Early sociability fosters later exploratory tendency in wild immature orangutans

Abstract

Exploration is essential for skill acquisition and strongly facilitates cognitive performance. In humans, it is widely known that exploration and later cognitive performance are highly dependent on early social inputs. Here, we aim to shed light on the evolutionary roots of this process by studying the effects of variation in opportunities for social learning on the exploratory tendency of immature orangutans (Pongo spp.) in nature. We based our analyses on mixed cross-sectional, longitudinal data of exploration by immatures and their mothers. Current exploration rates were correlated with levels of past experienced sociability, but not with current food abundance or with maternal condition, and only partly with genetic similarity. We conclude that the dependence of cognitive development on socially triggered exploration, which underlies the construction of cognitive skills such as intelligence, existed before the emergence of the human lineage.

After the smoke has cleared: Extended low fruit productivity following forest fires decreased gregariousness and social tolerance among wild female Bornean orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus wurmbii)

“…Together this suggests that the benefits of such rare associations, including play and learning opportunities for the dependents, outweigh the cost of food competition even under scarce conditions (cf. van Noordwijk et al 2012;Schuppli et al 2016Schuppli et al , 2020.…”

“…Reduced gregariousness and social tolerance among mothers, as well as reduced association between mothers and their weaned immature offspring, may therefore have consequences on the development of their dependent offspring: offspring may have reduced opportunities to learn the social, locomotor, and cognitive skills that are fostered through social play and other social learning opportunities (e.g., Byers and Walker 1995;Fairbanks 2000;Graham & Burghardt 2010;van Leeuwen et al, 2013;Heintz et al 2017). Furthermore, mothers' sociability in general has the potential to greatly affect immatures' development: infants of more sociable mothers have higher exploratory tendencies -a proxy for problem-solving skills and cognitive abilities -than those of less sociable mothers (Schuppli et al 2020). Among chimpanzees, mothers of sons are more gregarious than mothers of daughters, and mothers' gregariousness during just the first 6 months of infancy has been shown to predict the social patterns of adult male chimpanzees (Murray et al 2014;Wellens, 2018).…”

The origins of human cumulative culture: from the foraging niche to collective intelligence

“…An explanation for cultural specialisation may rest in the unique structure of human social networks and their differentiated interaction channels. For example, in chimpanzees and orangutans the main channel of cultural transmission and differentiation is transmission across matrilines [58,59].…”

“…In hunter-gatherers, social networks are multiple and polyfunctional [60], allowing individuals to interact simultaneously within various specific social groupings differentiated by sex [59], age [62] and skill levels such as female foraging groups, male hunting groups, child playgroups, household units and residential camps. For example, in BaYaka huntergatherers medicinal plant knowledge is transmitted between partners, their kin and affinal kin due to shared reproductive interests, facilitating cultural specialisation [10].…”

Dinamika Perilaku Orangutan Kalimantan (Pongo pygmaeus wurmbii) di Taman Nasional Sebangau Kalimantan Tengah

“…Orangutan merupakan satwa semi-soliter, dan memiliki struktur social. Konsekuensi dari keunikan tersebut adalah satwa ini memiliki banyak rentang perilaku yang terus berkembang [6], [7]. Tujuan penelitian ini adalah mengungkap dinamika perilaku Orangutan dengan menyajikan bukti yang kritikal.…”