Reproducibility of field science in non-human primates

Abstract

Non-human primates live in a variety of habitats and exhibit diverse social systems. They vary in demographics (group sizes and age-sex class composition); as well as social cohesiveness. Therefore, inter and intra-specific variations in the behaviours of wild primates are commonly observed, resulting in difficulties with generalizing species- or group-specific behaviours. Despite this, studies investigating general patterns of primate behaviours and social systems often receive much attention in high impact journals, with a disproportionate decrease in priority for descriptive and/or case studies, such as observations of predation events on primates, or anecdotal descriptions of unique behaviours. This seems to ignore the fact that most comprehensive models for primates, such as socio-ecological models, were formulated based on long-term accumulation of simple descriptive studies and/or case studies. The general academic values for scientific publication need to be re-examined, with a suggested priority shift back towards the publication of basic scientific information, in order to contribute to further development in the field of primatological science.