Abstract
Many animal species live as a group and must therefore move as such. Several authors have suggested that the mechanisms underlying collective movements in primate species appear to rely on complex cognitive skills, given their high level of cognitive abilities. However, recent studies have highlighted the fact that complex patterns do not necessarily imply complex mechanisms. We used a modeling approach to investigate the patterns of collective movement in a semi-free-ranging group of brown lemurs. We recorded via digital video cameras the order and joining latencies of the 11 individuals of the group during the departure time of spontaneous group movements. We then assessed whether mimetic mechanisms or the existence of a leader were underlying conditions for the joining process by testing 5 computer models relying respectively on 5 hypotheses: the independence of individuals, an anonymous mimetism, a mimetism according to kinship, a mimetism according to affiliation, and eventually the existence of a leader. We found that departure latencies, associations, and the order of individuals at departure time could all be explained by the mimetism according to affiliation model. Thus, an individual’s decision to join the collective movement or not depended on the decision taken by its preferred social partners. These results show the importance of social parameters in primate decision making and that the high cohesion displayed by the group members might not be constrained merely by ecological factors such as predation or foraging consideration.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Altmann, J. (1974). Observational study of behavior: sampling methods. Behaviour, 49(3/4), 227–267.
Amé, J., Halloy, J., Rivault, C., Detrain, C., & Deneubourg, J. L. (2006). Collegial decision making based on social amplification leads to optimal group formation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science of the USA, 103(15), 5835–5840.
Biro, D., Sumpter, D. J. T., Meade, J., & Guilford, T. (2006). From compromise to leadership in pigeon homing. Current Biology, 16(21), 2123–2128.
Boinski, S., & Garber, P. A. (2000). On the move. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Boinski, S., Treves, A., & Chapman, C. A. (2000). A critical evaluation of the influence of predators on primates: Effects on group travel. In S. Boinski & P. A. Garber (Eds.), On the move (pp. 43–72). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Borgatti, S. P., Everett, M., & Freeman, L. (2002). UCINET 6 for Windows. Harvard, Cambridge, MA: Analytic Technologies.
Bryson, J. J., Ando, Y., & Lehmann, H. (2007). Agent-based modelling as scientific method: a case study analysing primate social behaviour. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 362(1485), 1685–1698.
Buhl, J., Sumpter, D. J. T., Couzin, I. D., Hale, J. J., Despland, E., Miller, E. R., et al. (2006). From disorder to order in marching locusts. Science, 312(5778), 1402–1406.
Byrne, R. W., & Whiten, A. (1988). Machiavellian intelligence. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Camazine, S., Deneubourg, J. L., Franks, N. R., Sneyd, J., Theraulaz, G., & Bonabeau, E. (2001). Self-organization in biological systems. Woodstock, UK: Princeton University Press.
Chapais, B., & Berman, C. M. (2004). Kinship and behavior in primates. New York: Oxford University Press.
Chapais, B., & St-Pierre, C. E. G. (1997). Kinship bonds are not necessary for maintaining matrilineal rank in captive Japanese macaques. International Journal of Primatology, 18(3), 375–385.
Chapman, C. A. & Chapman, L. J. (2000). Determinants of group size in primates: the importance of travel costs. In S. Boinski & P. A. Garber, (eds). On the move. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Conradt, L., & Roper, T. J. (2005). Consensus decision making in animals. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 20(8), 449–456.
Couzin, I. D., & Krause, J. (2003). Self-organization and collective behavior in vertebrates. In J. B. Slater, C. T. Rosenblatt, C. T. Snowdon, & T. J. Roper (Eds). Advances in the Study of Behavior, 1–75.
Deneubourg, J. L., & Goss, S. (1989). Collective patterns and decision-making. Ethology Ecology & Evolution, 1(4), 295–311.
Detrain, C., & Deneubourg, J. L. (2006). Self-organized structures in a superorganism: do ants “behave” like molecules? Physics of Life Reviews, 3(3), 162–187.
Detrain, C., Deneubourg, J. L., & Pasteels, J. M. (1999). Information processing in social insects. Basel: Birkhäuser Verlag.
De Waal, F. B. M., & Luttrell, L. M. (1989). Toward a comparative socioecology of the genus Macaca: different dominance styles in rhesus and stumptail monkeys. American Journal of Primatology, 19(2), 83–109.
Dussutour, A., Nicolis, S. C., Despland, E., & Simpson, S. J. (2008). Individual differences influence collective behaviour in social caterpillars. Animal Behaviour, 76(1), 5–16.
Erhart, E., & Overdorff, D. J. (1999). Female coordination of group travel in wild Propithecus and Eulemur. International Journal of Primatology, 20(6), 927–940.
