Mouse lemurs that perform better in cognitive tests live longer.
Cognitive abilities differ not only between species but also among individuals of the same species. In general, smarter individuals are expected to live longer because their enhanced decision-making skills can help them choose better habitats and food sources, avoid predators, and care for their offspring more effectively.
To explore what influences the life expectancy of wild gray mouse lemurs, researchers from the German Primate Center carried out a long-term study in Madagascar. They tested 198 lemurs using four cognitive tasks and two personality assessments, while also recording each animal’s weight and tracking their survival over several years.
The cognitive tests measured problem-solving (accessing food by moving a slider), spatial memory (recalling the location of hidden food), inhibitory control (taking an indirect route to reach food), and causal understanding (retrieving food by pulling a string). Personality was evaluated in two ways: one test measured exploratory behavior, and the other assessed curiosity based on how the lemurs responded to unfamiliar objects.
Either Being Particularly Smart or Particularly Explorative – Both Strategies Can Lead to Longer Life
In the study, individuals that performed better in the cognitive tests exhibited less exploratory behavior compared to poorer-performing conspecifics. Conversely, more explorative individuals had higher weights, likely due to their ability to find food more easily. The study also found that animals with better cognitive performance, higher weight, and stronger exploratory behavior tended to have longer lifespans.
“These results suggest that being either smart or exhibiting good physical condition and exploratory behavior are likely to be different strategies that can lead to a longer lifespan,” said Claudia Fichtel, first author of the study and a scientist at the German Primate Center. “In future studies, we aim to investigate how cognitive abilities translate into behavioral strategies to find food or mating partner.”
Reference: “Cognitive performance is linked to fitness in a wild primate” by Claudia Fichtel, Johanna Henke-von der Malsburg and Peter M. Kappeler, 12 July 2023, Science Advances.
DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adf9365
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