Latest news with #MaxPlanckInstituteofAnimalBehavior
Yahoo
25-06-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Orangutans sacrifice sleep to socialize–but naps can help
If you've ever had a late night out with friends and then needed an afternoon lie-down the next day, you're in good primate company. Wild orangutans also nap to make up for lost sleep, according to new research on an orangutan population in Indonesia. And, one of the biggest factors determining how much sleep they get is their social environment, per the study published June 25 in the journal Current Biology. Orangutans are considered semi-solitary great apes, meaning that they have their own individual ranges, and– with the exception of mothers and infants– spend lots of their days alone. However they still socially interact, voluntarily spending upwards of half their time in proximity to others, depending on sex and life stage. In contrast to humans, who evolved in hunter-gatherer groups, orangutans come from a more solitary lineage. Still socializing seems really important to the apes, as emphasized by the new findings. When the orangutans opt to spend the night near others, they get less rest and take more naps the next day, the scientists report. Yet despite the lost sleep, orangutans still often choose to build their nightly nests in close proximity to each other. 'They definitely seem to have control over who they spend time with,' Caroline Schuppli, a study co-author and an evolutionary biologist and research group leader at the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior in Konstanz, Germany, tells Popular Science. 'If they really needed a night to themselves, they could make sure that they got that. To me, the result just shows how vital social associations are, even for this semi-solitary species. … It's not something they can just give up on because they sleep less.' The new research also reveals other surprising parallels between human and orangutan sleep habits. Nap length, the influence of temperature and travel, and even a bed-making pre-sleep routine among orangutans all mirror our own tendencies– adding to the ever-growing list of shared traits between us and our orange-furred cousins. 'We can learn a lot about the evolutionary history of sleep by studying it in the settings in which it evolved,' Schuppli says. Between 2007 to 2023, Schuppli and a crew of local field assistants in Indonesia spent hundreds of days and nights following individual orangutans from their early morning wakeups through to their evening bedtimes and beyond. To ensure thorough tracking, three people were assigned to monitor each orangutan. Armed with binoculars and with their necks craned towards the treetops as they trekked through swampy, Sumatran peat forest, the team collected data on 53 adult individuals over the course of the 17 years. Each evening, before turning in for the night, orangutans 'make their beds,' building leafy nests of twigs and foliage to rest on. The researchers observed that this particular population of orangutans also build slightly simpler nests for daytime naps, in contrast to other groups which frequently just laze on bare branches. To approximate sleep time, the scientists recorded how long each individual spent quietly lying still in these nests in each instance. On average, each night the orangutans entered their nests around 5:40 p.m., less than an hour before sunset, and left them just after sunrise at around 6:28 a.m.–spending just under 13 hours 'in bed.' At least one study of captive orangutans has previously shown that the primates spend about 75 percent of their quiet time in their nests sleeping, so 13 hours of nest time comes out to less than 10 hours of estimated nightly sleep. The apes also spent a mean total of 76 minutes napping each day, over 1-2 different nests and multiple bouts of rest. The average nap duration was about 10 minutes. 'It's surprisingly similar to what is recommended in humans for the length of a power nap,' says Schuppli. Beyond these basic sleep stats, the scientists also tabulated how the length of one resting bout influences the next, based on the many instances where they were able to follow the same orangutans across two or more days. They further compared the time spent in nests against environmental and social variables like temperature, rainfall, the proximity of other orangutans, length of daily travel, and amount of food eaten. They found that the orangutans don't seem to make up for a shortened night's sleep with more rest the next night. Instead, they compensate with naps. For every hour of lost nighttime nest rest, the apes showed a 12.3 percent increase (about 10 extra minutes) in their amount of daytime dozing. 