Absence of specific individuals and high food abundance elicit food calls in wild western gorillas

Miglietta, Silvia; Bardino, Giulia; Sotto‐Mayor, Andrea; Galli, Aurore San; Meulman, Ellen; Breuer, Thomas; Fuh, Terence; Masi, Shelly

doi:10.1007/s00265-021-03027-y

Cited by 3 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 99 publications

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“…As our results refer to only a single gorilla group, their generality may be questioned. Yet, in previous comparative studies, this group did not differ from the other study groups in terms of ranging behaviour (daily distance travelled or home range size, Robira et al 2022 ), diet choice (Robira et al 2023a , 2023b ) or other behaviours (feeding and communication: Miglietta et al 2021 ; dispersal and genetic patterns: Masi et al 2021 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 62%

“…Thus, some group members should have considerable experience of the whole periphery of their main range, hence being able to lead the rest of the group to the swamp from different directions. As gorilla groups are cohesive, only a few knowledgeable group members are sufficient to guide the whole group using vocalisations (Miglietta et al 2021 ). This may explain the absence of preferred travelled routes towards the swamp.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Changes in movement patterns in relation to sun conditions and spatial scales in wild western gorillas

Robira,

Benhamou,

Obeki Bayanga

et al. 2024

Anim Cogn

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For most primates living in tropical forests, food resources occur in patchworks of different habitats that vary seasonally in quality and quantity. Efficient navigation (i.e., spatial memory-based orientation) towards profitable food patches should enhance their foraging success. The mechanisms underpinning primate navigating ability remain nonetheless mostly unknown. Using GPS long-term tracking (596 days) of one group of wild western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla), we investigated their ability to navigate at long distances, and tested for how the sun was used to navigate at any scale by improving landmark visibility and/or by acting as a compass. Long episodic movements ending at a distant swamp, a unique place in the home range where gorillas could find mineral-rich aquatic plants, were straighter and faster than their everyday foraging movements relying on spatial memory. This suggests intentional targeting of the swamp based on long-distance navigation skills, which can thus be efficient over a couple of kilometres. Interestingly, for both long-distance movements towards the swamp and everyday foraging movements, gorillas moved straighter under sunlight conditions even under a dense vegetation cover. By contrast, movement straightness was not markedly different when the sun elevation was low (the sun azimuth then being potentially usable as a compass) or high (so providing no directional information) and the sky was clear or overcast. This suggests that gorillas navigate their home range by relying on visual place recognition but do not use the sun azimuth as a compass. Like humans, who rely heavily on vision to navigate, gorillas should benefit from better lighting to help them identify landmarks as they move through shady forests. This study uncovers a neglected aspect of primate navigation. Spatial memory and vision might have played an important role in the evolutionary success of diurnal primate lineages.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 62%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Changes in movement patterns in relation to sun conditions and spatial scales in wild western gorillas

Robira,

Benhamou,

Obeki Bayanga

et al. 2024

Anim Cogn

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Furthermore, we found some evidence for turntaking in infants of other mammalian taxa, especially those capable of vocal learning (e.g., bats and cetaceans). Due to their close phylogenetic proximity to humans (Langergraber et al, 2012;Prüfer et al, 2012), great apes and particularly chimpanzees (Beck, 1982;Gruber and Clay, 2016;Bezanson and McNamara, 2019) have been the focus of a lot of research studies (e.g., Lemasson et al, 2018;Dezecache et al, 2019;Miglietta et al, 2021). For several decades, great apes have been investigated regarding their gestural, vocal, and bimodal communication (e.g., Call and Tomasello, 2007;Genty et al, 2009;Slocombe et al, 2011).…”

Section: Species and Methodological Biasmentioning

confidence: 99%

Turn-taking skills in mammals: A systematic review into development and acquisition

Abreu

Pika

2022

Front. Ecol. Evol.

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How human language evolved remains one of the most intriguing questions in science, and different approaches have been used to tackle this question. A recent hypothesis, the Interaction Engine Hypothesis, postulates that language was made possible through the special capacity for social interaction involving different social cognitive skills (e.g., joint attention, common ground) and specific characteristics such as face-to-face interaction, mutual gaze and turn-taking, the exchange of rapid communicative turns. Recently, it has been argued that this turn-taking infrastructure may be a foundational and ancient mechanism of the layered system of language because communicative turn-taking has been found in human infants and across several non-human primate species. Moreover, there is some evidence for turn-taking in different mammalian taxa, especially those capable of vocal learning. Surprisingly, however, the existing studies have mainly focused on turn-taking production of adult individuals, while little is known about its emergence and development in young individuals. Hence, the aim of the current paper was 2-fold: First, we carried out a systematic review of turn-taking development and acquisition in mammals to evaluate possible research bias and existing gaps. Second, we highlight research avenues to spur more research into this domain and investigate if distinct turn-taking elements can be found in other non-human animal species. Since mammals exhibit an extended development period, including learning and strong parental care, they represent an excellent model group in which to investigate the acquisition and development of turn-taking abilities. We performed a systematic review including a wide range of terms and found 21 studies presenting findings on turn-taking abilities in infants and juveniles. Most of these studies were from the last decade, showing an increased interest in this field over the years. Overall, we found a considerable variation in the terminologies and methodological approaches used. In addition, studies investigating turn-taking abilities across different development periods and in relation to different social partners were very rare, thereby hampering direct, systematic comparisons within and across species. Nonetheless, the results of some studies suggested that specific turn-taking elements are innate, while others are acquired during development (e.g., flexibility). Finally, we pinpoint fruitful research avenues and hypotheses to move the field of turn-taking development forward and improve our understanding of the impact of turn-taking on language evolution.

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Do Seasonal Frugivory and Cognition Shape Foraging Movements in Wild Western Gorillas?

Robira

Benhamou

Fuh

et al. 2023

Movement Ecology of Afrotropical Forest Mammals

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Absence of specific individuals and high food abundance elicit food calls in wild western gorillas

Cited by 3 publications

References 99 publications

Changes in movement patterns in relation to sun conditions and spatial scales in wild western gorillas

Changes in movement patterns in relation to sun conditions and spatial scales in wild western gorillas

Turn-taking skills in mammals: A systematic review into development and acquisition

Do Seasonal Frugivory and Cognition Shape Foraging Movements in Wild Western Gorillas?

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