Abstract
Synchronization of activity is one of the major challenges of any society, and to what extent social animals reach a consensus still remains to be established. In the case of group movements, recent studies have underlined the importance of the pre-departure period and suggested that some individuals in a group express their motivation to move by showing a preference for a specific direction. However, how do other group members really choose the time and direction of movement? This study shows that in two semi-free ranging Tonkean macaque (Macaca tonkeana) groups, several individuals propose different directions for movement by displaying unique behavior. The whole group eventually moves in the choice of direction supported by the majority of individuals according to a sequence of three quorum rules. Moreover, when the number of individuals choosing another direction is higher than their own group, individuals that proposed alternative directions eventually renounce and follow the majority. Despite conflict of interests, group members reach a consensus before the actual start of group movement. This demonstrates that processes of this type, which can be considered to be voting processes, are not exclusive to human societies and may be explained by a complex sequence of simple rules.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Agrillo C, Dadda M, Serena S, Bisazza A (2008) Dos fish count? Spontaneous discrimination of quantity in female mosquitofish. Anim Cogn 11:495–503. doi:10.1007/s10071-008-0140-9
Altmann J (1974) Observational study of behaviour: sampling methods. Behaviour 49:227–265
Amé JM, Halloy J, Rivault C, Detrain C, Deneubourg JL (2006) Collegial decision making based on social amplification leads to optimal group formation. Proc Nat Acad Sci USA 103:5835–5840. doi:10.1073/pnas.0507877103
Anderson JR (2007) Animal behaviour: tolerant primates cooperate best. Curr Biol 17:242–243. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2007.02.005
Austen-Smith D, Feddersen TJ (2009) Information aggregation and communication in committees. Phil Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 364:763–769. doi:10.1098/RSTB.2008.0256
Biro D, Sumpter DJT, Meade J, Guilford T (2006) From compromise to leadership in homing pigeon. Curr Biol 16:2123–2128. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2006.08.087
Brannon EM, Terrace HS (1998) Ordering the numerosities 1 to 9 by monkeys. Science 282:746–749. doi:10.1126/science.282.5389.746
Buhl J, Sumpter DJT, Couzin ID, Hale JJ, Despland E, Millor ER, Simpson SJ (2006) From disorder to order in marching locusts. Science 312:1402–1406. doi:10.1126/science.1125142
Byrne R, Whiten A (1988) Machiavellian intelligence: social expertise and the evolution of intellect in monkeys, apes and humans. Oxford University Press, Oxford
Conradt L, Roper TJ (2005) Consensus decision making in animals. Trends Ecol Evol 20:449–456. doi:10.1016/j.tree.2005.05.008
Conradt L, Roper TJ (2009) Conflicts of interest and the evolution of decision sharing. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 364:807–819. doi:10.1098/rspb.2008.0257
Cox DR, Oakes D (1984) Analysis of survival data. London, UK: Chapman and Hall
Couzin I (2007) Collective minds. Nature 445:715–715. doi:10.1038/445715a
Couzin ID, Krause J, Franks NR, Levin SA (2005) Effective leadership and decision-making in animal groups on the move. Nature 433:513–516. doi:10.1038/nature03236
Danchin E, Giraldeau LA, Valone TJ, Wagner RH (2004) Public information: form nosy neighbours to cultural evolution. Science 305:487–487. doi:10.1126/science.1098254
de Vries H, Netto WJ, Hanegraaf PLH (1993) Matman: a program for the analysis of sociometric matrices and behavioural transition matrices. Behaviour 125:157–175
Dussutour A, Deneubourg JL, Fourcassié V (2005) Amplification of preferences in a social context: the case of wall-following in ants. Proc R Soc B 272:705–714. doi:10.1098/rspb.2004.2990
Dyer JR, Johansson A, Helbing D, Couzin ID, Krause J (2009) Leadership, consensus decision making and collective behaviours in humans. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 364:781–789. doi:10.1098/rspb.2008.0233
Fowler JH, Schreiber D (2008) Biology, politics and the emerging science of human nature. Science 322(5903):912–914
Hamilton WD (1964) The genetical evolution of social behaviour II. J Theor Biol 7:17–52
Hauser MD, Carey S, Hauser LB (2000) Spontaneous number representation in semi-free-ranging rhesus monkeys. Proc R Soc B 267:829–833
Jacobs A, Maumy M, Petit O (2008) The influence of social organisation on leadership in brown lemurs Eulemur fulvus fulvus in a controlled environment. Behav Processes 79:111–113. doi:10.1016/j.beproc.2008.05.004
King AJ, Cowlishaw G (2007) When to use social information: the advantage of large group size in individual decision making. Biol Lett 3:137–139. doi:10.1098/rsbl.2007.0017
Kummer H (1968) Social organization of hamadryas baboons. University of Chicago Press, Chicago
Leca JB, Gunst N, Thierry B, Petit O (2003) Distributed leadership in semifree-ranging white-faced capuchin monkeys. Anim Behav 66:1045–1052. doi:10.1006/anbe.2003.2276
