, suggesting that they may not depend wholly on a network of paths to navigate their habitat. These results show some overlap with chimpanzees' spatial abilities. Differences between the two ape species exist, however, potentially reflecting more their differences in diet (degree of frugivory) rather than their cognitive abilities. Further studies should focus on determining whether gorillas are able to use shortcuts and/or approach the same goal from multiple directions to better identify the spatial abilities used by this species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Roberta Salmi
- Department of Anthropology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, 30602, USA. .,Department of Geography, Center for Geospatial Research, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA.
| | - Andrea Presotto
- Department of Geography and Geosciences, Salisbury University, Salisbury, MD, USA
| | - Clara J Scarry
- Department of Anthropology, California State University, Sacramento, Sacramento, CA, USA
| | - Peter Hawman
- Department of Geography, Center for Geospatial Research, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA
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de Guinea M, Estrada A, Nekaris KAI, Van Belle S. Arboreal route navigation in a Neotropical mammal: energetic implications associated with tree monitoring and landscape attributes. MOVEMENT ECOLOGY 2019; 7:39. [PMID: 31890215 PMCID: PMC6918719 DOI: 10.1186/s40462-019-0187-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/18/2019] [Accepted: 12/05/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Although navigating along a network of routes might constrain animal movement flexibility, it may be an energetically efficient strategy. Routinely using the same route allows for visually monitoring of food resources, which might reduce the cognitive load and as such facilitate the process of movement decision-making. Similarly, locating routes in areas that avoid costly landscape attributes will enhance their overall energy balance. In this study we determined the benefits of route navigation in an energy minimiser arboreal primate, the black howler monkey (Alouatta pigra). METHODS We monitored five neighbouring groups of black howler monkeys at Palenque National Park, Mexico from September 2016 through August 2017. We recorded the location of the focal group every 20 m and mapped all travel paths to establish a route network (N = 1528 travel bouts). We constructed linear mixed models to assess the influence of food resource distribution (N = 931 trees) and landscape attributes (slope, elevation and presence of canopy gaps) on the location of routes within a route network. RESULTS The number of food trees that fell within the visual detection distance from the route network was higher (mean: 156.1 ± SD 44.9) than randomly simulated locations (mean: 121.9 ± SD 46.4). Similarly, the number of food trees found within the monkey's visual range per meter travelled increased, on overage, 0.35 ± SE 0.04 trees/m with increasing use of the route. In addition, route segments used at least twice were more likely to occur with increasing density of food resources and decreasing presence of canopy gaps. Route segments used at least four times were more likely to occur in elevated areas within the home ranges but only under conditions of reduced visual access to food resources. CONCLUSIONS Route navigation emerged as an efficient movement strategy in a group-living arboreal primate. Highly used route segments potentially increased visual access to food resources while avoiding energetically costly landscape features securing foraging success in a tropical rainforest.
