Kinship, acoustic signaling, and socio-spatial structure shape shared decisions and social influence in white-nosed coatis
- 1Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior
Abstract
When individual preferences for collective outcomes diverge, cohesive animal groups often coalesce on the majority opinion. However, majority-based decision rules may be counterbalanced by other factors, particularly in heterogeneous groups with differentiated social relationships, and these factors could produce inequality in social influence. We used multi-sensor tracking collars to collect detailed and simultaneous data on the movements and vocalizations of almost all members of three wild white-nosed coati (Nasua narica) groups, and analyzed 2,401 individual decisions between conflicting travel directions that were indicated by acoustically signaling groupmates. Decision-making was shared: individuals favored directions that had majority support, and we found evidence that they used acoustic signals and movement cues to infer majority support. Individuals were also more likely to choose directions favored by closer kin and by groupmates in more frontward spatial positions. Although decisions were shared, influence was not equally distributed across individuals. Individuals who consistently formed majorities or occupied frontward spatial positions had higher influence over travel direction. By explicitly linking decisions by individual followers to emergent patterns of influence among potential leaders, our results suggest that influence is a complex product of higher-order interactions that are likely dependent on group demography and socio-spatial structure.
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BibTeX
@misc{winans2026kinship,
title = {{Kinship, acoustic signaling, and socio-spatial structure shape shared decisions and social influence in white-nosed coatis}},
author = {J. C. Winans and E. M. Grout and J. Ortega and M. J. Quin and M. C. Crofoot and B. T. Hirsch and A. Strandburg-Peshkin},
howpublished = {bioRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = aug,
doi = {10.64898/2026.08.11.744150},
url = {https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.08.11.744150v2},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Kinship, acoustic signaling, and socio-spatial structure shape shared decisions and social influence in white-nosed coatis
AU - J. C. Winans
AU - E. M. Grout
AU - J. Ortega
AU - M. J. Quin
AU - M. C. Crofoot
AU - B. T. Hirsch
AU - A. Strandburg-Peshkin
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/08/11
PB - bioRxiv
DO - 10.64898/2026.08.11.744150
UR - https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.08.11.744150v2
AB - When individual preferences for collective outcomes diverge, cohesive animal groups often coalesce on the majority opinion. However, majority-based decision rules may be counterbalanced by other factors, particularly in heterogeneous groups with differentiated social relationships, and these factors could produce inequality in social influence. We used multi-sensor tracking collars to collect detailed and simultaneous data on the movements and vocalizations of almost all members of three wild white-nosed coati (Nasua narica) groups, and analyzed 2,401 individual decisions between conflicting travel directions that were indicated by acoustically signaling groupmates. Decision-making was shared: individuals favored directions that had majority support, and we found evidence that they used acoustic signals and movement cues to infer majority support. Individuals were also more likely to choose directions favored by closer kin and by groupmates in more frontward spatial positions. Although decisions were shared, influence was not equally distributed across individuals. Individuals who consistently formed majorities or occupied frontward spatial positions had higher influence over travel direction. By explicitly linking decisions by individual followers to emergent patterns of influence among potential leaders, our results suggest that influence is a complex product of higher-order interactions that are likely dependent on group demography and socio-spatial structure.
ER -