Baboon travel progressions as a ‘social spandrel’ in collective animal behaviour

FELE, MARCO; Fuertbauer, Ines; Rivera, Miguel Lurgi; Papadopoulou, Marina; Bracken, A M; Christensen, C; O’Riain, M J; King, Andrew

doi:10.1093/beheco/araf022

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Baboon travel progressions as a ‘social spandrel’ in collective animal behaviour

MARCO FELE, Ines Fuertbauer

, Miguel Lurgi Rivera

, Marina Papadopoulou

, A M Bracken, C Christensen, M J O’Riain, Andrew King

Behavioral Ecology, Start page: araf022

Swansea University Authors: MARCO FELE, Ines Fuertbauer , Miguel Lurgi Rivera , Marina Papadopoulou , Andrew King

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DOI (Published version): 10.1093/beheco/araf022

Abstract

How individuals in a group move relative to one another can influence both their survival and fitness. Spatial positioning has been well studied in baboons (Papio spp.), which travel collectively in line formations or "progressions". Early studies of baboon progressions presented contradic...

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Published in:	Behavioral Ecology
ISSN:	1045-2249 1465-7279
Published:	Oxford University Press (OUP) 2025
Online Access:	Check full text
URI:	https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa69077

first_indexed	2025-03-11T10:08:04Z
last_indexed	2025-03-20T08:10:39Z
id	cronfa69077
recordtype	SURis
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Spatial positioning has been well studied in baboons (Papio spp.), which travel collectively in line formations or "progressions". Early studies of baboon progressions presented contradictory findings on the progressions’ order – some reporting random positioning of individuals, while others reporting non-random positioning, thought to protect more vulnerable group-members. Here, we revisit this topic and use high-resolution GPS tracking data to study travel progressions in a group of chacma baboon (Papio ursinus) on Cape Peninsula, South Africa. We identify 78 progressions over 36 days and find that progression orders are not random. We test four non-exclusive hypotheses to explain progression orders: vulnerable individuals position themselves in the middle (risk hypothesis), subordinate individuals position themselves at the front to gain better access to resources (competition hypothesis), dominant individuals assume leading positions (group decision-making hypothesis), or progression order is an emergent outcome of underlying social bonds (social spandrel hypothesis). We find no evidence that progression orders are adaptive responses to minimise an individuals’ risk, maximise their resource acquisition, or are the result of decision-makers leading the group. Instead, we find that individuals’ positions are predicted by pairwise affiliations, resulting in consistency in order, with more dominant individuals occupying central positions in progressions. This non-random structuring of individuals during progressions can be considered a side-effect or outcome of underlying social forces acting among individuals, providing an example of a ‘social spandrel’ in collective animal behaviour.</abstract><type>Journal Article</type><journal>Behavioral Ecology</journal><volume>0</volume><journalNumber/><paginationStart>araf022</paginationStart><paginationEnd/><publisher>Oxford University Press (OUP)</publisher><placeOfPublication/><isbnPrint/><isbnElectronic/><issnPrint>1045-2249</issnPrint><issnElectronic>1465-7279</issnElectronic><keywords/><publishedDay>12</publishedDay><publishedMonth>3</publishedMonth><publishedYear>2025</publishedYear><publishedDate>2025-03-12</publishedDate><doi>10.1093/beheco/araf022</doi><url/><notes/><college>COLLEGE NANME</college><CollegeCode>COLLEGE CODE</CollegeCode><institution>Swansea University</institution><apcterm>SU Library paid the OA fee (TA Institutional Deal)</apcterm><funders>This research was supported by grants awarded to A.J.K. from Swansea University’s College of Science and the Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour (ASAB). MP was supported by the Office for Naval Research (ONR) Global Grant (grant no. N629092112030) awarded to AJK. M.J.O. was supported by NRF incentive funding. 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spelling	2025-03-19T14:03:48.9064413 v2 69077 2025-03-11 Baboon travel progressions as a ‘social spandrel’ in collective animal behaviour 266ce9a62f958e158a3c5cc3e54b2c65 MARCO FELE MARCO FELE true false f682ec95fa97c4fabb57dc098a9fdaaa 0000-0003-1404-6280 Ines Fuertbauer Ines Fuertbauer true false 947df89d116a1ab75515e421089e0443 0000-0001-9891-895X Miguel Lurgi Rivera Miguel Lurgi Rivera true false a2fe90e37bd6b78c6fdb9e640057c0ea 0000-0002-6478-8365 Marina Papadopoulou Marina Papadopoulou true false cc115b4bc4672840f960acc1cb078642 0000-0002-6870-9767 Andrew King Andrew King true false 2025-03-11 How individuals in a group move relative to one another can influence both their survival and fitness. Spatial positioning has been well studied in baboons (Papio spp.), which travel collectively in line formations or "progressions". Early studies of baboon progressions presented contradictory findings on the progressions’ order – some reporting random positioning of individuals, while others reporting non-random positioning, thought to protect more vulnerable group-members. Here, we revisit this topic and use high-resolution GPS tracking data to study travel progressions in a group of chacma baboon (Papio ursinus) on Cape Peninsula, South Africa. We identify 78 progressions over 36 days and find that progression orders are not random. We test four non-exclusive hypotheses to explain progression orders: vulnerable individuals position themselves in the middle (risk hypothesis), subordinate individuals position themselves at the front to gain better access to resources (competition hypothesis), dominant individuals assume leading positions (group decision-making