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Affiliation(s)
- Miguel de Guinea
- Department of Social Sciences, Oxford Brookes University, Gibbs Building, Gipsy Lane, Oxford, OX3 0BP UK
| | - Alejandro Estrada
- Institute of Biology, National Autonomous University of Mexico, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - K. Anne-Isola Nekaris
- Department of Social Sciences, Oxford Brookes University, Gibbs Building, Gipsy Lane, Oxford, OX3 0BP UK
| | - Sarie Van Belle
- Department of Anthropology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX USA
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Janmaat KRL. What animals do not do or fail to find: A novel observational approach for studying cognition in the wild. Evol Anthropol 2019; 28:303-320. [PMID: 31418959 PMCID: PMC6916178 DOI: 10.1002/evan.21794] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/03/2017] [Revised: 06/17/2019] [Accepted: 07/12/2019] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Abstract
To understand how our brain evolved and what it is for, we are in urgent need of knowledge about the cognitive skills of a large variety of animal species and individuals, and their relationships to rapidly disappearing social and ecological conditions. But how do we obtain this knowledge? Studying cognition in the wild is a challenge. Field researchers (and their study subjects) face many factors that can easily interfere with their variables of interest. Although field studies of cognition present unique challenges, they are still invaluable for understanding the evolutionary drivers of cognition. In this review, I discuss the advantages and urgency of field-based studies on animal cognition and introduce a novel observational approach for field research that is guided by three questions: (a) what do animals fail to find?, (b) what do they not do?, and (c) what do they only do when certain conditions are met? My goal is to provide guidance to future field researchers examining primate cognition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Karline R. L. Janmaat
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary AnthropologyLeipzigGermany
- Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem DynamicsUniversity of AmsterdamAmsterdamThe Netherlands
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40
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Simons M, Tibbetts E. Insects as models for studying the evolution of animal cognition. CURRENT OPINION IN INSECT SCIENCE 2019; 34:117-122. [PMID: 31271948 DOI: 10.1016/j.cois.2019.05.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2019] [Revised: 05/23/2019] [Accepted: 05/28/2019] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Research on the evolution of cognition has long centered on vertebrates. Current research indicates that both complex social behavior and ecology influence the evolution of vertebrate cognition. Insects provide a powerful and underappreciated model system for research on cognitive evolution because they are a large group with multiple evolutionary transitions to complex social behavior as well as extensive ecological variation. Here, we integrate current research on cognitive evolution in vertebrates and insects. We specifically highlight recent advances in vertebrate research that are applicable to insects. We focus on two key topics: 1) The challenges of quantifying cognition 2) What factors contribute to the evolution of cognition? Applying methods like comparative analysis and behavioral cognition measurement to insects are likely to provide key insight into the evolution of animal minds.
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Affiliation(s)
- Meagan Simons
- University of Michigan, 1105 N. University Ave., Ann Arbor, MI 48104, United States
| | - Elizabeth Tibbetts
- University of Michigan, 1105 N. University Ave., Ann Arbor, MI 48104, United States.
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41
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Jang H, Boesch C, Mundry R, Ban SD, Janmaat KRL. Travel linearity and speed of human foragers and chimpanzees during their daily search for food in tropical rainforests. Sci Rep 2019; 9:11066. [PMID: 31363113 PMCID: PMC6667462 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-47247-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2019] [Accepted: 07/03/2019] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
To understand the evolutionary roots of human spatial cognition, researchers have compared spatial abilities of humans and one of our closest living relatives, the chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes). However, how humans and chimpanzees compare in solving spatial tasks during real-world foraging is unclear to date, as measuring such spatial abilities in natural habitats is challenging. Here we compared spatial movement patterns of the Mbendjele BaYaka people and the Taï chimpanzees during their daily search for food in rainforests. We measured linearity and speed during off-trail travels toward out-of-sight locations as proxies for spatial knowledge. We found similarly high levels of linearity in individuals of Mbendjele foragers and Taï chimpanzees. However, human foragers and chimpanzees clearly differed in their reactions to group size and familiarity with the foraging areas. Mbendjele foragers increased travel linearity with increasing familiarity and group size, without obvious changes in speed. This pattern was reversed in Taï chimpanzees. We suggest that these differences between Mbendjele foragers and Taï chimpanzees reflect their different ranging styles, such as life-time range size and trail use. This result highlights the impact of socio-ecological settings on comparing spatial movement patterns. Our study provides a first step toward comparing long-range spatial movement patterns of two closely-related species in their natural environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Haneul Jang
- Department of Primatology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany.
| | - Christophe Boesch
- Department of Primatology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
- Wild Chimpanzee Foundation, Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire
| | - Roger Mundry
- Department of Primatology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Simone D Ban
- Wild Chimpanzee Foundation, Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire
| | - Karline R L Janmaat
- Department of Primatology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
- Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, Faculty of Science, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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Ebel SJ, Schmelz M, Herrmann E, Call J. Innovative problem solving in great apes: the role of visual feedback in the floating peanut task. Anim Cogn 2019; 22:791-805. [PMID: 31278621 PMCID: PMC6687703 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-019-01275-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/16/2018] [Revised: 05/31/2019] [Accepted: 06/05/2019] [Indexed: 01/04/2023]
Abstract
Nonhuman great apes show remarkable behavioural flexibility. Some individuals are even able to use water as a tool: They spit water into a vertical tube to make a peanut float upwards until it comes into reach (floating peanut task; FPT). In the current study, we used the FPT to investigate how visual feedback, an end-state demonstration and a social demonstration affect task performance in nonhuman great apes in three experiments. Our results indicate that apes who had acquired the solution with a clear tube maintained it with an opaque one. However, apes starting with an opaque tube failed to solve the task. Additionally, facing the peanut floating on a water-filled tube (i.e., an end-state demonstration) promoted success independent on the availability of visual feedback. Moreover, experiencing how water was poured into the tube either by a human demonstrator or by a water tap that had been opened either by the ape or a human did not seem to be of further assistance. First, this study suggests that great apes require visual feedback for solving the FPT, which is no longer required after the initial acquisition. Second, some subjects benefit from encountering the end-state, a finding corroborating previous studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sonja J Ebel
- Department of Developmental and Comparative Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103, Leipzig, Germany. .,School of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of St Andrews, St Mary's Quad, South Street, St Andrews, Fife, KY16 9JP, Scotland, UK.
| | - Martin Schmelz
- Department of Developmental and Comparative Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103, Leipzig, Germany.,Department of Cognitive Biology, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14 (UZA1), 1090, Vienna, Austria
| | - Esther Herrmann
- Department of Developmental and Comparative Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Josep Call
- Department of Developmental and Comparative Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103, Leipzig, Germany.,School of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of St Andrews, St Mary's Quad, South Street, St Andrews, Fife, KY16 9JP, Scotland, UK
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Louail M, Gilissen E, Prat S, Garcia C, Bouret S. Refining the ecological brain: Strong relation between the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and feeding ecology in five primate species. Cortex 2019; 118:262-274. [PMID: 31030897 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2019.03.019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/03/2018] [Revised: 12/21/2018] [Accepted: 03/22/2019] [Indexed: 01/04/2023]
Abstract
To survive in complex and seasonal environments, primates are thought to rely upon cognitive capacities such as decision-making and episodic memory, which enable them to plan their daily foraging path. According to the Ecological Brain hypothesis, feeding ecology has driven the expansion of the brain to support the corresponding development of cognitive skills. Recent works in cognitive neurosciences indicate that cognitive operations such as decision-making or subjective evaluation (which are contextual and dependent upon episodic memory), relied critically upon a small part of the frontal lobe, often referred to as the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC). Several authors suggested that this area might be important for foraging, but this has never been tested. In the present study, we quantified the relation between the size of the VMPFC (along with other cerebral measures: the whole brain, the gyrus rectus and the somatosensory cortex) and key socio-ecological variables in five primate species (Macaca mulatta, Macaca fuscata, Gorilla gorilla, Pan troglodytes and Homo sapiens). We hypothesized that the size of the VMPFC would be greater in primates with a large dietary spectrum and complex foraging strategies. We also hypothesized that the impact of feeding ecology would be stronger on this specific region than on other regions (somatosensory cortex) or on more global cerebral measures (e.g., whole brain). In line with these hypotheses, we found that all cerebral measures were more strongly related to feeding ecology than group size, a proxy for social complexity. As expected, the VMPFC volume is more precisely related to feeding ecology than the whole brain, and appears to be critically related to dietary quality. Thus, combining a comparative approach with predictions coming both from behavioral ecology and cognitive neurosciences, our study provides evidence that feeding ecology played a key role in the development of specific cognitive skills, which rely upon the expansion of a specific cortical area.
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Affiliation(s)
- Margot Louail
- Team Motivation Brain & Behavior, ICM - Institut du Cerveau et de la Moelle épinière, CNRS UMR 7225 - INSERM U1127 - UPMC UMR S 1127, Hôpital Pitié-Salpêtrière, Paris, France; UMR 7194 (HNHP), MNHN/CNRS/UPVD, Alliance Sorbonne Université, Musée de l'Homme, Paris, France
| | - Emmanuel Gilissen
- Department of African Zoology, Royal Museum for Central Africa, Tervuren, Belgium; Université Libre de Bruxelles, Laboratory of Histology and Neuropathology, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Sandrine Prat
- UMR 7194 (HNHP), MNHN/CNRS/UPVD, Alliance Sorbonne Université, Musée de l'Homme, Paris, France
| | - Cécile Garcia
- UMR 7206 Eco-anthropologie et Ethnobiologie, CNRS - MNHN - Paris Diderot, Alliance Sorbonne Université, Musée de l'Homme, Paris, France
| | - Sébastien Bouret
- Team Motivation Brain & Behavior, ICM - Institut du Cerveau et de la Moelle épinière, CNRS UMR 7225 - INSERM U1127 - UPMC UMR S 1127, Hôpital Pitié-Salpêtrière, Paris, France.
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Amodio P, Boeckle M, Schnell AK, Ostojíc L, Fiorito G, Clayton NS. Grow Smart and Die Young: Why Did Cephalopods Evolve Intelligence? Trends Ecol Evol 2018; 34:45-56. [PMID: 30446408 DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2018.10.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2018] [Revised: 10/16/2018] [Accepted: 10/18/2018] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Intelligence in large-brained vertebrates might have evolved through independent, yet similar processes based on comparable socioecological pressures and slow life histories. This convergent evolutionary route, however, cannot explain why cephalopods developed large brains and flexible behavioural repertoires: cephalopods have fast life histories and live in simple social environments. Here, we suggest that the loss of the external shell in cephalopods (i) caused a dramatic increase in predatory pressure, which in turn prevented the emergence of slow life histories, and (ii) allowed the exploitation of novel challenging niches, thus favouring the emergence of intelligence. By highlighting convergent and divergent aspects between cephalopods and large-brained vertebrates we illustrate how the evolution of intelligence might not be constrained to a single evolutionary route.
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Affiliation(s)
- Piero Amodio
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
| | - Markus Boeckle
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | | | - Ljerka Ostojíc
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Graziano Fiorito
- Department of Biology and Evolution of Marine Organisms, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Napoli, Italy
| | - Nicola S Clayton
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
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Trapanese C, Meunier H, Masi S. What, where and when: spatial foraging decisions in primates. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2018; 94:483-502. [PMID: 30211971 DOI: 10.1111/brv.12462] [Citation(s) in RCA: 61] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/11/2017] [Revised: 08/17/2018] [Accepted: 08/20/2018] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
When exploiting the environment, animals have to discriminate, track, and integrate salient spatial cues to navigate and identify goal sites. Actually, they have to know what can be found (e.g. what fruit), where (e.g. on which tree) and when (in what season or moment of the year). This is very relevant for primate species as they often live in seasonal and relatively unpredictable environments such as tropical forests. Here, we review and compare different approaches used to investigate primate spatial foraging strategies: from direct observations of wild primates to predictions from statistical simulations, including experimental approaches on both captive and wild primates, and experiments in captivity using virtual reality technology. Within this framework, most of these studies converge to show that many primate species can (i) remember the location of most of food resources well, and (ii) often seem to have a goal-oriented path towards spatially permanent resources. Overall, primates likely use mental maps to plan different foraging strategies to enhance their fitness. The majority of studies suggest that they may organise