Independent researcher, Italy.
Psychology Department, Adams State University, Alamosa, CO, USA.
Biol Lett. 2022 Jan;18(1):20210410. doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2021.0410. Epub 2022 Jan 12.
Group-living animals need to deal with conflicting interests to maintain cohesion. When the costs of doing so outweigh the benefits, the group may (temporarily) split into two or more subgroups. Conflicting interests can concern what activity to pursue or the direction of travel. Temporary group separation is a common feature in species with a high degree of fission-fusion dynamics. We investigated the role activity synchronization played in fission decisions in a spider monkey group living in the Otoch Ma'ax Yetel Kooh Nature Reserve, Yucatan, Mexico. For 21 months, we recorded every fission event occurring in the followed subgroup, as well as the subgroup activity. We classified the activity as 'synchronized' when at least 75% of subgroup members performed the same activity (resting, foraging, socializing or travelling); otherwise, we classified it as 'non-synchronized'. We found that fission events occurred more often when the activity was non-synchronized. In addition, when the activity was synchronized, fission events occurred more often when spider monkeys were travelling than when they were engaged in other subgroup activities. Our findings highlight the role of conflicting interests over the activity to pursue and travel direction in fission decisions.
群居动物需要处理利益冲突以维持群体凝聚力。当这样做的成本超过收益时，群体可能（暂时）分裂成两个或更多的亚群。冲突的利益可能涉及要从事的活动或行进的方向。在具有高度裂变融合动态的物种中，临时群体分离是一个常见特征。我们研究了在墨西哥尤卡坦奥拓奇马亚克斯耶特尔库奥自然保护区生活的蜘蛛猴群体中，活动同步性在裂变决策中的作用。在 21 个月的时间里，我们记录了所跟踪亚群中发生的每一次裂变事件，以及亚群的活动。当至少 75%的亚群成员从事相同的活动（休息、觅食、社交或旅行）时，我们将其归类为“同步”；否则，我们将其归类为“不同步”。我们发现，当活动不同步时，裂变事件更常发生。此外，当活动同步时，蜘蛛猴在旅行时发生裂变事件的频率高于从事其他亚群活动时。我们的研究结果强调了在追求活动和行进方向上的利益冲突在裂变决策中的作用。
