Chen Meng-Meng, Zhang Yu-Heng, Tai Yi-Mei, Wang Xi
School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Anhui University, Hefei 230601, China.
International Collaborative Research Center for Huangshan Biodiversity and Tibetan Macaque Behavioral Ecology, Hefei 230601, China.
Animals (Basel). 2022 Aug 22;12(16):2149. doi: 10.3390/ani12162149.
To maintain group cohesion, social animals need to coordinate their actions during group movements. Several species use vocalizations to communicate with each other during coordination. However, the process of vocal communication and its influence in collective decision making is not clear. We studied a group of free-range Tibetan macaques () at Huangshan, China, and recorded acoustic signals during their group movements. It was found that three kinds of sounds were used in their movements. Group movements with vocalizations recruited more participants than the movements without sound. Moreover, during group departures, individuals in the front emitted a higher frequency of vocalization than individuals in the rear. Sex and social centrality both had a significant influence on vocalizations. Social centrality indicates the degree of proximity relations between two individuals in a social network. Females and individuals with high social centrality emitted more sound in group movements. However, social rank and the number of relatives did not affect the emission of sound. These results suggest that the function of calls in collective movements relates to coordinating group movements. This study provides an insight into the association of acoustic communication with collective decision making.
为了维持群体凝聚力，群居动物在群体活动期间需要协调它们的行动。一些物种在协调过程中会使用发声来相互交流。然而，声音交流的过程及其在集体决策中的影响尚不清楚。我们在中国黄山研究了一群自由放养的藏猕猴，并在它们的群体活动期间记录了声学信号。研究发现，它们在活动中使用了三种声音。有发声的群体活动比没有声音的活动招募了更多的参与者。此外，在群体出发时，前面的个体发出的声音频率比后面的个体更高。性别和社会中心性对发声都有显著影响。社会中心性表明社会网络中两个个体之间的亲近关系程度。雌性和具有高社会中心性的个体在群体活动中发出的声音更多。然而，社会等级和亲属数量并不影响声音的发出。这些结果表明，叫声在集体活动中的功能与协调群体活动有关。这项研究为声音交流与集体决策之间的关联提供了见解。
