Tuesday, August 05, 2025

Networks of long-distance female friends help gorillas move between groups

When moving to a new social group, female gorillas seek out groups containing females they have lived with in the past

Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International

Two adult female mountain gorillas rest in physical contact, along with one of their infants, an indication of a close affiliative relationship — image:
Networks of long-distance female friends help gorillas move between groups
A new study, published in *Proceedings of the Royal Society B.* Conducted by researchers from the University of Zurich and the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund, funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation and Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund.
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Credit: Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund

“I’m not going if I don't know anyone” -- sound all too familiar? Well it’s not just humans. Socialising in a new group can be tricky. We often rely on word of mouth and friends-of-friends connections. New research on gorillas suggests they may be using a similar strategy: when moving to a new social group, female gorillas seek out groups containing females they have lived with in the past.

In many animal societies, individuals of one sex, or sometimes both, eventually leave their birth group to join another. In a smaller number of species, including humans and gorillas, individuals can change between groups multiple times. This process, known as dispersal, plays a key role in avoiding inbreeding, spreading gene diversity and shaping social relationships. But how do individuals choose where to go?

A new study, published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, cracks this mystery, thanks to more than 20 years of data on multiple groups of wild mountain gorillas, continuously monitored by the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund in Rwanda.

The study reveals that females do not disperse randomly. Broad group traits such as group size or sex ratio did not seem to matter, but past social experiences did, with females avoiding males they grew up with, and seeking out females they already knew.

"Because female mountain gorillas do not know with certainty who their fathers are, they might rely on a simple rule like ‘avoid any group with males I grew up with’ as the likelihood of them being related will be higher than with males they did not grow up with,"said lead author Victoire Martignac, a Ph.D. student from the University of Zurich.

And this rule is not just based on familiarity but also on its context. "Because females can disperse multiple times, they will become familiar with many males from different groups," explains Martignac, "yet, when choosing their next group, they only avoid males they grew up with. This really tells us that it’s not just who they know that matters but how they know them."

But what seemed to matter even more, was the presence of females they had lived with before, suggesting that these relationships matter even after years apart.

"Going into a new group could feel pretty scary, with individuals usually entering at the bottom of the social hierarchy. A familiar female might help reduce this, providing a social ally," adds Dr. Robin Morrison, senior author on the study. "It could also act like a recommendation from a friend -- if a female they know has chosen to stay in this group it could indicate positive things about the group as a whole or the dominant male leading that group."

The study also found that it’s not just any familiar individuals, but females that had spent at least 5 years together and those that they had seen in the last two years which were the most influential.

The researchers argue that it is often wrongly assumed that individuals dispersing multiple times gain few benefits from being social as any member of the group might leave at any time.

But investing in these relationships clearly matters. Spatial separation can be ephemeral with individuals being reunited in the future, easing the difficult process of starting over in a new social group.

These findings highlight the deeply social nature of dispersal in gorillas, not only enabling the formation of new relationships, but also facilitating the maintenance of pre-existing ones.

Crucially, these dispersal patterns, with individuals moving multiple times, combined with the fact that groups often interact and share overlapping ranges, all show that relationships can extend beyond group boundaries.

"This mirrors a key aspect of human societies: the existence of strong ties between different social groups," adds Martignac. "As humans, we’re constantly moving across jobs, cities and social groups. We do it so effortlessly that we forget how unusual this flexibility actually is within the animal kingdom."

"This is a reminder of the meaningfulness of social relationships kept across boundaries and how this extended network of relationships might have played a key role in the evolution of larger and more cooperative societies."

Finally, Dr. Tara Stoinski, president and CEO/chief scientific officer of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund and a co-author on the study emphasises that such discoveries are really only possible thanks to long-term data. "Being able to study dispersal, to track not only where individuals are from but also where they go, and to construct their whole social history in such detail, is only possible because of decades of data collection. With just a few years and a few groups, all of these inter-group ties and extended networks would be invisible to us. This really highlights the value of long-term observations on multiple groups in better understanding the evolution of sociality."

The research, conducted by researchers from the University of Zurich and the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund, was funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation and Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund.

Group of mountain gorillas resting

Three generations of mountain gorillas sitting together. Gutangara holding her infant daughter, next to her adult daughter Shishikara and grandson Kira

Two subadult female gorillas play together in Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda

An encounter between two different mountain gorilla groups. These encounters represent an opportunity for females to learn about neighbouring groups and potentially disperse between them.

Networks of long-distance female friends help gorillas move between groups

A new study, published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B. Conducted by researchers from the University of Zurich and the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund, funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation and Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund.

