Mandrills learn two-day time intervals in a naturalistic foraging situation

Area of Science:

• Primate cognition
• Animal behavior
• Foraging strategies

Background:

• Primates adeptly find food in complex environments.
• Knowledge of food seasonality aids foraging anticipation.
• Temporal memory is crucial for efficient resource exploitation and competition avoidance.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if mandrills can learn temporal intervals of recurring food sources.
• To assess the role of elapsed time in mandrill foraging decisions.

Main Methods:

• Captive mandrills' foraging choices were recorded in a group setting.
• A procedure using hidden renewable food rewards (carrots, grapes) with distinct renewal intervals (2 and 5 days) was employed.
• Individual first choices at unvisited locations were monitored to isolate memory-based decisions.

Main Results:

• Mandrills increasingly searched carrot locations on designated carrot days.
• Search probability at carrot locations decreased on non-carrot days.
• Results regarding grape days were inconclusive due to model instability.
• Social cues about food availability did not influence foraging choices.

Conclusions:

• Mandrills exhibit the capacity to learn and utilize elapsed time in foraging contexts.
• This study highlights the application of temporal cognitive abilities by mandrills to manage food-finding challenges in social settings.