Gautrais, J., Michelena, P., Sibbald, A., Bon, R., & Deneubourg, J. L. (2007). Allelomimetic synchronization in Merino sheep. Animal Behaviour, 74(5), 1443–1454.
Gouzoules, S., & Gouzoules, H. (1987). Kinship. In B. B. Smuts, D. L. Cheney, R. M. Seyfarth, R. W. Wrangham, & T. T. Struhsaker (Eds.), Primate societies (pp. 229–305). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Hamilton, W. D. (1964). Genetical evolution of social behavior I. Journal of Theoretical Biology, 7(1), 1–16.
Hemelrijk, C. K. (1990). Models of, and tests for, reciprocity, unidirectionality and other social interaction patterns at a group level. Animal Behaviour, 39(6), 1013–1029.
Hemelrijk, C. K. (2002). Understanding social behaviour with the help of complexity science. Ethology, 108(8), 655–671.
Jacobs, A. (2010). Group cohesiveness during collective movements: travelling apart together. Behavioural Processes, 84(3), 678–680.
Jacobs, A., Maumy, M., & Petit, O. (2008). The influence of social organisation on leadership in brown lemurs (Eulemur fulvus fulvus) in a controlled environment. Behavioural Processes, 79(2), 111–113.
Jeanson, R., Rivault, C., Deneubourg, J. L., Blanco, S., Fournier, R., Jost, C., et al. (2005). Self-organized aggregation in cockroaches. Animal Behaviour, 69(1), 169–180.
Jolly, A. (1995). The evolution of primate behavior. In M. Slatkin (Ed.), Exploring evolutionary biology: Readings from American Scientist (pp. 288–297). Sunderland, MA: Sinauer Associates.
Jovani, R., & Grimm, V. (2008). Breeding synchrony in colonial birds: from local stress to global harmony. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B: Biological Sciences, 275(1642), 1557–1564.
Kappeler, P. M. (1993). Variation in social structure: the effects of sex and kinship on social interactions in three lemur species. Ethology, 93(2), 125–145.
Kappeler, P. M. (2000). Grouping and movement patterns in Malagasy primates. In S. Boinski & P. A. Garber (Eds.), On the move (pp. 470–490). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
King, A. J., Douglas, C. M. S., Huchard, E., Isaac, N. J. B., & Cowlishaw, G. (2008). Dominance and affiliation mediate despotism in a social primate. Current Biology, 18(23), 1833–1838.
Krause, J., & Ruxton, G. D. (2002). Living in groups. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Lamprecht, J. (1992). Variable leadership in bar-headed geese (Anser indicus): an analysis of pair and family departures. Behaviour, 122(1/2), 105–120.
Leca, J.-B., Gunst, N., Thierry, B., & Petit, O. (2003). Distributed leadership in semifree-ranging white-faced capuchin monkeys. Animal Behaviour, 66(6), 1045–1052.
Mateo, J. M. (2003). Kin recognition in ground squirrels and other rodents. Journal of Mammalogy, 84(4), 1163–1181.
Meunier, H., Leca, J.-B., Deneubourg, J. L., & Petit, O. (2006). Group movement decisions in capuchin monkeys: the utility of an experimental study and a mathematical model to explore the relationship between individual and collective behaviours. Behaviour, 143(12), 1511–1527.
Overdorff, D. J. (1993). Similarities, differences, and seasonal patterns in the diets of Eulemur rubriventer and Eulemur fulvus rufus in the Ranomafana National Park, Madagascar. International Journal of Primatology, 14(5), 721–753.
Overdorff, D. J. (1998). Are Eulemur species pair-bonded? Social organization and mating strategies in Eulemur fulvus rufus from 1988–1995 in southeast Madagascar. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 105(2), 153.
Overdorff, D. J., Erhart, E. M., & Mutschler, T. (2005). Does female dominance facilitate feeding priority in black-and-white ruffed lemurs (Varecia variegata) in southeastern Madagascar? American Journal of Primatology, 66(1), 7–22.
Peterson, R. O., Jacobs, A. K., Drummer, T. D., Mech, L. D., & Smith, D. W. (2002). Leadership behavior in relation to dominance and reproductive status in gray wolves, Canis lupus. Canadian Journal of Zoology, 80(8), 1405–1412.
Petit, O., & Bon, R. (2010). Decision-making processes: the case of collective movements. Special section. Behavioural Processes, 84, 635–647.
Petit, O., Gautrais, J., Leca, J.-B., Theraulaz, G., & Deneubourg, J. L. (2009). Collective decision-making in white-faced capuchin monkeys. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B: Biological Sciences, 276(1672), 3495–3503.
Radford, A. N. (2004). Vocal coordination of group movement by green woodhoopoes (Phoeniculus purpureus). Ethology, 110(1), 11–20.
