Blowing the lid off! Bottle-directed, extractive foraging strategies in synurbic bonnet macaques Macaca radiata in southern India
Nonhuman individuals and groups, living in anthropogenic landscapes, often adopt adaptive foraging strategies, mediated by their day-to-day interactions with humans and their artefacts. Exploring such novel behavioral manifestations, especially in the Anthropocene, offers us insights into behavioral...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2022-12-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.973566/full |
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| author | Arijit Pal Santanu Mahato Jean-Baptiste Leca Jean-Baptiste Leca Anindya Sinha Anindya Sinha Anindya Sinha |
| author_facet | Arijit Pal Santanu Mahato Jean-Baptiste Leca Jean-Baptiste Leca Anindya Sinha Anindya Sinha Anindya Sinha |
| author_sort | Arijit Pal |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Nonhuman individuals and groups, living in anthropogenic landscapes, often adopt adaptive foraging strategies, mediated by their day-to-day interactions with humans and their artefacts. Exploring such novel behavioral manifestations, especially in the Anthropocene, offers us insights into behavioral innovations and their transmission in such rapidly changing ecologies. In this study, employing field experiments, we investigated an example of human-induced, extractive foraging behavior – the extraction of liquid contents from plastic bottles – in a synurbic bonnet macaque Macaca radiata population. The main aims of the study were to examine the distribution, diversity, inter-individual variability and intra-individual flexibility of bottle-directed manipulative behaviors, and to explore the social and environmental factors driving this behavioral practice. We video-recorded the manipulation of partially filled plastic bottles and the extraction of liquid across four groups of bonnet macaques in southern India. Two socio-demographic factors – age class and group membership – and one environmental factor – food provisioning – were identified as major determinants of inter-individual variation in the performance of sophisticated manipulative techniques and in bottle-opening success. Our results also suggest that age-related physical maturation, experiential trial-and-error learning, and possibly social learning contributed to the acquisition of foraging competence in this task. These findings illuminate the mechanisms underlying inter-individual behavioral variability and intra-individual behavioral flexibility amongst free-ranging individuals of a cercopithecine primate species, traditionally known for its ecological adaptability and behavioral plasticity. Finally, this study documents how the presence of humans, their artefacts and their activities facilitate the development of certain behavioral traditions in free-ranging nonhuman populations, thus providing valuable insights into how human–alloprimate relations can be restructured within the increasingly resource-competitive environments of the Anthropocene. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-10T20:51:09Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-4ca3a28c8bc0408e9c0c96893598d179 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-1078 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-10T20:51:09Z |
| publishDate | 2022-12-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-4ca3a28c8bc0408e9c0c96893598d1792023-01-23T11:08:22ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782022-12-011310.3389/fpsyg.2022.973566973566Blowing the lid off! Bottle-directed, extractive foraging strategies in synurbic bonnet macaques Macaca radiata in southern IndiaArijit Pal0Santanu Mahato1Jean-Baptiste Leca2Jean-Baptiste Leca3Anindya Sinha4Anindya Sinha5Anindya Sinha6Animal Behaviour and Cognition Programme, National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore, IndiaBiopsychology Laboratory and Institution of Excellence, University of Mysore, Mysore, IndiaAnimal Behaviour and Cognition Programme, National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore, IndiaDepartment of Psychology, University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, AB, CanadaAnimal Behaviour and Cognition Programme, National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore, IndiaCentre for Neuroscience, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, IndiaCollege of Humanities, Exeter University, Exeter, United KingdomNonhuman individuals and groups, living in anthropogenic landscapes, often adopt adaptive foraging strategies, mediated by their day-to-day interactions with humans and their artefacts. Exploring such novel behavioral manifestations, especially in the Anthropocene, offers us insights into behavioral innovations and their transmission in such rapidly changing ecologies. In this study, employing field experiments, we investigated an example of human-induced, extractive foraging behavior – the extraction of liquid contents from plastic bottles – in a synurbic bonnet macaque Macaca radiata population. The main aims of the study were to examine the distribution, diversity, inter-individual variability and intra-individual flexibility of bottle-directed manipulative behaviors, and to explore the social and environmental factors driving this behavioral practice. We video-recorded the manipulation of partially filled plastic bottles and the extraction of liquid across four groups of bonnet macaques in southern India. Two socio-demographic factors – age class and group membership – and one environmental factor – food provisioning – were identified as major determinants of inter-individual variation in the performance of sophisticated manipulative techniques and in bottle-opening success. Our results also suggest that age-related physical maturation, experiential trial-and-error learning, and possibly social learning contributed to the acquisition of foraging competence in this task. These findings illuminate the mechanisms underlying inter-individual behavioral variability and intra-individual behavioral flexibility amongst free-ranging individuals of a cercopithecine primate species, traditionally known for its ecological adaptability and behavioral plasticity. Finally, this study documents how the presence of humans, their artefacts and their activities facilitate the development of certain behavioral traditions in free-ranging nonhuman populations, thus providing valuable insights into how human–alloprimate relations can be restructured within the increasingly resource-competitive environments of the Anthropocene.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.973566/fullobject manipulationcomplex foraging strategiesbehavioral innovationinter-individual variabilityhuman-macaque interfaceanthropogenic environments |
| spellingShingle | Arijit Pal Santanu Mahato Jean-Baptiste Leca Jean-Baptiste Leca Anindya Sinha Anindya Sinha Anindya Sinha Blowing the lid off! Bottle-directed, extractive foraging strategies in synurbic bonnet macaques Macaca radiata in southern India Frontiers in Psychology object manipulation complex foraging strategies behavioral innovation inter-individual variability human-macaque interface anthropogenic environments |
| title | Blowing the lid off! Bottle-directed, extractive foraging strategies in synurbic bonnet macaques Macaca radiata in southern India |
| title_full | Blowing the lid off! Bottle-directed, extractive foraging strategies in synurbic bonnet macaques Macaca radiata in southern India |
| title_fullStr | Blowing the lid off! Bottle-directed, extractive foraging strategies in synurbic bonnet macaques Macaca radiata in southern India |
| title_full_unstemmed | Blowing the lid off! Bottle-directed, extractive foraging strategies in synurbic bonnet macaques Macaca radiata in southern India |
| title_short | Blowing the lid off! Bottle-directed, extractive foraging strategies in synurbic bonnet macaques Macaca radiata in southern India |
| title_sort | blowing the lid off bottle directed extractive foraging strategies in synurbic bonnet macaques macaca radiata in southern india |
| topic | object manipulation complex foraging strategies behavioral innovation inter-individual variability human-macaque interface anthropogenic environments |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.973566/full |
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