Use of Social and Ecological Information in Tamarin Foraging Decisions |
| |
Authors: | Email author" target="_blank">Júlio?César?Bicca-MarquesEmail author Paul?A?Garber |
| |
Institution: | (1) Faculdade de Biociências, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul Av. Ipiranga, 6681 Prédio 12A, Caixa Postal 1429, Porto Alegre, RS, 90619-900, Brazil;(2) Department of Anthropology, University of Illinois, 109 Davenport Hall, 607 South Mathews Avenue, Urbana, Illinois, 61801 |
| |
Abstract: | A major consequence of group living is that foragers may rely on social information in addition to ecological information
to locate feeding sites. Although conspecifics can provide cues as to the spatial location of food patches, individual foraging
decisions also must include some assessment of the likelihood of obtaining access to a resource other group members seek.
This likelihood differs in the 2 models generally proposed to explain intragroup social foraging: the information-sharing
model and the producer-scrounger model. We conducted an experimental field study on wild groups of emperor (Saguinus imperator) and saddleback (S. fuscicollis) tamarins to determine the foraging strategies adopted by individual group members and their relationship to social rank, food
intake, and the ability to use ecological and social information in making intra-patch foraging decisions. Individual tamarins
applied different behavioral strategies compatible with a finder-joiner paradigm to solve foraging problems. About half of
the individuals in each study group initiated 74%–90% of all food searches and acted as finders. Most alpha individuals adopted
a joiner strategy by monitoring the activities of others' to obtain a reward. The individual arriving first at a reward platform enjoyed a finder's advantage.
Despite differences in search effort, both finders and joiners presented similar abilities in learning to associate ecological
cues with the presence of food rewards at our experimental feeding stations. We conclude that within a group foraging context,
tamarins integrate social and ecological information in decision-making. |
| |
Keywords: | finder finder's advantage foraging strategies joiner Saguinus |
本文献已被 SpringerLink 等数据库收录! |
|