Kinship, acoustic signaling, and socio-spatial structure shape shared decisions and social influence in white-nosed coatis

In three wild white-nosed coati (Nasua narica) groups, 2,401 acoustically signaled travel-direction conflicts show majority-based shared decisions shaped by kinship and socio-spatial position.

• Why it matters: Majority rules can be altered by heterogeneous social relationships, potentially creating unequal influence; the study tests how kinship and spatial structure shape who sways group travel.
• What they did: Multi-sensor tracking collars recorded movements and vocalizations from almost all members of three groups, and the researchers analyzed 2,401 individual decisions between conflicting travel directions indicated by acoustic signals.
• The result: Coatis favored directions with majority support, using acoustic signals and movement cues to infer it, while closer kin and frontward positions increased choice likelihood; influence was uneven, with consistent majority-formers and frontward individuals exerting higher influence.

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