Why Grandmians walk in lines: scientists have a reply
Scientists have checked the popular theories why the grandmothers move the lines
Photo: Ebfoto/Depositphotos
Wild Papio Ursinus moves one by one straight lines, called progression. Scientists have long been trying to find out why the grandmothers are moving this way, but they couldn’t find the reason.
Now the team of scientists has checked the popular theories of special movement of primates and found that so they retain social ties.
This is stated in a study that Posted in behavioral ecology, writes Iflscience.
According to one of the popular explanations, thanks to walking, the animals protect the youngest or most vulnerable individuals. According to another version, the primates go, following the group leader, or lined up in accordance with social ties with each other.
Scientists have decided to test these ideas on the monkeys that were followed in the Da Gamma Park on the Cape Peninsula of South Africa. After analyzing 78 progression, they found that the order of the Babuin in the ranks was not accidental.
The authors of the work believe that the main reason for the order of animals were their social ties. That is, the primates were more likely to go next to their « comrades ».
« Surprisingly, the consistent order we tracked in the grandmother was not associated with the avoidance of danger, as predators do, or better access to food and water, like zebras.
Instead, it is conditioned with whom (monkeys) are socially linked. They just move with their friends and it creates a consistent order ”– explained researcher Andrew King.
Most often, the progression of the Babuins occurred late or early in the evening when the group returned to the places of overnight stay. Scientists have noticed that often dominant individuals were in the middle of a row, which contradicted the idea that a pack followed the leader.
« During these group movements, such as a familiar place to sleep, the group probably already knows where it goes. So the grandmothers are not actually leading »– added the scientist.
Together with his colleagues, he found out that grandmothers like to move in a familiar order with their « comrades ». At the same time, the primates of the lower social rank were more often in front or behind, separately from others, as they « communicate » with « relatives » less.
Instead, higher rank animals were closer to others near the middle of the ranks. They also had a greater variation of the location in a row, which confirms the presence of many social ties in the group.
Earlier scientists discoveredthat the grandmothers, who were considered sacred animals in ancient Egypt, suffered from the conditions in which they were kept.