hypothesis), or progression order is an emergent outcome of underlying social bonds (social spandrel hypothesis). We find no evidence that progression orders are adaptive responses to minimise an individuals’ risk, maximise their resource acquisition, or are the result of decision-makers leading the group. Instead, we find that individuals’ positions are predicted by pairwise affiliations, resulting in consistency in order, with more dominant individuals occupying central positions in progressions. This non-random structuring of individuals during progressions can be considered a side-effect or outcome of underlying social forces acting among individuals, providing an example of a ‘social spandrel’ in collective animal behaviour. Journal Article Behavioral Ecology 0 araf022 Oxford University Press (OUP) 1045-2249 1465-7279 12 3 2025 2025-03-12 10.1093/beheco/araf022 COLLEGE NANME COLLEGE CODE Swansea University SU Library paid the OA fee (TA Institutional Deal) This research was supported by grants awarded to A.J.K. from Swansea University’s College of Science and the Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour (ASAB). MP was supported by the Office for Naval Research (ONR) Global Grant (grant no. N629092112030) awarded to AJK. M.J.O. was supported by NRF incentive funding. MF was supported by a Swansea University EPSRC studentship. 2025-03-19T14:03:48.9064413 2025-03-11T09:47:03.1354825 Faculty of Science and Engineering School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Biosciences MARCO FELE 1 Ines Fuertbauer 0000-0003-1404-6280 2 Miguel Lurgi Rivera 0000-0001-9891-895X 3 Marina Papadopoulou 0000-0002-6478-8365 4 A M Bracken 5 C Christensen 6 M J O’Riain 7 Andrew King 0000-0002-6870-9767 8
title	Baboon travel progressions as a ‘social spandrel’ in collective animal behaviour
spellingShingle	Baboon travel progressions as a ‘social spandrel’ in collective animal behaviour MARCO FELE Ines Fuertbauer Miguel Lurgi Rivera Marina Papadopoulou Andrew King
title_short	Baboon travel progressions as a ‘social spandrel’ in collective animal behaviour
title_full	Baboon travel progressions as a ‘social spandrel’ in collective animal behaviour
title_fullStr	Baboon travel progressions as a ‘social spandrel’ in collective animal behaviour
title_full_unstemmed	Baboon travel progressions as a ‘social spandrel’ in collective animal behaviour
title_sort	Baboon travel progressions as a ‘social spandrel’ in collective animal behaviour
author_id_str_mv	266ce9a62f958e158a3c5cc3e54b2c65 f682ec95fa97c4fabb57dc098a9fdaaa 947df89d116a1ab75515e421089e0443 a2fe90e37bd6b78c6fdb9e640057c0ea cc115b4bc4672840f960acc1cb078642
author_id_fullname_str_mv	266ce9a62f958e158a3c5cc3e54b2c65_*_MARCO FELE f682ec95fa97c4fabb57dc098a9fdaaa__Ines Fuertbauer 947df89d116a1ab75515e421089e0443__Miguel Lurgi Rivera a2fe90e37bd6b78c6fdb9e640057c0ea__Marina Papadopoulou cc115b4bc4672840f960acc1cb078642_**_Andrew King
author	MARCO FELE Ines Fuertbauer Miguel Lurgi Rivera Marina Papadopoulou Andrew King
author2	MARCO FELE Ines Fuertbauer Miguel Lurgi Rivera Marina Papadopoulou A M Bracken C Christensen M J O’Riain Andrew King
format	Journal article
container_title	Behavioral Ecology
container_volume	0
container_start_page	araf022
publishDate	2025
institution	Swansea University
issn	1045-2249 1465-7279
doi_str_mv	10.1093/beheco/araf022
publisher	Oxford University Press (OUP)
college_str	Faculty of Science and Engineering
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hierarchy_top_title	Faculty of Science and Engineering
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hierarchy_parent_title	Faculty of Science and Engineering
department_str	School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Biosciences{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Science and Engineering{{{_:::_}}}School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Biosciences
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description	How individuals in a group move relative to one another can influence both their survival and fitness. Spatial positioning has been well studied in baboons (Papio spp.), which travel collectively in line formations or "progressions". Early studies of baboon progressions presented contradictory findings on the progressions’ order – some reporting random positioning of individuals, while others reporting non-random positioning, thought to protect more vulnerable group-members. Here, we revisit this topic and use high-resolution GPS tracking data to study travel progressions in a group of chacma baboon (Papio ursinus) on Cape Peninsula, South Africa. We identify 78 progressions over 36 days and find that progression orders are not random. We test four non-exclusive hypotheses to explain progression orders: vulnerable individuals position themselves in the middle (risk hypothesis), subordinate individuals position themselves at the front to gain better access to resources (competition hypothesis), dominant individuals assume leading positions (group decision-making hypothesis), or progression order is an emergent outcome of underlying social bonds (social spandrel hypothesis). We find no evidence that progression orders are adaptive responses to minimise an individuals’ risk, maximise their resource acquisition, or are the result of decision-makers leading the group. Instead, we find that individuals’ positions are predicted by pairwise affiliations, resulting in consistency in order, with more dominant individuals occupying central positions in progressions. This non-random structuring of individuals during progressions can be considered a side-effect or outcome of underlying social forces acting among individuals, providing an example of a ‘social spandrel’ in collective animal behaviour.
published_date	2025-03-12T08:19:30Z
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Baboon travel progressions as a ‘social spandrel’ in collective animal behaviour

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