Meerkat traditions tenuous, scientists find
Research on how traditions are established and maintained in wild meerkat societies has revealed that although arbitrary traditions may arise, they are unlikely to persist. The new findings are published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B. In human societies, arbitrary traditions, which start when people copy other people's choices even when other, equally beneficial choices exist, are common. Previous research has suggested that such traditions could also exist in animal societies. However, these studies involved captive animals, and in many cases the arbitrary nature of the tradition could be questioned. For example, if an animal chooses to eat the same foods as its fellow group members, even if other food options are available, this could be because eating unfamiliar foods could carry the risk of being poisoned. Similarly, many animals stick to the same routes, despite the presence of shorter alternatives. Is this an arbitrary tradition, or does it persist because exploring alternative routes would entail leaving the safety of the group? In this latest study, scientists at the University of Cambridge in the UK and the Ecole Normale Supérieure in Paris, France, studied wild meerkats in the Kalahari Desert in South Africa. Meerkats in this area have been studied by scientists for many years and are used to their presence. The scientists trained 'demonstrators' in seven meerkat groups to obtain food rewards from one of two distinctive landmarks. Two control groups had no demonstrators. In the early stages of the study, the meerkats in the groups with demonstrators had no initial preference for either landmark. However, as time went on, the meerkats soon started to copy the demonstrator's preference for one specific landmark, even though food was also available at the other landmark. Interestingly, individuals were more likely to copy the behaviour of older individuals than youngsters. The scientists speculate that this could be because younger animals are less experienced at foraging and so are considered to be less reliable as a source of information. Within a short space of time, a traditional bias towards the landmark had been established. However, this group preference did not persist. 'As individuals learned about one landmark, they began to explore the other and learn that it was equally profitable, so traditions degenerated as the experiment progressed,' the scientists write. In other words, social learning about one landmark made the meerkats more likely to investigate the other landmark. The scientists believe that while arbitrary traditions may be found in nature, they are most likely fleeting and ephemeral. 'This study supports the contention that, in the absence of strong conformist biases, the persistence of traditions in non-human animal populations hinges on the relative influence of social and individual learning,' they conclude. 'While social learning causes individuals to adopt the same behaviour as others in the population, individual learning can lead to the discovery of alternatives, thereby reducing the stability of traditions.'
Countries
France, United Kingdom