云南拉沙山黑白仰鼻猴空间认知研究

Primates can forage by random walk and goal-oriented movement. However, spatial cognition plays an important role in the foraging of primates. At present, two main mechanisms have been proposed: Euclidean cognitive map vs. topological cognitive map; and primates use different patterns of spatial cognition in free foraging at different ecological conditions and spatial scales. Although these two cognitive maps show distinct navigation skills, a topological map with many landmarks could be as precise as a Euclidean map. A consensus is to make conclusions about the existence of a Euclidean map for animals in a natural new environment to display novel short-cut and path innovation suggested by Euclidean map due to the shortage of any previous information on this condition. Meanwhile, this can be used to evaluate the role of memory in the foraging. But it is actually difficult to find such an environment in a short period. Fortunately, we find that a group of black-and-white snub-nosed monkeys had been exploiting and foraging the novel and natural habitats with the increasing of its group size during the long-term of studying its ecological adaptation and breeding strategy. Therefore, this project aims to collect data on food resources (plant species, distribution, density and quality), population dynamics and spatial foraging to illustrate spatial cognition strategy in foraging in different socio-ecological conditions at larger/small scales, and to improve the theory of primates’ special cognition and the research on memory function in the movement.

灵长类采用随意移动和有目标的移动完成觅食，然而空间认知在其觅食决策中起到了关键作用。目前，空间认知有欧式认知和拓扑认知两种策略；受不同生态压力和空间尺度的影响，灵长类采用不同的觅食策略。尽管两种认知策略的导航机制不同，但是有许多路标的拓扑地图与欧式地图一样准确，因此在如何区分二者时遇到了困难。公认的解决办法是基于灵长类在新家域内是否具有新捷径和路径创新来证实欧式认知策略的存在，因为新家域内没有任何的先前信息；同时也可以分析记忆在移动中的角色。不过，现实中，短期内很难找到一个物种的新生境。幸运的是，在长期跟踪研究拉沙山黑白仰鼻的过程中，伴随猴群数量的增加，我们发现猴群逐渐利用全新的自然生境。本研究通过长期搜集食物资源、猴群动态和觅食空间数据来阐明其在不同生态压力和空间尺度的空间认知策略，同时评价记忆在移动决策中的作用，以完善灵长类的空间认知理论和记忆功能研究。

树栖灵长类在森林中生存首先需要解决的问题是如何定位和到达食源地，空间认知在觅食决策中起关键作用。通常，灵长类采用随机或有目的移动觅食，有目的移动包含采用欧式或拓扑导航。尽管两种导航机制不同，但有许多路标的拓扑地图与欧式地图一样准确，那么如何区分二者？一种可行的方法是分析新生境中的时间依赖型移动数据，确定是否有新捷径来分析记忆在移动中的作用。但在现实中，很难找到一个物种的新生境。.幸运的是，伴随拉沙山黑白仰鼻猴群体的规模增长，逐渐扩展新生境。收集了主食资源特征（如分布、质量和变化）、猴群大小和组成、移动数据，结果表明，伴随猴群增长，食物种类由29种植物变为34种，但猴群每年采食短松箩比例最高，其他主食种类、部位和质量有时空尺度变化。猴群出发方向与到达目标点方向一致，这意味着移动有方向感。猴群较高的移动线性、不均匀的移动速度以及移动变换点主要发生在取食和休息地，以及猴群可以从不同方向进入资源点，这说猴群采用欧式导航。.新生境中时间依赖性数据分析表明，猴群移动效率逐步提高，说明移动中有记忆参与。本研究首次阐明记忆参与了黑白仰鼻猴的移动决策，完善了灵长类的空间认知和记忆功能研究。