'There's some kind of nap quota they're maybe trying to fulfill,' Schuppli explains. The population of orangutans followed in the study is unique in its routine tool use and level of sociality—both things that require a lot of cognitive energy. Thus getting enough sleep is likely especially important in this group, she adds. [ Related: These orangutans indulge in a spa-like skincare routine. ] Many scientists have observed orangutans and other primates over the years, following and meticulously recording their daytime activity. But this new research proves that understanding nighttime inactivity can similarly illuminate our understanding of our closest relatives on the tree of life. 'It is cool to start to actually dig into the almost half their lives that they're asleep,' Alison Ashbury, lead study author and also an evolutionary biologist at the Max Planck Institute, tells Popular Science. 'This whole question of sleep in wild animals is becoming a bigger research topic, as we get more technology and we're able to actually [examine it],' she says. Among all the variables examined, the largest single determiner in how long an individual spent in its nest each night was the presence or absence of other orangutans. For every additional, so-called association partner nesting nearby, an orangutan's sleep period was about 14 minutes shorter. The primary driving factor here seemed to be wake-up time. 'They get out of their nests earlier when they're with others… as soon as the first one leaves, everybody leaves,' she notes. Schuppli and her colleagues are not yet sure why orangutans opt to sacrifice rest for social sleep, but it could be because it reinforces bonds during waking hours, as observed in a 2024 study of baboons. Temperature also played a significant role, with extremes reducing rest periods. 'As it gets colder at night they sleep less, and as it gets hotter during the day they sleep less. So there's some sort of ideal range for sleeping,' just like in humans, says Ashbury. Plus, the more an orangutan traveled during the day, the less they got to sleep, generally because of a later bedtime. Relatably, on rainy days, the apes napped more. The study authors were unable to measure the orangutans' sleep directly, relying instead on the proxy of nest time. So, it's possible the exact sleep numbers would differ if actual snooze time was easily quantified, without disturbing the wild primates. It's also likely that there were differences night-to-night in quality and depth of sleep that the researchers weren't able to capture, as well as environmental variables beyond the scope of what they assessed. Yet all in all, the results highlight just how critical sleep and socializing are for orangutans, and how the environment can shape restorative rest. What applies for other apes is best kept in mind for ourselves as well, says Schuppli. 'You shouldn't be ashamed if you need a nap during the day.'
Arabian Post
19-06-2025
- Science
- Arabian Post
Tiny Worms Erect 'Living Towers' to Catch Insect Rides
Scientists have observed that under intense environmental pressure, nematode worms assemble into towering collective structures to disperse by hitching rides on passing insects. This phenomenon, documented in decaying orchard fruit in Germany, represents the first natural evidence of cooperative 'towering' behaviour among nematodes. Field researchers from the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior and the University of Konstanz spent months scanning fallen apples and pears with digital microscopes, capturing worms forming vertical towers several millimetres tall. Once attached to an insect such as a fruit fly, the entire column would detach and ride off, a strategy to reach new habitats. The towers consist exclusively of a single species in the stress-resistant 'dauer' larval stage, suggesting selective group assembly rather than random aggregation among various worm genera. Postdoctoral researcher Daniela Perez describes these towers as 'a coordinated structure, a superorganism in motion'. ADVERTISEMENT Laboratory experiments using Caenorhabditis elegans confirmed these findings. In vitro tests placed starved worms on nutrient-deprived agar fitted with a vertical bristle. Within hours, worms climbed one another, forming towers that remained stable for over 12 hours and even extended 'arms' to bridge gaps. When touched or when an insect passed by, the structures would reorient and attach en masse. Unlike ants or slime moulds, nematode towers display no evident division of roles. Each worm, whether atop the structure or at its base, shares similar mobility and reproductive potential in the lab. This egalitarian dynamic reflects clonal origin; however, wild towers may harbour more complex genetic interactions, pointing to open questions about cooperation, conflict and even cheating. The study positions nematodes among a rare group of organisms—such as fire ants, slime moulds and spider mites—that link bodies for coordinated movement. Given nematodes' global prevalence, this discovery opens new avenues for research into collective motion, ecological dispersal and bio-inspired design, especially with the genetic tools available for the C. elegans model. Senior author Serena Ding emphasises the novelty: with the right field tools, 'natural worm towers existed only in our imaginations. But … they were hiding in plain sight'.
