Travel linearity and speed of human foragers and chimpanzees during their daily search for food in tropical rainforests

Scientific Reports
Haneul JangKarline R L Janmaat

Abstract

To understand the evolutionary roots of human spatial cognition, researchers have compared spatial abilities of humans and one of our closest living relatives, the chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes). However, how humans and chimpanzees compare in solving spatial tasks during real-world foraging is unclear to date, as measuring such spatial abilities in natural habitats is challenging. Here we compared spatial movement patterns of the Mbendjele BaYaka people and the Taï chimpanzees during their daily search for food in rainforests. We measured linearity and speed during off-trail travels toward out-of-sight locations as proxies for spatial knowledge. We found similarly high levels of linearity in individuals of Mbendjele foragers and Taï chimpanzees. However, human foragers and chimpanzees clearly differed in their reactions to group size and familiarity with the foraging areas. Mbendjele foragers increased travel linearity with increasing familiarity and group size, without obvious changes in speed. This pattern was reversed in Taï chimpanzees. We suggest that these differences between Mbendjele foragers and Taï chimpanzees reflect their different ranging styles, such as life-time range size and trail use. This result highlights the ...Continue Reading

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Citations

Jan 6, 2021·Nature Human Behaviour·Brian M WoodJames Holland Jones
Apr 6, 2021·American Journal of Physical Anthropology·Andrew K YegianDaniel E Lieberman
May 18, 2021·IScience·Karline R L JanmaatSarie Van Belle
Aug 13, 2021·The Journal of Experimental Biology·Miguel de GuineaSarie Van Belle
Aug 18, 2021·American Journal of Primatology·Haneul JangJae C Choe
Aug 24, 2021·PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases·Larisa Lee-CruzAnnelise Tran
Jul 28, 2021·American Journal of Primatology·Stefano LucchesiMartin Surbeck
Mar 24, 2021·Folia primatologica; international journal of primatology·Yntze van der HoekDamien Caillaud

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