Cognition in the wild: experiments with wild Malagasy primates

Cognitive phenotypes of animals are shaped by the challenges they face throughout their lives and across evolutionary time. However, much cognitive research has focused on captive animals, largely divorcing them from these challenges. In this talk, I will present two lines of research investigating cognitive abilities in wild Malagasy primates. First, I will address the question of whether competent individuals become more valuable social partners by presenting results of a social learning experiment combined with behavioral observations of social interactions in group-living redfronted lemurs (Eulemur rufifrons). Second, I will present the results of our research on gray mouse lemurs (Microcebus murinus), where we investigated differences in cognitive performance between a captive and a wild population, showing that wild mouse lemurs performed better in some tests than captive ones. In addition, I will present a study on the link between cognition and fitness in wild mouse lemurs showing that cognitive performance and personality predict survival, highlighting the importance to study also cognition in the wild.