The ability of an animal to integrate and retain spatial information of resources often depends on the spatial memory and the speed at which this memory crystallizes. These become especially important once foragers reach their target area. However, very little is known about how wild common marmosets encode spatial information when feeding rewards are near to each other in a small-scale space. With this in mind, we performed field experiments to test foraging decisions related to a small-scale space setting. Specifically, we tested the (i) short- and (ii) long-term spatial memory, as well as (iii) the ability to remember the spatial location of resources after a single visit (one-trial spatial learning). The study was conducted with four groups of wild common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus) living in a semiarid Caatinga environment. We observed that individuals were able to retain spatial information of food sources on both a short- and long-term basis and to learn the spatial location of these resources after a single visit. We suggest that such abilities during foraging can improve the search for scattered resources with fluctuations of food availability. Presumably, this would be particularly advantageous in Caatinga, with its vegetation exhibiting asynchronous phenological patterns. Altogether, our results demonstrate that common marmosets employ all three studied spatial cognitive abilities to improve their food search and consumption.

中文翻译：

---

野生普通狨猴（Callithrix jacchus）利用空间认知能力来改善它们的食物搜索和消费：小尺度空间的实验方法

动物整合和保留资源空间信息的能力通常取决于空间记忆和这种记忆结晶的速度。一旦觅食者到达目标区域，这些就变得尤为重要。然而，当喂食奖励在小尺度空间中彼此靠近时，野生普通狨猴如何编码空间信息，我们知之甚少。考虑到这一点，我们进行了实地实验，以测试与小规模空间环境相关的觅食决策。具体而言，我们测试了 (i) 短期和 (ii) 长期空间记忆，以及 (iii) 在单次访问后记住资源空间位置的能力（一次试验空间学习）。该研究是对生活在半干旱卡廷加环境中的四组野生普通狨猴（Callithrix jacchus）进行的。我们观察到个体能够在短期和长期的基础上保留食物来源的空间信息，并在一次访问后了解这些资源的空间位置。我们建议在觅食期间的这种能力可以改善对食物可用性波动的分散资源的搜索。据推测，这在卡廷加特别有利，其植被表现出异步物候模式。总而言之，我们的结果表明，普通狨猴利用所有三种研究的空间认知能力来改善它们的食物搜索和消费。我们建议在觅食期间的这种能力可以改善对食物可用性波动的分散资源的搜索。据推测，这在卡廷加特别有利，其植被表现出异步物候模式。总而言之，我们的结果表明，普通狨猴利用所有三种研究的空间认知能力来改善它们的食物搜索和消费。我们建议在觅食期间的这种能力可以改善对食物可用性波动的分散资源的搜索。据推测，这在卡廷加特别有利，其植被表现出异步物候模式。总而言之，我们的结果表明，普通狨猴利用所有三种研究的空间认知能力来改善它们的食物搜索和消费。