Researchers observed the primates switching social groups and passing information on where to find the ripest fruit
Spider monkeys share tips about where to find food by changing their social groups in a “clever system for sharing insider knowledge”, research has shown.
They were observed to frequently switch subgroups of three or more individuals in a way that enabled them to share information about the location of fruit trees and timing of when they would ripen.
It meant they could not only complement each other’s knowledge, but also “combine their information in such a way as to produce new knowledge”, the research found.
The report, published in the journal njp Complexity, said: “An example would be if one subset of individuals would contribute the location of a food source and another subset the timing of the fruiting of that source.