spatial information on food resources into topological maps: they use landmarks to navigate and encode local spatial information with regard to direction and distance. Even though these studies were able to show that primates can remember food quality (what) and its location (where), still very little is known on how they incorporate the temporal knowledge of available food (when). Future studies should attempt to increase our understanding of the potential of primates to learn temporal patterns and how both socio-ecological differences among species and their cognitive abilities influence such behavioural strategies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cinzia Trapanese
- École Doctorale Frontières du Vivant (FdV) - Programme Bettencourt, Centre de Recherches Interdisciplinaires, Tour Maine Montparnasse, Paris, 75015, France.,Centre de Primatologie de l'Université de Strasbourg, Fort Foch, Niederhausbergen, 67207, France.,Faculté de psychologie Laboratoire de Neurosciences Cognitives et Adaptatives, UMR 7364, CNRS et Université de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, 67000, France.,Département Hommes et Environnements Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique/Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, University Paris Diderot, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Musée de l'Homme, UMR 7206-CNRS/MNHN, Paris, 75116, France
| | - Hélène Meunier
- Centre de Primatologie de l'Université de Strasbourg, Fort Foch, Niederhausbergen, 67207, France.,Faculté de psychologie Laboratoire de Neurosciences Cognitives et Adaptatives, UMR 7364, CNRS et Université de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, 67000, France
| | - Shelly Masi
- Département Hommes et Environnements Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique/Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, University Paris Diderot, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Musée de l'Homme, UMR 7206-CNRS/MNHN, Paris, 75116, France
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Adamescu GS, Plumptre AJ, Abernethy KA, Polansky L, Bush ER, Chapman CA, Shoo LP, Fayolle A, Janmaat KRL, Robbins MM, Ndangalasi HJ, Cordeiro NJ, Gilby IC, Wittig RM, Breuer T, Hockemba MB, Sanz CM, Morgan DB, Pusey AE, Mugerwa B, Gilagiza B, Tutin C, Ewango CEN, Sheil D, Dimoto E, Baya F, Bujo F, Ssali F, Dikangadissi J, Jeffery K, Valenta K, White L, Masozera M, Wilson ML, Bitariho R, Ndolo Ebika ST, Gourlet‐Fleury S, Mulindahabi F, Beale CM. Annual cycles are the most common reproductive strategy in African tropical tree communities. Biotropica 2018. [DOI: 10.1111/btp.12561] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
Affiliation(s)
| | - Andrew J. Plumptre
- Wildlife Conservation Society 2300 Southern Boulevard Bronx NY 10460 USA
- Conservation Science Group Department of Zoology Cambridge University Pembroke Rd Cambridge UK
| | - Katharine A. Abernethy
- Biological and Environmental Sciences Faculty of Natural Sciences University of Stirling Stirling FK9 4LA UK
- Institut de Recherche en Ecologie Tropicale CENAREST BP 842 Libreville Gabon
| | - Leo Polansky
- Department of Primatology Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig Deutscher Platz 6 04103 Leipzig Germany
| | - Emma R. Bush
- Biological and Environmental Sciences Faculty of Natural Sciences University of Stirling Stirling FK9 4LA UK
| | - Colin A. Chapman
- Department of Anthropology and McGill School of Environment McGill University Montreal QC H3A 2A7 Canada
- Wildlife Conservation Society Bronx NY 10460 USA
| | - Luke P. Shoo
- School of Biological Sciences The University of Queensland Brisbane QLD 4072 Australia
| | - Adeline Fayolle
- TERRA Teaching and Research Center Gembloux Agro‐Bio Tech Liège University Passage des Déportés 2 5030 Gembloux Belgium
| | - Karline R. L. Janmaat
- Department of Primatology Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig Deutscher Platz 6 04103 Leipzig Germany
- Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics University of Amsterdam Amsterdam 1012 WX the Netharlands
| | - Martha M. Robbins
- Department of Primatology Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig Deutscher Platz 6 04103 Leipzig Germany
| | - Henry J. Ndangalasi
- Department of Botany University of Dar es Salaam PO Box 35060 Dar es Salaam Tanzania
| | - Norbert J. Cordeiro
- Department of Biology Roosevelt University 430 Michigan Ave Chicago IL 60605 USA
