Changes in movement patterns in relation to sun conditions and spatial scales in wild western gorillas.

ABSTRACT: For most primates living in tropical forests, food resources occur in patchworks of different habitats that vary seasonally in quality and quantity. Efficient navigation (i.e., spatial memory-based orientation) towards profitable food patches should enhance their foraging success. The mechanisms underpinning primate navigating ability remain nonetheless mostly unknown. Using GPS long-term tracking (596 days) of one group of wild western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla), we investigated their ability to navigate at long distances, and tested for how the sun was used to navigate at any scale by improving landmark visibility and/or by acting as a compass. Long episodic movements ending at a distant swamp, a unique place in the home range where gorillas could find mineral-rich aquati

SUBMITTER: Robira B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11058680 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature