Linking communication and social networks in ring-tailed lemurs

• Applicants: Dr. Claudia Fichtel; Professor Dr. Peter M. Kappeler; Dr. Kaja Wierucka
• Subject Area: Sensory and Behavioural Biology
• Term: since 2025
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 562757355

Communication is an important component of interactions among individuals and understanding its mechanisms is integral to the study of animal behaviour, contributing to knowledge on the evolutionary and ecological processes that influence sociality. The transfer of information in group-living species is complex and can involve multiple modalities and multiple individuals. Furthermore, repeated interactions and consequently social structure (preferred associations, hierarchy among individuals) can greatly influence the behaviour of individuals. Linking communication and social networks has the potential to advance our understanding of the drivers behind information transfer in groups and obtain a more complete understanding of animal social behaviour, yet there is a considerable lack of research combining them. We aim to bridge this gap by applying newly available technologies, allowing us to simultaneously record communication activity, behaviour and spatial position of individuals in a group to obtain an understanding of the interrelationship between social and communication networks. We will use collective movement in ring-tailed lemurs (Lemur catta) – as model species and context to achieve our objectives. First, we will develop machine learning models for automated processing of acoustic, behavioural and social data to optimise data processing methods. This will enable the extraction of large amounts of data automatically, required for combining communication and social data analysis methods. Then, we will quantify the effect of the quantity and diversity of cues, the number of sources (individuals) delivering these cues, and the social factors between the sender and receiver of information on the receiver’s responses (vocal production and/or movement). We will also assess the sender’s perspective by evaluating whether the presence of conspecifics and their social standing influences the likelihood of cue production by others. Finally, we will determine what factors (number and characteristics of cues and individuals involved) influence the likelihood of multiple individual responses becoming a group response to understand how the presence of multiple cues and multiple individuals affects eliciting group behaviour. Methods and first results will be developed in a semi-free-ranging population of lemurs, followed by an evaluation of the robustness of these results for wild lemurs in Berenty Reserve, Madagascar. For the first time, cues from multiple individuals, across different modalities, taking into account social interactions will be combined to explore communication in an integrated way. The outcomes of this project will provide fundamental knowledge about the processes underlying group communication and provide a basis for deriving general rules by which information transfer is governed.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants