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Intersection as key locations for bearded capuchin monkeys (Sapajus libidinosus) traveling within a route network

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Abstract

There is evidence that wild animals are able to recall key locations and associate them with navigational routes. Studies in primate navigation suggest most species navigate through the route network system, using intersections among routes as locations of decision-making. Recent approaches presume that points of directional change may be key locations where animals decide where to go next. Over four consecutive years, we observed how a wild group of bearded capuchin monkeys used a route network system and Change Point locations (CPs) in the Brazilian ecotone of Cerrado–Caatinga. We built 200 daily routes of one wild bearded capuchin group. We used ArcGIS, the Change Point Test, Spatial Analysis in Macroecology (SAM), and statistical models to test the hypothesis that wild bearded capuchins use CPs located along routes in a different fashion than they use the CPs located at intersections of routes. A logistic regression model was used to determine the landscape variables affecting capuchins’ directional changes at intersections or along routes. CPs at intersections were important points of travel path changes, whereas CPs along routes represented a zig-zag movement along the routes following the landscape features. CPs at intersections were associated with steeper terrains and shorter distances from important resources, along with better visibility of the home range. Our results support the hypothesis that intersections among routes in the route network system are located at points where monkeys have the best visibility available to make decisions on where to visit next.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Elisabetta Visalberghi for the valuable comments. Ken Cheng and two anonymous reviewers contributed helpful comments. We thank the field assistants Marino Junior and Marcos Fonseca de Oliveira, Jozemar and Arizomar da Silva Oliveira and Renato Rodrigues de Oliveira, the owners of FBV Maria da Conceição and Marino de Oliveira for permission to conduct this research. We would like to thank Gordon Martin and Caitlin Curry for language improvements.

Funding

This research was supported by FAPESP Grants to PI (06/51577-2; 06/56059-0; 08/54020-4; 08/55684-3), and FAPESP scholarships to MV, OM, LB (06/51578-9; 08/52293-3; 08/51567-2). NS was granted by University La Sapienza di Roma and ISTC-CNR of Rome (Italy).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography and Geosciences, Salisbury University, 1101 Camden Ave, Salisbury, MD, 21801, USA

    A. Presotto

  2. Department of Experimental Psychology, University of São Paulo, Av. Prof. Mello de Morais 1721, São Paulo, SP, 05508, Brazil

    M. P. Verderane, L. Biondi, O. Mendonça-Furtado, N. Spagnoletti & P. Izar

  3. Department of Geography, Center for Geospatial Research (CGR), The University of Georgia, 210 Field Street, Athens, GA, 30602, USA

    M. Madden

  4. Istituto di Scienze e Tecnologie della Cognizione, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Via S. Martino dela Battaglia 44, 00185, Rome, Italy

    N. Spagnoletti

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  1. A. Presotto
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  3. L. Biondi
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  4. O. Mendonça-Furtado
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  6. M. Madden
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Correspondence to A. Presotto.

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The datasets analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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This research complied with protocols approved by the Animal Research Ethics Committee of the Institute of Psychology of the University of São Paulo, Brazilian legal requirements (Sisbio permit 28689-5), and the principles for the American Society of Primatologists for the ethical treatment of primates.

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Presotto, A., Verderane, M.P., Biondi, L. et al. Intersection as key locations for bearded capuchin monkeys (Sapajus libidinosus) traveling within a route network. Anim Cogn 21, 393–405 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-018-1176-0

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