Recurrent patterning in the daily foraging routes of hamadryas baboons (Papio hamadryas): Spatial memory in large‐scale versus small‐scale space

Abstract

The benefits of spatial memory for foraging animals can be assessed on two distinct spatial scales: small-scale space (travel within patches) and large-scale space (travel between patches). While the patches themselves may be distributed at low density, within patches resources are likely densely distributed. We propose, therefore, that spatial memory for recalling the particular locations of previously visited feeding sites will be more advantageous during between-patch movement, where it may reduce the distances traveled by animals that possess this ability compared to those that must rely on random search. We address this hypothesis by employing descriptive statistics and spectral analyses to characterize the daily foraging routes of a band of wild hamadryas baboons in Filoha, Ethiopia. The baboons slept on two main cliffs--the Filoha cliff and the Wasaro cliff--and daily travel began and ended on a cliff; thus four daily travel routes exist: Filoha-Filoha, Filoha-Wasaro, Wasaro-Wasaro, Wasaro-Filoha. We use newly developed partial sum methods and distribution-fitting analyses to distinguish periods of area-restricted search from more extensive movements. The results indicate a single peak in travel activity in the Filoha-Filoha and Wasaro-Filoha routes, three peaks of travel activity in the Filoha-Wasaro routes, and two peaks in the Wasaro-Wasaro routes; and are consistent with on-the-ground observations of foraging and ranging behavior of the baboons. In each of the four daily travel routes the "tipping points" identified by the partial sum analyses indicate transitions between travel in small- versus large-scale space. The correspondence between the quantitative analyses and the field observations suggest great utility for using these types of analyses to examine primate travel patterns and especially in distinguishing between movement in small versus large-scale space. Only the distribution-fitting analyses are inconsistent with the field observations, which may be due to the scale at which these analyses were conducted.

Topological spatial representation in wild chacma baboons (Papio ursinus)

“…Chacma baboons within the Soutpansberg Mountains travelled through a dense route network, habitually using the same tracks, a pattern of navigation that has been reported for a number of other primate species (Boonratana 2000; Di Fiore and Suarez 2007; Erhart and Overdorff 2008; Hopkins 2011; Mackinnon 1974; Presotto et al 2018; Schreier and Grove 2014; Trapanese et al 2018). In primates, habitual routes often coincide with streams, ridges of hills and tracks located in their home range (Di Fiore and Suarez 2007; Mackinnon 1974).…”

“…Nevertheless, this has been questioned (Benhamou 1996; Bennett 1996; Byrne 2000; Janmaat et al 2011; Poucet 1993) and there is now a growing body of evidence for topological spatial awareness in primates (Di Fiore and Suarez 2007; Erhart and Overdorff 2008; Milton 1980, 2000; Noser and Byrne 2007a, 2010; Presotto et al 2018; Sigg and Stolba 1981). Use of a habitual route network has been reported for a number of primates (Boonratana 2000; Byrne 2000; Di Fiore and Suarez 2007; Erhart and Overdorff 2008; Hopkins 2011; Mackinnon 1974; Milton 2000; Noser and Byrne 2007a, 2010, 2014; Presotto and Izar 2010; Presotto et al 2018; Schreier and Grove 2014; Sigg and Stolba 1981). Repeated use of particular tracks may be less linear than straight-line travel from one travel goal to the next, but can still have several advantages.…”

The role of sleeping sites in the predator‐prey dynamics of leopards and olive baboons

“…We used the group‐night as the unit of analysis for baboons. While it can be argued that this violates statistical rules of independence (as can any behavioral sequence involving individuals or groups within a population), we believe that this is used appropriately here because each night was separated by 12 hr of daylight and within that time, each of our four baboon groups had access to multiple sleeping sites, and could move in any of many potential directions relative to where they slept the night before, that is, where they slept each night was likely determined at least as much or more by where they moved in the preceding 12 hr than where they slept the night before (e.g., Markham et al, ; Pebsworth, Macintosh, Morgan, & Huffman, ; Shreier and Grove, ). Nights or group‐nights are also common units of analysis in other studies of nocturnal behavior in diurnal primates (e.g., Markham et al, ; Pruetz, ; Tagg et al, ).…”

Beyond contact-based transmission networks: the role of spatial coincidence

“…schools, offices). Recursive behaviour has been described in several ant species [6,46,65], and also in a range of species that are only distantly related to ants, including honeybees [66], bumblebees [47], wasps [48], amphibians [67], canids [68], ungulates [69,70], non-human primates [71][72][73] and humans [22,71,74,75]. Another generic statistical property common to a diverse range of animal species is temporal intermittency.…”