Credit

Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund

Journal

Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences

DOI

10.1098/rspb.2025.0223

Method of Research

Observational study

Subject of Research

Animals

Article Title

Dispersed female networks: female gorillas’ inter-group relationships influence dispersal decisions

Article Publication Date

6-Aug-2025

WORD OF THE DAY

Why birds on the edge stay there: Study sheds light on murmuration mysteries

New research finds that sharp flock borders arise from simple rules of interaction—not from complex survival strategies

Rothamsted Research

They twist and turn across the sky in dense, whirling formations—murmurations of birds that seem to move as one, captivating watchers and puzzling scientists for decades. Now, a new analysis suggests that one of the most mysterious features of these aerial displays—the behaviour of birds at the edges—may stem from accident rather than intent.

A study examining the flocking patterns of jackdaws has found that the sharp borders of murmurations, and the way certain birds linger at the edges, can be explained by the mathematical rules that govern how individuals interact with their neighbours.

Scientists have long noted two peculiar features of flocking birds: those on the outer edges tend to remain there longer than expected, and the border of the flock appears remarkably well-defined, almost as if deliberately maintained. Previously, it was thought that these edge behaviours might have evolved as adaptive traits—perhaps allowing certain birds to spot predators more easily or respond faster to threats.

But according to the new study using stochastic (random) models of animal movement, these patterns emerge naturally when birds follow what are known as topological rules—coordinating their movement with a fixed number of nearby neighbours, regardless of the actual distance.

In contrast, the same striking edge behaviours did not emerge when birds interacted using metric rules, where coordination depends on who is physically closest. The findings were further supported by existing GPS tracking data from jackdaw flocks, which revealed patterns consistent with the topological model.

“What’s fascinating is that these highly structured, seemingly purposeful formations might actually be the result of very simple interaction rules,” said Rothamsted’s Andy Reynolds who conducted the analysis. “The sharpness of the border and the persistence of edge birds aren’t necessarily deliberate strategies. They’re just what happens when the system runs on topological interactions.”

The study adds to a growing body of evidence that complex group behaviours—from fish schools to insect swarms—can arise from surprisingly minimalist rules. It also raises questions about how much of animal group behaviour is shaped by evolution, and how much simply falls out of physics and geometry.

Murmurations, often seen in starlings but also performed by other species such as jackdaws, have long drawn both artistic and scientific fascination. While their precise function is still debated, they are believed to offer protection from predators and help in roosting.

This new research doesn’t rule out the idea that edge behaviours might be beneficial—but it suggests they may not have evolved for that purpose. Instead, they might be a fortunate accident of nature’s algorithm.

Rothasmted studies swarming behaviours in nature because they provide scientists with important information on how the various pest species that affect our crops might behave. By mathematically modelling what holds a swarm together, strategies can be developed that improve our ability to predict, monitor and control the movements of insect pests.

Journal

Journal of The Royal Society Interface

DOI

10.1098/rsif.2025.0020

Method of Research

Computational simulation/modeling

Subject of Research

Animals

Article Title

Topological interactions account for border dynamics of murmurations and transit flocks

Article Publication Date

6-Aug-2025

On-board camera footage offers bird’s eye glimpse into seabird flights and feeding behaviour

Scientists have captured unique on-board footage of Indian Ocean seabirds speeding just above the waves to catch flying fish on the wing.

Lancaster University

Red-footed boobie catching flying fish — image:
Image of a red-footed boobie catching a flying fish on the wing. This is a still taken from video footage recorded by a camera mounted on a red-footed boobie in the Indian Ocean
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Credit: Dr Ruth Dunn

Scientists have captured unique on-board footage of Indian Ocean seabirds speeding just above the waves to catch flying fish on the wing.

The footage, obtained by lightweight bird-borne cameras formed part of a study of the lives of seabirds in the waters around the remote archipelago they call home.

Two red-footed boobies - a tropical cousin of the more familiar gannet – were carefully fitted with the tiny cameras to record how they catch their favourite food; flying fish. Of 15 capture attempts, 14 were towards flying fish while in flight and one was an underwater dive.

This is the first such on-board footage revealing that flying fish are caught on the wing.

“The cameras recorded footage of the birds catching flying fish just above the surface of the water, while on the wing,” said Dr Ruth Dunn, a Visiting Researcher at Lancaster University and lead author of the study. “We suspected this happened, but this is the first time that we’ve had bird-borne footage like this showing them foraging and catching fish mid-air. It could suggest they are catching a significant portion of their diet in this way.”