Time of India
12-06-2025
- Science
- Time of India
Scientists spot ‘superorganism' in the wild for the first time — and it's made of worms
Source: Live Science For the first time ever, scientists have observed a group of tiny worms called nematodes forming a strange 'living tower' in nature. This kind of behaviour is known as forming 'superorganism' which had only been seen in laboratory experiments before — never in nature. This exciting discovery was made by researchers from the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior and the University of Konstanz in Germany while studying decaying fruit like apples and pears in local orchards. They were shocked to see the worms pile up into small towers and move together like one big creature. Nematode towers: How worms work together to move These worm towers were made mostly by a special life stage of the nematode called the dauer stage. In this phase, worms are not feeding, but they can survive in tough environments for long periods. Scientists believe these dauer worms were working together to build the towers as a way to escape rotting fruit and search for a new, better place to live. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Run Your Business Like a Pro - Top Trending Accounting Software (Check Now) Accounting ERP Click Here Undo Originally, experts thought this type of tower-building was a form of competition, where each worm tried to reach the top for its own benefit. But the new findings suggest the opposite — the worms were cooperating, acting more like a team than rivals. According to Live Science, the footage of the same was captured by researchers in Konstanz, Germany, on fallen apples and pears at local orchards. The team from the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior (MPI-AB) and the University of Konstanz were then able to combine these images with follow-up laboratory experiments to demonstrate that the 'towering' behavior happens naturally, and that the worms engage in such behaviour as a means of mass transit Unexpected teamwork of tiny worms in nature, for the first time This kind of behavior is known as forming a 'superorganism' — when many individuals join forces and behave as one single being. It's something seen in other animals too, like fire ants, which build bridges and rafts out of their own bodies, or slime molds, which merge into one big moving blob to find food. The researchers say this shows even very simple creatures like worms can work together in clever and surprising ways. By acting as a group, the worms increase their chances of surviving in harsh environments and reaching new habitats. The discovery opens the door to learning more about group behavior in small organisms and could even help scientists understand the early steps of how teamwork and social behavior evolved in nature. Also read: Teleios: a mysterious sphere floating in the Milky Way
Yahoo
06-06-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
This ‘Tower of Worms' Is a Squirming Superorganism
When food runs out, certain tiny roundworms, barely visible to the naked eye, crawl toward one another and build living, wriggling towers that move as one superorganism. For the first time, we've caught them doing that in nature on video. Scientists spent months pointing their digital microscope at rotting apples and pears to finally catch a glimpse of these living towers formed by Caenorhabditis roundworms in an orchard that is just downhill from the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior's location in Konstanz, Germany. 'It wasn't that hard to find. It's just the people didn't have the interest or time or funding for this kind of research,' says biologist Daniela Perez, lead author of the study. Perez and her team at the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior then studied this behavior in a laboratory to learn more. To spur the towering, they placed groups of Caenorhabditis elegans in a dish without food, alongside a toothbrush bristle that could work as a scaffold. Dozens of worms quickly climbed on top of the bristle and one another to form a structure that moved in an eerily coordinated manner. The tower responded to the touch of a glass pipe by attempting to latch onto it; it stretched to bridge the gap between the bottom of the dish and its lid; and it even waved its tip around to probe the surrounding environment. The results were published Thursday in Current Biology. [Sign up for Today in Science, a free daily newsletter] Researchers had previously observed this towering in the lab but didn't know that it was an actual survival strategy in the wild. 'Discovering [this behavior] in wild populations is really important as it shows this is a part of how these animals live and not just a lab artifact,' says William Schafer, a geneticist at the University of Cambridge, who studies C. elegans and was not involved in the study. Why do the worms do this? The researchers think towering helps worms set out to find richer food sources. When resources are limited, 'it probably makes sense for microscopic organisms to cooperate for dispersing by forming something bigger,' says the study's senior author Serena Ding. The towers could allow some of their members to reach new places or to hitchhike on other organisms such as fruit flies. The bigger question is how the worms communicate within the towers. If the worms on top latch onto a fly, how do those at the bottom know to detach from where they're anchored? They could communicate chemically through pheromones and mechanically through movement patterns, Schafer suggests. Perez says her team plans to test this next. 'Every time we have a meeting, we end up with 10 new project ideas,' she says. 'There are so many directions we can take this.'
