Research sheds light on social lives of spider monkeys

• Spider monkeys employ a sophisticated social system to share 'insider knowledge' about the best food sources in the forest.
• They constantly change their social subgroups, enabling individuals to exchange vital information regarding the location of fruit trees.
• This behaviour, observed over seven years in Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, allows the group to maximise its collective coverage of feeding spots.
• The research, a collaboration between Heriot-Watt University, the University of Edinburgh, and the National Autonomous University of Mexico, used abstract mathematical theory to analyse the monkeys' interactions.
• The findings, published in npj Complexity, highlight a form of collective intelligence that aids the endangered Geoffroy's spider monkey in efficient foraging.

IN FULL

Study finds spider monkeys share ‘insider knowledge’ about this key aspect of life