In addition, the research team used small GPS and accelerator tracking devices on 18 more red-footed boobies in the remote Indian Ocean archipelago to show how they use the wind to travel hundreds of kilometres over the deep blue open ocean to hunt fish.

Red-footed boobies have long narrow wings relative to their bodies enabling them to glide quickly and efficiently in high crosswinds. The study showed they prefer tailwinds and crosswinds, especially on their outward journeys towards their feeding areas.

Red-footed boobies hunt in the open ocean and do not stick to specific feeding sites because their prey can be patchy and moves around. The researchers show the birds’ selection of favourable winds allows them to conserve energy while travelling and searching for food.

By selecting favourable winds, the birds reached higher speeds without needing to increase flapping. The researchers believe that the birds may have adapted this behaviour to the unpredictable, patchy food options available to them.

The trackers showed that the birds were more likely to continue to hunt in windier conditions and less likely to rest. This is possibly because when it is windier the flying fish stay in the air for longer which provides better opportunities for the birds to catch them.

“We found that the birds foraged in windy conditions and we think that this might be because flying fish are able to glide in the air for longer in these conditions, making them more accessible to the boobies,” said Dr Dunn.

Understanding how the behaviour of birds, and other flying species, are influenced by winds is of growing importance at a time when global airflow patterns and intensities are shifting due to climate change.

The red-footed booby findings contrast to those by other researchers studying some albatross species, which find it harder to catch prey in windier conditions.

The researchers believe their findings will help provide a clearer picture of how red-footed boobies will fare in a changing world.

“This is the first step in helping us to understand more about how wind influences the behaviour and distribution of tropical seabirds,” said co-author Professor Stephen Votier, from The Lyell Centre, Heriot-Watt University’s global institute for Earth and marine sciences. “By gaining a clearer understanding of such environmental effects will enable us to predict how they will cope in the future.”

The study, which was supported by the Bertarelli Foundation, involved researchers from Lancaster University, Heriot-Watt University, the University of Exeter, and ZSL.

Their findings are outlined in the paper ‘Commuting in crosswinds and foraging in fast winds: the foraging ecology of a flying fish specialist’ which is published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

Journal

Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences

DOI

10.1098/rspb.2025.0774

Method of Research

Observational study

Subject of Research

Animals

Article Title

Commuting in crosswinds and foraging in fast winds: the foraging ecology of a flying fish specialist

Article Publication Date

6-Aug-2025

Research shows Alaska early quake warning system could provide critical seconds

University of Alaska Fairbanks

A proposed earthquake early warning system could have provided several communities an alert of 10 seconds or more ahead of strong shaking from the magnitude 7.3 quake that occurred south of Sand Point near the tip of the Alaska Peninsula in mid-July.

That analysis is provided by Alex Fozkos of the Alaska Earthquake Center’s systems team at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute.

“Individuals in Sand Point could have expected approximately 10 seconds of warning time before shaking increased to its strongest,” Fozkos said. “In King Cove, individuals could have expected a warning of approximately 20 seconds.”

Sand Point is 55 miles from the epicenter; King Cove is slightly farther away. The community of Chignik, about 140 miles from the epicenter, would have received about 50 seconds of warning.

Fozkos’ Sand Point analysis is based on a hypothetical early warning system. The Alaska Earthquake Center and the U.S. Geological Survey earlier this year described the first phase of implementing the proposed USGS ShakeAlert warning system, which operates in California, Oregon and Washington.

The Sand Point analysis was enabled by earthquake early warning modeling by Fozkos. That modeling system was published today in the Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America. The Sand Point analysis is not part of the research paper, however, as it occurred after the paper was submitted.

Research professor Michael West, the Alaska Earthquake Center’s director and state seismologist, is a co-author.

For the research paper, Fozkos ran numerous warning time scenarios in several categories with varying inputs such as locations, magnitudes and fault configurations.

“This lays the groundwork for showing potential stakeholders how an early warning system could benefit Alaskans and why they should be paying attention,” said Fozkos, who conducted the research at the UAF Geophysical Institute while a graduate student.

Fozkos and West define warning time as the time difference between when a person receives an alert and the arrival of peak ground motion.

In the research paper’s scenario for the Southcentral and Southeast coasts, Fozkos simulated a magnitude 8.3 earthquake that created shaking intensities of 7 to 8. Shaking at those levels can cause moderate to heavy damage to buildings and would be widely felt.

Magnitude and intensity don’t always correspond. The earthquake magnitude scale measures the energy released at the quake’s source, while the shaking intensity scale describes the strength of ground shaking at specific locations.