Ramseyer, A., Boissy, A., Thierry, B., & Dumont, B. (2009). Individual and social determinants of spontaneous group movements in cattle and sheep. Animal, 3(9), 1319–1326.
Reynolds, C. W. (1987). Flocks, herds and schools: A distributed behavioral model. In Proceedings of the 14th annual conference on computer graphics and interactive techniques. ACM, pp. 25–34.
Rhine, R. J., & Westlund, B. J. (1981). Adult male positioning in baboon progressions—order and chaos revisited. Folia Primatologica, 35(2–3), 77–116.
Stueckle, S., & Zinner, D. (2008). To follow or not to follow: decision making and leadership during the morning departure in chacma baboons. Animal Behaviour, 75(6), 1995–2004.
Sueur, C., & Petit, O. (2008a). Shared or unshared consensus decision in macaques? Behavioural Processes, 78(1), 84–92.
Sueur, C., & Petit, O. (2008b). Organization of group members at departure is driven by social structure in Macaca. International Journal of Primatology, 29(4), 1085–1098.
Sueur, C., Petit, O., & Deneubourg, J. L. (2009). Selective mimetism at departure in collective movements of Macaca tonkeana: an experimental and theoretical approach. Animal Behaviour, 78(5), 1087–1095.
Sueur, C., Petit, O., & Deneubourg, J. L. (2010). Short-term group fission processes in macaques: a social networking approach. Journal of Experimental Biology, 213(8), 1338–1346.
Sumpter, D. J. T. (2006). The principles of collective animal behaviour. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London Series B: Biological Sciences, 361(1465), 5–22.
Sussman, R. W. (1974). Ecological distinctions in sympatric species of Lemur. In R. D. Martin, G. A. Doyle, & A. C. Walker (Eds.), Prosimian biology (pp. 75–108). London: Duckworth.
Thierry, B. (2007). The macaques: A double-layered social organization. In C. J. Campbell, A. Fuentes, K. C. MacKinnon, M. Panger, & S. K. Bearder (Eds.), Primates in perspective (pp. 224–239). New York: Oxford University Press.
Tomasello, M., & Call, J. (1997). Primate cognition. New York: Oxford University Press.
Torgerson, W. S. (1958). Theory and methods of scaling. Oxford, UK: John Wiley & Sons.
Tóth, Z., Bókony, V., Lendvai, Á. Z., Szabó, K., Pénzes, Z., & Liker, A. (2009). Whom do the sparrows follow? The effect of kinship on social preference in house sparrow flocks. Behavioural Processes, 82(2), 173–177.
Tyler, S. J. (1972). The behaviour and social organisation of the New Forest ponies. Animal Behaviour Monographs, 5, 87–196.
Watanabe, K., & Brotoisworo, E. (1982). Field observation of Sulawesi macaques. Kyoto University Overseas Research Reports of Studies of Asian Non-Human Primates, 2, 3–9.
Watts, D. P. (2000). Mountain gorilla habitat use strategies and group movements. In S. Boinski & P. A. Garber (Eds.), On the move (pp. 351–374). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Wey, T., Blumstein, D. T., Shen, W., & Jordan, F. (2008). Social network analysis of animal behaviour: a promising tool for the study of sociality. Animal Behaviour, 75(2), 333–344.
Whitehead, H. (1997). Analysing animal social structure. Animal Behaviour, 53(5), 1053–1067.
Whitehead, H. (2009). SOCPROG programs: analysing animal social structures. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 63(5), 765–778.
Wilensky, U. (1999). NetLogo: center for connected learning and computer-based modeling. Evanston, IL: Northwestern University.
Acknowledgments
We thank Pierre Ulrich, Marion Gaurivaud, and Laetitia Marechal for their help during this study, as well as the trainees: Mathieu Laparie, Antoine Wystrach, and Capucine Gallet. We also thank 2 anonymous reviewers for their comments on an earlier version of this manuscript. Armand Jacobs was funded by a grant from French Ministry for Higher Education and Research. Cédric Sueur was funded by the Wallonia Brussels International, the Franco-American Commission, and the Fyssen Foundation. Jean Louis Deneubourg is a research associate from the Belgian National Funds for Scientific Research.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Electronic supplementary material
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Esm 1
Social Network Influences Decision Making During Collective Movements in Brown Lemurs (Eulemur fulvus fulvus) (DOC 646 kb)
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Jacobs, A., Sueur, C., Deneubourg, J.L. et al. Social Network Influences Decision Making During Collective Movements in Brown Lemurs (Eulemur fulvus fulvus). Int J Primatol 32, 721–736 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10764-011-9497-8
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10764-011-9497-8