To stay together, animal groups on the move must come to a consensus about where and when to go, despite the fact that individual preferences may often conflict. Resolving these conflicts effectively is essential for animals that live in stable, socially-complex societies, such as baboons. How are these movement decisions reached?

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To address this question, my collaborators (including Meg Crofoot, Damien Farine, and Iain Couzin) and I used GPS tracking data on the movements of the majority of baboons within a single troop, a 3-dimensional map of their environment, and quantitative analyses to tease apart the different influences on baboon movement.

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Above is an example of baboon collective movement. Each dot represents a single baboon within the troop. 

Key topics:

• Consensus decision-making

How shared or unshared are baboons' decisions about where to move?

Read the paper: Shared decision-making drives collective movement in wild baboons

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Read an article about the research: Baboon-Trackers Herald New Age of Animal Behaviour Research

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• Group spatial organization

Do individuals occupy particular spatial positions within the group, and if so how do they maintain those positions? 

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Read the paper: Individual variation in local interaction rules can explain emergent patterns of spatial organization in wild baboons.

• Habitat influences on collective movement

 How do individual baboons integrate habitat and social information when making movement decisions?

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 How does habitat structure affect group structure and movement at the collective level?

Read the paper: Habitat and social factors shape individual decisions and emergent group structure during baboon collective movement

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Read an article about the research: Habitat features and social behavior impact how baboons move as a group 

Habitat flyover

Visualization of 3-dimensional (point cloud) reconstruction the baboons' habitat

Combining GPS tracks and habitat data

Visualization of baboon movement data overlaid on 3-dimensional habitat reconstruction