Alerts for Southcentral and Southeast residents in that scenario could be issued 10 to 33 seconds after a quake occurs, with an average of 24 seconds, Fozkos writes in the research paper. Alerts would be issued quickest in the Southcentral region, where sensor density is highest.

“Having more stations in an area means an earthquake can be detected faster and a warning can be issued faster,” Fozkos said.

An early warning system uses a network of seismic sensors to detect an earthquake’s fast-moving primary, or P, waves as soon as they begin. It then calculates the earthquake’s location and magnitude to send alerts before the slower, more-damaging secondary, or S, waves arrive.

Alaska’s initial ShakeAlert phase, if funded, would focus on the Anchorage, Fairbanks, Kodiak and Prince William Sound regions, which include about 90% of the state’s population.

The federal-state system would consist of 450 real-time Advanced National Seismic System stations. Of those, 20 exist in the state, 270 would be new stations and 160 would be upgraded existing stations.

Fozkos’ research provides essential information to show how Alaskans could benefit from an earthquake early warning system. His work assumes a generic warning system, but his modeled outcomes are assumed to be comparable with ShakeAlert.

West said the science and support to establish early warning in Alaska has been in the works for several years and that the research paper’s goal is to make it “feel real and accessible.”

“Alaska has so many types of earthquakes that it can be difficult to explain to people what is possible,” he said. “This study takes complicated algorithms and technologies and shows what might happen in real world situations.”

Fozkos said Alaska’s tectonic environment is vastly different from that of the West Coast states.

“We have crustal earthquakes, we’ve got the deep earthquakes in the slab, we’ve got the interface earthquakes, there’s strike slip, there’s normal faulting.”

“If we’re going to advocate for an earthquake early warning system, then we owe Alaskans the numbers that are directly tied to Alaska and not to California, Oregon and Washington,” he said.

Journal

Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America

DOI

10.1785/0120250051

Article Title

Earthquake Early Warning Scenarios for Alaska

Article Publication Date

5-Aug-2025

A CENTURY AFTER IT'S DISCOVERY

Researchers discover universal laws of quantum entanglement across all dimensions

Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe

image:
Quantum entanglement in 1+1 and 2+1 dimensions
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Credit: Credit: Yuya Kusuki

A team of theoretical researchers used thermal effective theory to demonstrate that quantum entanglement follows universal rules across all dimensions. Their study was published online on August 5, in Physical Review Letters as an Editors’ Suggestion.

“This study is the first example of applying thermal effective theory to quantum information. The results of this study demonstrate the usefulness of this approach, and we hope to further develop this approach to gain a deeper understanding of quantum entanglement structures,” said lead author and Kyushu University Institute for Advanced Study Associate Professor Yuya Kusuki.

In classical physics, two particles that are far apart behave independently. However, in quantum physics, two particles can exhibit strong correlations regardless of the distance between them. This quantum correlation is known as quantum entanglement. Quantum entanglement is a fundamental phenomenon underlying quantum technologies such as quantum computation and quantum communication, and understanding its structure is important both theoretically and practically. One of the key measures used to quantify quantum entanglement is the Rényi entropy. Rényi entropy quantifies the complexity of quantum states and the distribution of information, and plays a crucial role in the classification of quantum states and in assessing the feasibility of simulating quantum many-body systems. Moreover, Rényi entropy serves as a powerful tool in theoretical investigations of the black hole information loss problem, and frequently appears in the context of quantum gravity.

But uncovering the structure of quantum entanglement is a challenge for both theoretical physics and quantum information theory. However, most studies to date have been limited to (1+1)-dimensional systems, or 1 spatial dimension plus time dimension. In higher dimensions, analyzing the structure of quantum entanglement becomes significantly more difficult (Figure 1).

A research group led by Kusuki, The University of Tokyo Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe (Kavli IPMU, WPI) and the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) Professor Hirosi Ooguri, and Caltech researcher Sridip Pal, has shown the universal features of quantum entanglement structures in higher dimensions by applying theoretical techniques developed in the field of particle physics to quantum information theory.

