Overview
- The peer‑reviewed findings appear in npj Complexity from a team at Heriot‑Watt University, the University of Edinburgh and Mexico’s National Autonomous University.
- Monkeys repeatedly split and rejoin in new combinations, complementing one another’s routes to exchange locations of high‑quality fruit trees rather than following or wandering at random.
- The analysis applies higher‑order spatial networks known as simplicial complexes, a method developed by PhD researcher Ross Walker to move beyond pairwise ecological models.
- Observers tracked Geoffroy’s spider monkeys in Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula from 2012 to 2017, logging subgroup composition and movements with handheld GPS devices.
- Authors present the behavior as collective intelligence in an endangered species and propose extending the approach to study other multi‑individual interactions relevant to conservation.