- Science and Education, The Field Museum 1400 S. Lake Shore Dr Chicago IL 60605 USA
| | - Ian C. Gilby
- School of Human Evolution and Social Change Arizona State University Tempe AZ 85281 USA
| | - Roman M. Wittig
- Department of Primatology Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig Deutscher Platz 6 04103 Leipzig Germany
- Taï Chimpanzee Project Centre Suisse de Recherches Scientifiques BP 1303, Abidjan 01 Ivory Coast West Africa
| | - Thomas Breuer
- Wildlife Conservation Society 2300 Southern Boulevard Bronx NY 10460 USA
- Mbeli Bai Study, Wildlife Conservation Society – Congo Program 151 Avenue Charles de Gaulle 14537 Brazzaville Republic of Congo
| | | | - Crickette M. Sanz
- Department of Anthropology Washington University in St. Louis 1 Brookings Drive Saint Louis MO 63130 USA
- Congo Program Wildlife Conservation Society 151 Avenue de Gaulle Brazzaville Republic of Congo
| | - David B. Morgan
- Lester E. Fisher Center for the Study and Conservation of Apes Lincoln Park Zoo, 2001 North Clark Street Chicago IL 60614 USA
| | - Anne E. Pusey
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology Duke University Durham NC USA
| | - Badru Mugerwa
- Institute of Tropical Forest Conservation (ITFC) PO BOX 44 Kabale Uganda
| | | | - Caroline Tutin
- Biological and Environmental Sciences Faculty of Natural Sciences University of Stirling Stirling FK9 4LA UK
| | | | - Douglas Sheil
- Faculty of Environmental Sciences and Natural Resource Management Norwegian University of Life Sciences Ås NO‐1432 Norway
| | - Edmond Dimoto
- Agence Nationale des Parcs Nationaux (ANPN) B.P. 20379 Libreville Gabon
| | - Fidèle Baya
- Ministère des Eaux, Forêts, Chasse et Pêche BP 3314 Bangui Central African Republic
| | - Flort Bujo
- Wildlife Conservation Society 2300 Southern Boulevard Bronx NY 10460 USA
| | - Fredrick Ssali
- Institute of Tropical Forest Conservation (ITFC) PO BOX 44 Kabale Uganda
| | | | - Kathryn Jeffery
- Biological and Environmental Sciences Faculty of Natural Sciences University of Stirling Stirling FK9 4LA UK
- Agence Nationale des Parcs Nationaux (ANPN) B.P. 20379 Libreville Gabon
| | - Kim Valenta
- Department of Anthropology and McGill School of Environment McGill University Montreal QC H3A 2A7 Canada
- Wildlife Conservation Society Bronx NY 10460 USA
| | - Lee White
- Biological and Environmental Sciences Faculty of Natural Sciences University of Stirling Stirling FK9 4LA UK
- Institut de Recherche en Ecologie Tropicale CENAREST BP 842 Libreville Gabon
- Agence Nationale des Parcs Nationaux (ANPN) B.P. 20379 Libreville Gabon
| | - Michel Masozera
- Wildlife Conservation Society 2300 Southern Boulevard Bronx NY 10460 USA
| | - Michael L. Wilson
- Department of Anthropology University of Minnesota Minneapolis MN 55454 USA
- Department of Ecology, Evolution& Behavior University of Minnesota Minneapolis MN 55108 USA
| | - Robert Bitariho
- Institute of Tropical Forest Conservation (ITFC) PO BOX 44 Kabale Uganda
| | - Sydney T. Ndolo Ebika
- Initiative des Champignons et des Plantes du Congo (ICPC) B.P. 2300 Brazzaville Republic of Congo
| | | | - Felix Mulindahabi
- Wildlife Conservation Society 2300 Southern Boulevard Bronx NY 10460 USA
| | - Colin M. Beale
- Department of Biology University of York Wentworth Way York YO10 5DD UK
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Hermer E, Cauchoix M, Chaine AS, Morand-Ferron J. Elevation-related difference in serial reversal learning ability in a nonscatter hoarding passerine. Behav Ecol 2018. [DOI: 10.1093/beheco/ary067] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Ethan Hermer
- Department of Biology, University of Ottawa, Gendron, Ottawa, Canada
| | - Maxime Cauchoix
- Institute for Advanced Studies in Toulouse, Toulouse School of Economics, Toulouse, France
- Station d’Ecologie Théorique et Expérimentale du CNRS UMR5321, Evolutionary Ecology Group, Moulis, France
| | - Alexis S Chaine
- Institute for Advanced Studies in Toulouse, Toulouse School of Economics, Toulouse, France
- Station d’Ecologie Théorique et Expérimentale du CNRS UMR5321, Evolutionary Ecology Group, Moulis, France
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Fuhrer N, Gygax L. From minutes to days-The ability of sows (Sus scrofa) to estimate time intervals. Behav Processes 2017; 142:146-155. [PMID: 28735073 DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2017.07.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/03/2017] [Revised: 07/11/2017] [Accepted: 07/16/2017] [Indexed: 01/04/2023]
