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Social and ecological drivers of behavioural diversity in wild Costa Rican capuchins

Webb, Shasta1; Carboni, Silvia2; DePasquale, Allegra2; Williamson, Rachel2; Cheves Hernandez, Saul2; Lopez, Ronald2; Melin, Amanda2

Published Mar 20, 2025 on Dryad. https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.kd51c5bhw

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Mar 20, 2025 version files 17.34 MB

Abstract

The extent of behavioural diversity versus synchrony exhibited among members of the same social group impacts group cohesion. Understanding social and environmental drivers of behavioural diversity has implications for understanding the evolution of group living and has been an enduring goal of biologists. Here we analyse a 15 years behavioural dataset from wild habituated capuchin monkeys to explore social and environmental drivers of behavioural diversity. Between 2007-2022, instantaneous scan samples were recorded every 30 minutes from 214 individuals across 8 social groups, ranging in size from 7-35 individuals. We examine social, ecological, and demographic predictors of behavioural diversity at the group and individual level, with a focus on the impact of group size. We find that the behavioural richness and diversity of behaviours were greater in large groups compared to small and medium-sized groups, that individuals in small groups exhibited higher diversity across the day compared to individuals in medium and large groups, and that daily maximum temperature and rainfall were associated with decreased behavioural diversity at the group level. Overall, group size appears to impact important aspects of behavioural diversity within a group and among individuals in this socially complex species. The breakdown in behavioural synchrony of large groups likely influences movement ecology and social relationships and may contribute to fission events that occur at upper limits of group size. In the present study, we leverage a large dataset to provide new insights into how social and environmental variables can influence behavioural dynamics in an intelligent, social mammal.