The research team focused on the thermal effective theory, which has recently led to major advances in the analysis of higher-dimensional theories in particle physics. This is a theoretical framework designed to extract universal behavior from complex systems, based on the idea that observable quantities can often be characterized by only a small number of parameters. By introducing this framework into quantum information theory, the team analyzed the behavior of Rényi entropy in higher-dimensional quantum systems. Rényi entropy is characterized by a parameter known as the replica number. The team demonstrated that, in the regime of small replica number, the behavior of the Rényi entropy is universally governed by only a few parameters, such as the Casimir energy, a key physical quantity within the theory. Furthermore, by leveraging this result, the team clarified the behavior of the entanglement spectrum in the region where its eigenvalues are large. They also investigated how universal behavior changes depending on the method used to evaluate the Rényi entropy. These findings hold not only in (1+1) dimensions, but in arbitrary spacetime dimensions, marking a significant step forward in the understanding of quantum entanglement structures in higher dimensions.

The next step for the researchers is to further generalize and refine this framework. This work represents the first demonstration that thermal effective theory can be effectively applied to the study of quantum entanglement structures in higher dimensions, and there remains ample room to further develop this approach. By improving the thermal effective theory with quantum information applications in mind, researchers could gain a deeper understanding of quantum entanglement structures in higher-dimensional systems.

On the applied side, the theoretical insights gained from this research may lead to improvements in numerical simulation methods for higher-dimensional quantum systems, propose new principles for classifying quantum many-body states, and contribute to a quantum-information-theoretic understanding of quantum gravity. These developments hold promise for broad and impactful future applications.

Looking a quantum entanglement in a quantum many-body system using thermal effective theory, which uncovers universal features of quantum entanglement

Credit

Yuya Kusuki

Journal

Physical Review Letters

DOI

10.1103/fsg7-bs7q

Article Title

Universality of Rényi Entropy in Conformal Field Theory

Article Publication Date

5-Aug-2025

Emeishan mantle plume created 400 km gas-rich carbonate belt in Sichuan Basin

Higher Education Press

image:
Sedimentary evolutionary models of the Middle Permian Maokou Formation in Sichuan Basin
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Credit: YUAN Haifeng1,2(), ZHANG Benjian3, KUANG Mingzhi1,2, ZHANG Xihua3, LI Wenjie1,2, PENG Hanlin3, CHEN Cong3, XIAO Qinren1,2, WANG Tao1,2, WANG Bingsen1,2, SHAN Shujiao3, LI Tianjun3, YUAN Hao1,2

Beneath the modern Sichuan Basin lies a geological masterpiece orchestrated by the Emeishan mantle plume 262 million year ago. A landmark study published in the Journal of Palaeogeography (Chinese Edition) uncovers how plume-driven tectonics shattered a Permian carbonate ramp into a complex platform system, creating a 400-kilometer-long dolostone hydrocarbon reservoir belt now pivotal to China’s energy exploration. Led by Prof. Yuan Haifeng (Chengdu University of Technology) and Dr. Zhang Benjian (PetroChina Southwest Oil and Gas Field Company), the research resolves decades of debate by precisely dating the tectonic-sedimentary pattern transition to 263–262 Ma using conodont biostratigraphy, while also revealing novel exploration targets.

The investigation began by reconciling conflicting sedimentary models for the Middle Permian Maokou Formation. While some researchers advocated a persistent carbonate ramp, others proposed a rimmed carbonate platform. Integrating drill cores (e.g., Well Cheng-20), outcrops (Guangyuan, Huaying), and seismic data, the team established that pre-volcanic crustal uplift—induced by the Emeishan mantle plume—initially shaped a southwest-dipping ramp during ~273–263 Ma (Maokou Members 1–2). Critically, the first appearance of the conodont Jinogondolella altudaensis marks a radical shift: intensified plume activity triggered tectonic-sedimentary differentiation at 263–262 Ma, fracturing the ramp into a fault-controlled platform featuring the Mianzhu-Pengxi intraplatform depression, Guangyuan-Kaijiang shelf, and the colossal Jian’ge-Fengdu platform margin.

This 400-km margin belt became the cradle of hydrocarbon-rich dolostones. As sea levels fluctuated, high-energy shoals frequently emerged, enabling pervasive early dolomitization that preserved porosity—explaining why recent wells (e.g., Jiaotan 1) here yield industrial gas flows exceeding 1 million m³/day. Notably, the plume’s influence extended beyond reservoir formation: the Guangyuan-Kaijiang shelf and Mianzhu-Pengxi depression served as prototypes for Late Permian trough, e.g., the Kaijiang-Liangping trough. Furthermore, the study identifies potential submarine volcanic eruptions in southwestern Sichuan, suggesting a hidden E-W trending intra-platform depression near Dujiangyan-Jianyang.

DOI

10.7605/gdlxb.2025.058

Method of Research

Experimental study

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

Coupling of tectonic-sedimentary differentiation and Emeishan mantle plume during the Middle Permian Maokouan in Sichuan Basin