Abstract
Time estimation helps allocating time to different tasks and to plan behavioural sequences. It may also be relevant to animal welfare if it enables animals assessing the duration of a negative situation. Here, we investigated the ability of dry sows to estimate short and long time periods. We used a variant of the peak-interval procedure and the choice between 2 resources of different quality and replenishment rates to assess time periods in the order of minutes and days, respectively. In the minute-experiment, the sows were trained to expect an interruption while feeding at the end of an interval. Heart rate and heart rate variability slightly and continuously increased and decreased, respectively, towards the end of that interval. In the day-experiment, lasting about 60days, the sows were increasingly more likely to open the door to a high food reward on the correct day when this food reward was presented every fifth day. We conclude that the sows learnt to estimate time intervals of 5days after lengthy training but did not accurately learn intervals in the range of minutes. Therefore, they might re-visit replenishing resources after several days, but may not base short-term decisions solely on the passing of time.
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Affiliation(s)
- Natascha Fuhrer
- Centre for Proper Housing of Ruminants and Pigs, Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office FSVO, Agroscope, Tänikon, CH-8356 Ettenhausen, Switzerland; Animal Behaviour, Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, CH-8057 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Lorenz Gygax
- Centre for Proper Housing of Ruminants and Pigs, Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office FSVO, Agroscope, Tänikon, CH-8356 Ettenhausen, Switzerland.
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Amato KR, Ulanov A, Ju KS, Garber PA. Metabolomic data suggest regulation of black howler monkey (Alouatta pigra) diet composition at the molecular level. Am J Primatol 2016; 79:1-10. [PMID: 27936282 PMCID: PMC10373101 DOI: 10.1002/ajp.22616] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
In addition to macronutrients, foods consist of a complex set of chemical compounds that can influence dietary selectivity and consumer physiology. Metabolomics allow us to describe this complexity by quantifying all small molecules, or metabolites, in a food item. In this study we use GC-MS based metabolomics to describe the metabolite profiles of foods consumed by one population of Mexican black howler monkeys (Alouatta pigra) over a 10-month period. Our data indicate that each food exhibited a distinct metabolite profile, and the average weekly intake of metabolites such as neochlorogenic acid and serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine) was correlated with the consumption of certain plant parts. We speculate that these patterns result in temporal changes in howler monkey physiology such as food retention time. In contrast, variation in the weekly intake of metabolites such as oxalic acid was 70% less than variation in the concentration of the same metabolites across food items, suggesting that howler monkeys regulated the intake of these metabolites, possibly to avoid physiological consequences such as kidney stone formation. Finally, seasonal variation in the consumption of individual nutrient and non-nutrient metabolites were correlated with changes in the relative abundances of associated gut microbial taxa, implying indirect effects of food item metabolites on howler monkey nutritional ecology that likely drive foraging decisions. While additional research is needed to validate these findings, the patterns we report serve as important baseline data for understanding the effects of plant metabolites on the food choice in primates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katherine R Amato
- Department of Anthropology, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois
| | - Alexander Ulanov
- Roy J. Carver Metabolomics Center, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois
| | - Kou-San Ju
- Department of Microbiology and the Division of Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmacognosy, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio
| | - Paul A Garber
- Department of Anthropology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois
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