Yahoo
05-06-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
These worms stack together to form living towers, new study finds
Sign up for CNN's Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news on fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more. Nature seems to offer an escape from the hustle and bustle of city life, but the world at your feet may tell another story. Even in the shade of a fruit tree, you could be surrounded by tiny skyscrapers — not made of steel or concrete, but of microscopic worms wriggling and writhing into the shape of long, vertical towers. Even though these miniature architects, called nematodes, are found all over Earth's surface, scientists in Germany recently witnessed their impressive building techniques in nature for the first time. After months of closely inspecting rotten pears and apples in local orchards, researchers from the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior and the University of Konstanz were able to spot hundreds of the 1-millimeter-long (0.04-inch) worms climbing onto one another, amassing structures up to 10 times their individual size. To learn more about the mysterious physics of the soft, slimy towers, the study team brought samples of nematodes called Caenorhabditis elegans into a lab and analyzed them. There, the scientists noticed the worms could assemble in a matter of hours, with some reaching out from the twisting mass as exploratory 'arms' sensing the environment and building accordingly. But why the worms formed the structures wasn't immediately clear. The team's findings, published Thursday in the journal Current Biology, show that even the smallest animals can prompt big questions about the evolutionary purpose of social behaviors. 'What we got was more than just some worms standing on top of each other,' said senior study author Serena Ding, a Max Planck research group leader of genes and behavior. 'It's a coordinated superorganism, acting and moving as a whole.' To find out what was motivating the nematodes' building behavior, the study team tested the worms' reactions to being poked, prodded and even visited by a fly — all while stacked in a tower formation. 'We saw that they are very reactive to the presence of a stimulus,' said the study's first author, Daniela Perez, who is a postdoctoral researcher at the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior. 'They sense it, and then the tower goes towards this stimulus, attaching itself to our metal pick or a fly buzzing around.' This coordinated reaction suggests the hungry nematodes may be joining together to easily hitch a ride on larger animals such as insects that transport them to (not so) greener pastures with more rotten fruit to feast on, Perez said. 'If you think about it, an animal that is 1 millimeter long cannot just crawl all the way to the next fruit 2 meters (6.6 feet) away. It could easily die on the way there, or be eaten by a predator,' Perez explained. Nematodes are capable of hitchhiking solo too, she added, but arriving to a new area in a group may allow them to continue reproducing. The structures themselves may also serve as a mode of transport, as evidenced by how some worms formed bridges across gaps within the petri dishes to get from one surface to another, Perez noted. 'This discovery is really exciting,' said Orit Peleg, an associate professor of computer science who studies living systems at the University of Colorado Boulder's BioFrontiers Institute. 'It's both establishing the ecological function of creating a tower, and it really opens up the door to do more controlled experimentation to try to understand the perceptual world of these organisms, and how they communicate within a large group.' Peleg was not involved in the study. As the next step, Perez said her team would like to learn whether the formation of these structures is a cooperative or competitive behavior. In other words, are the towering nematodes behaving socially to help each other out, or are their towers more akin to a Black Friday sale stampede? Studying the behaviors of other self-assembling creatures could offer clues to the social norms of nematodes and help answer this question, Ding said. Ants, which assemble to form buoyant rafts to survive floodwaters, are among the few creatures known to team up like nematodes, said David Hu, a professor of mechanical engineering and biology at Georgia Tech. Hu was not involved in the study. 'Ants are incredibly sacrificial for one another, and they do not generally fight within the colony,' Hu said. 'That's because of their genetics. They all come from the same queen, so they are like siblings.' Like ants, nematodes didn't appear to display any obvious role differentiation or hierarchy within the tower structures, Perez said. Each worm from the base to the top of the structure was equally mobile and strong, indicating no competition was at play. However, the lab-cultivated worms were basically clones of one another, so it's not clear whether role differentiation occurs more often in nature, where nematode populations could have more genetic differences, she noted. Additionally, socially cooperative creatures tend to use some form of communication, Peleg said. In the case of ants, it may be their pheromone trails, while honeybees rely on their ritual dance routines and slime molds use their pulsing chemical signals. With nematodes, however, it's still not clear how they might communicate — or if they are communicating at all, Ding said. 'The next steps for (the team) are really just choosing the next questions to ask.' Notably, there has been a lot of interest in studying cooperative animal behaviors among the robotics community, Hu said. It's possible that one day, he added, information about the complex sociality of creatures like nematodes could be used to inform how technology, such as computer servers or drone systems, communicates.
