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Related Concept Videos

Optimal Foraging

Optimal Foraging

How animals obtain and eat their food is called foraging behavior. Foraging can include searching for plants and hunting for prey and depends on the species and environment.

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Dec 31, 2025

Author Spotlight: Exploring Behavioral Pathways Through Cross-Species Insights in Foraging and Communication

Author Spotlight: Exploring Behavioral Pathways Through Cross-Species Insights in Foraging and Communication

Published on: November 17, 2023

Structure-guided foraging in long-tailed macaques.

Charles Menzel¹

¹Ethology and Wildlife Research, Institute of Zoology, University of Zurich-Irchel, Zurich, Switzerland.

American Journal of Primatology

|January 11, 2020

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Long-tailed macaques use environmental borders and object types to find food. They also learn to use invisible lines, showing flexible foraging strategies beyond simple spatial cues.

Keywords:

Macaca fascicularis foraging hypothesis behavior learning macaque spatial cognition

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Published on: August 1, 2018

Area of Science:

Primate behavior
Animal cognition
Foraging ecology

Background:

Understanding foraging strategies is crucial for primate conservation.
Macaques exhibit complex cognitive abilities in food acquisition.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the search cues utilized by long-tailed macaques when locating new food sources.
To determine if macaques prioritize environmental structures over abstract spatial gradients.

Main Methods:

A group of 37 long-tailed macaques was observed in an experimental enclosure.
Food was concealed following three distinct rules: environmental borders, object types, and invisible lines.
Visible food piles were used to cue the search rules.

Main Results:

Macaques readily utilized environmental borders and object-matching rules from the start.
Performance improved significantly on the invisible line rule within five trials.
Food discovery was faster along environmental borders and within objects compared to invisible lines.

Conclusions:

Long-tailed macaques employ a range of cues, including environmental structures, for food searching.
Their foraging behavior demonstrates adaptability and learning beyond simple spatial navigation.
This suggests a cognitive flexibility in how macaques extend their search strategies.