Abstract

The authors investigated whether Tonkean macaques (Macaca tonkeana) can distinguish between 2 group mates with different knowledge and improve their foraging performance. The subjects were 8 young individuals belonging to a group raised in a 2-acre park. The authors carried out 192 tests in which subgroups of 3 individuals were released in a food search situation. Two leaders could be informed about 2 different food sites. A naive follower could choose to follow 1 leader or another. The follower could find the correct site when 1 leader was informed about food location. There was no evidence that the follower identified the best leader, however. The less well-informed leader generally joined the other leader, prompting the follower to follow them. The followers’ pathways were mainly determined by the interactions of leaders.