Alavi, S. E. | Search bioRxiv

bioRxiv2024

The development of social attention in orangutans: comparing peering behaviour in wild and zoo-housed individuals

Social learning is the cornerstone of all cultural processes and plays a pivotal role during the evolution of cognition. To understand how social learning evolved, we have to look at the immediate and developmental conditions affecting individuals tendencies to attend to social information. We compared peering behaviour (i.e., close-range and sustained observation of the activities of conspecifics) in wild and zoo-housed immature Sumatran orangutans (Pongo abelii) by analysing long-term data which included 3101 peering events collected at the Suaq Balimbing research site in Indonesia and at four European zoos on 35 immature individuals. Using Generalized-Additive-Mixed-Models, we tested for age-specific patterns in peering frequency, target, and context selection. We found similar age trajectories of peering in both settings but higher mean frequencies of peering in the zoos, even after controlling for varying social opportunities to peer. Wild immatures preferably peered at their mothers but zoo-housed immatures at non-mother individuals. In both settings, immatures preferred to peer at older individuals, and in learning-intense contexts. Our findings suggest a hard-wired component in the tendency to attend to social information and a considerable degree of ontogenetic plasticity - a combination that was likely foundational for the evolution of complex cultures, including human culture. HighlightsO_LIWe compared attendance to social information in wild and zoo-housed orangutans C_LIO_LIImmature orangutans peer in contexts where learning is expected C_LIO_LIPeering frequency develops similarly over age, suggesting hardwired propensities C_LIO_LIPeering target and context selection differs between the two settings C_LIO_LIOrangutans tendency to attend to social information shows plasticity C_LI

animal behavior and cognition↗

bioRxiv2022

Coupling of Coastal Activity with Tidal Cycles is Stronger in Tool-using Capuchins (Cebus capucinus imitator)

Terrestrial mammals exploiting coastal resources must cope with the challenge that resource availability and accessibility fluctuate with tidal cycles. Tool use can improve foraging efficiency and provide access to structurally protected resources that are otherwise unavailable (e.g., mollusks and fruits). To understand how variable accessibility of valuable resources shapes behavioral patterns, and whether tool use aids in the efficient exploitation of intertidal resources, we compared the relationship between tidal cycles and activity patterns of tool-using vs. non-tool-using groups of white-faced capuchin monkeys on Jicaron Island in Coiba National Park, Panama. Although only a single group of capuchins on Jicaron uses tools, all coastal groups forage on intertidal resources. Using data from >3 years of camera trapping at varying distances from the coast, we found that capuchins on Jicaron showed increased coastal activity during specific parts of the tidal cycle, and that this relationship differed between tool-using and non-tool-using groups, as well as between seasons. Activity patterns of tool-using capuchins were more strongly and consistently tied to tidal cycles compared to non-tool-users, indicating that tool use might allow for more efficient exploitation of tidal resources. Our findings highlight the potential of tool use to aid niche expansion.

animal behavior and cognition↗