List C (2004) Democracy in animal groups: a political science perspective. Trends Ecol Evol 19:168–169. doi:10.1016/156853906779366982
Meunier H, Leca JB, Deneubourg JL, Petit O (2006) Group movement decisions in capuchin monkeys: the utility of an experimental study and a mathematical model to explore the relationship between individual and collective behaviours. Behaviour 143:1511–1527. doi:10.1163/156853906779366982
Nicolis SC, Detrain C, Demolin D, Deneubourg JL (2003) Optimality of collective choices: a stochastic approach. Bull Math Biol 65:795–808. doi:10.1016/S0092-8240(03)00040-5
Norton GW (1986) Leadership decision processes of group movement in yellow baboons. In: Else JG, Lee PC PC (eds) Primate ecology and conservation. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 145–156
Parrish JK (1999) Complexity, pattern, and evolutionary trade-offs in animal aggregation. Science 284:99–99. doi:10.1126/science.284.5411.99
Pepperberg IM (2006) Gray parrot a numerical competence: a review. Anim Cogn 9:377–391. doi:10.1007/s10071-006-0034-7
Petit O, Thierry B (1994) Aggressive and peaceful interventions in conflicts in TOnkean macaques. Anim Behav 48: 1427-1436
Pratt SC, Mallon EB, Sumpter DJT, Franks NR (2002) Quorum sensing, recruitment, and collective decision-making during colony emigration by the ant Leptothorax albipennis. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 52:117–127. doi:10.1007/s00265-002-0487-x
Prins HHT (1996) Ecology and behaviour of the African buffalo. Chapman & Hall, London
Reader SM, Laland KN (2002) Social intelligence, innovation and enhanced brain size in primates. Proc Nat Acad Sci USA 99:4436–4441
Seeley TD, Visscher PK (2004) Quorum sensing during nest-site selection by honeybee swarms. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 56:594–601. doi:10.1007/s00265-004-0814-5
Sueur C, Petit O (2008a) Shared or unshared consensus decision in macaques. Behav Processes 78:84–92. doi:10.1016/j.beproc.2008.01.004
Sueur C, Petit O (2008b) Organization of group members at departure of joint movements is driven by social structure in macaques. Int J Primatol 20:1085–1098. doi:10.1007/s10764-008-9262-9
Sueur C, Petit O (2009) Signals used by leaders in Macaca tonkeana and Macaca mulatta: group-mate recruitment and behaviour monitoring. Anim Cogn 13:239–248. doi:10.1007/s10071-009-0261-9
Sueur C, Petit O, Deneubourg JL (2009) Selective mimetism at departure in collective movements of Macaca tonkeana: a theoretical and experimental approach. Anim Behav 78:1087–1095. doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2009.07.029
Sumpter DJT (2006) The principles of collective animal behaviour. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 361:5–22. doi:10.1098/rstb.2005.17333
Sumpter DJT, Pratt SC (2009) Quorum responses and consensus decision making. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 364:743–753
Supriatna J, Froehlich JW, Erwin JM, Southwick CH (1992) Population habitat and conservation status of M. maurus, M. tonkeana and their putative hybrids. Trop Biodivers 1:31–48
Theraulaz G, Bonabeau E, Nicolis SC, Solé R, Fourcassié V, Fournier R, Joly JL, Fernadez P, Grimal A, Dall P, Deneubourg JL (2002) Spatial patterns in ant colonies. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 99:9645–9649. doi:10.1073/pnas.152302199
Thierry B (2007) Unity in diversity: lessons from macaque societies. Evol Anthropol 16:224–238. doi:10.1002/evan.20147
Tomasello M, Call J (1997) Primate cognition. Oxford University Press, New York, 517 pp
Ward AJW, Sumpter DJT, Couzin ID, Hart PJB, Krause J (2008) Quorum decision-making facilitates information transfer in fish shoals. Proc Nat Acad Sci 105:6948–6953. doi:10.1073/pnas.0710344105
Whitten AJ, Mustafa M, Henderson GS (1987) The ecology of sulawesi. Gadjah Mada University Press, Yogyakarta, p 777
Acknowledgments
The authors are grateful to M. Pelé and J. Dubosq for the video analyses. We thank N. Poulin for statistical advice as well as L. Conradt, E. Danchin and R. Bon for helpful comments on this manuscript. This work was supported by the European Doctoral College of Strasbourg Universities, the French Research Ministry, the French Foreign Ministry, the Franco-American Commission, the Fyssen Foundation, and the Belgian National Funds for Scientific Research.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Communicated by: M. Beekman
Electronic supplementary material
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Fig. S1
Two instances of the evolution of the number of notifying individuals according to the time for group 1 (a, b) and for group 2 (c, d). The blue line represents the number of notifying individuals in direction 1. The red line represents the number of notifying individuals in direction 2. The black line represents the departure time of the initiator (DOC 698 kb)
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Sueur, C., Deneubourg, JL. & Petit, O. Sequence of quorums during collective decision making in macaques. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 64, 1875–1885 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-010-0999-8
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-010-0999-8