Drones to study nocturnal behaviour in spider monkeys

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In a new study led by Eduardo Pinel-Ramos a drone with a thermal infrared camera was used to show that spider monkey subgroups change in size between sunset and sunrise. You can download the open-access study here. The highlights are pasted below:

  • Thermal infrared drone footage revealed that Geoffroy’s spider monkey subgroups frequently
    change in size between sunset and sunrise, indicating that social organization
    continues to be dynamic during nighttime hours.
  • Changes in subgroup size occurred more frequently when sunset subgroups were
    relatively large, indicating that larger subgroups are more likely to undergo nocturnal
    reorganization, although the direction of these changes (fission or fusion) varied
    among cases.
    What are the implications of the main findings?
  • These results challenge the assumption that diurnal primates exhibit limited activity
    at night and highlight the importance of considering the full 24 h cycle to understand
    primate social behavior and ecology.
  • The study demonstrates the value of thermal drone technology for documenting
    otherwise unobservable nocturnal social dynamics, providing information that is
    directly relevant for primate monitoring and conservation.

Category : Drone applications