Spatio-temporal dynamics of ingroup interactions in macaques

When sharing a space with others, many species including humans evolved a compromise regulating occupancy influenced by social determinants. For example, students in a classroom tend to sit close to their friends, keeping the same spots across days, revealing the social structure in the classroom. This place preference suggests that factors such as social hierarchy and affiliation can shape space utilization, contrasting with random walk models of agents moving at random in any given direction. Here, we asked whether spatial occupancy of macaques within two unisex groups of four individuals, reveals a structured space utilization beyond simple spatial affordance within the finite space. To this end, in two groups of four animals, we analyzed the simultaneously recorded positions of each individual while the group roamed in an enclosure. The data was gathered using automated devices that allow measuring accurate simultaneous positions and calculating precise inter-individual distance, which is impossible in classical ethology, even using GPS devices. Thus, our setup opens new possibilities for modelling approaches, to characterize social interaction dynamics in small enclosures. We found that (1) The identity of each animal could be decoded from its individual pattern of spatial occupancy, revealing that each animal sustained a consistent spatial footprint across multiple days. (2) The average distance between monkeys was a proxy for their social hierarchy, confirming that interpersonal distance is correlated with affiliation and dominance hierarchy. (3) Alternating the social context by removing one of the monkeys revealed that only removing the closest social partner influenced occupancy. (4) Finally, the distribution of distance between pairs of monkeys was bimodal and was modeled using a random walk approach with an additional parameter reflecting the propensity to stay in close proximity, which was again related to dominance hierarchy. These analyses reveal that space utilization is structured as a function of social determinants in macaques and demonstrate the usefulness simple modeling approaches to further study group organization in neuro-ethological settings.