MacaqueNet: Advancing comparative behavioural research through large-scale collaboration

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De Moor, D, Skelton, M, MacaqueNet, Amici, F, Arlet, ME, Balasubramaniam, KN, Ballesta, S, Berghänel, A, Berman, CM, Bernstein, SK, Bhattacharjee, D, Bliss-Moreau, E, Brotcorne, F, Butovskaya, M, Campbell, LAD, Carosi, M, Chatterjee, M, Cooper, MA, Cowl, VB, De la O, C, De Marco, A, Dettmer, AM, Dhawale, AK, Erinjery, JJ, Evans, CL, Fischer, J, García-Nisa, I, Giraud, G, Hammer, R, Hansen, MF, Holzner, A, Kaburu, S ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7456-3269, Konečná, M, Kumara, HN, Larrivaz, M, Leca, J-B, Legrand, M, Lehmann, J, Li, J-H, Lezé, A-S, MacIntosh, A, Majolo, B, Maréchal, L, Marty, PR, Massen, JJM, Maulany, RI, McCowan, B, McFarland, R ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8245-9269, Merieau, P, Meunier, H, Micheletta, J, Mishra, PS, Sah, SAM, Molesti, S, Morrow, KS, Müller-Klein, N, Ngakan, PO, Palagi, E, Petit, O, Pflüger, LS, Polizzi di Sorrentino, E, Raghaven, R, Raimbault, G, Ram, S, Reichard, UH, Riley, EP, Rincon, AV, Ruppert, N, Sadoughi, B, Santhosh, K, Schino, G, Sheeran, LK, Silk, JB, Singh, M, Sinha, Anindya, Sosa, S, Stribos, MS, Sueur, C, Tiddi, B, Tkaczynski, PJ, Trebouet, F, Widdig, A, Whitehouse, J ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2607-5492, Wooddell, LJ, Xia, D-P, von Fersen, L, Young, C ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8919-2093, Schülke, O, Ostner, J, Neumann, C, Duboscq, J and Brent, LJN, 2025. MacaqueNet: Advancing comparative behavioural research through large-scale collaboration. Journal of Animal Ecology. ISSN 0021-8790

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Official URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.14223

Abstract

1. There is a vast and ever-accumulating amount of behavioural data on individually recognised animals, an incredible resource to shed light on the ecological and evolutionary drivers of variation in animal behaviour. Yet, the full potential of such data lies in comparative research across taxa with distinct life histories and ecologies. Substantial challenges impede systematic comparisons, one of which is the lack of persistent, accessible, and standardised databases.

2. Big-team approaches to building standardised databases offer a solution to facilitating reliable cross-species comparisons. By sharing both data and expertise among researchers, these approaches ensure that valuable data, which might otherwise go unused, become easier to discover, repurpose, and synthesise. Additionally, such large-scale collaborations promote a culture of sharing within the research community, incentivizing researchers to contribute their data by ensuring their interests are considered through clear sharing guidelines. Active communication with the data contributors during the standardization process also helps avoid misinterpretation of the data, ultimately improving the reliability of comparative databases.

3. Here, we introduce MacaqueNet, a global collaboration of over 100 researchers (https://macaquenet.github.io/) aimed at unlocking the wealth of cross-species data for research on social behaviour. The MacaqueNet database encompasses data from 1981 to the present on 61 populations across 14 species and is the first publicly searchable and standardised database on affiliative and agonistic animal social behaviour. We describe the establishment of MacaqueNet, from the steps we took to start a large-scale collective, to the creation of a cross-species collaborative database and the implementation of data entry and retrieval protocols.

4. We share MacaqueNet's component resources: an R package for data standardisation, website code, the relational database structure, a glossary, and data sharing terms of use. With all these components openly accessible, MacaqueNet can act as a fully replicable template for future endeavours establishing large-scale collaborative comparative databases.

Item Type:	Journal article
Publication Title:	Journal of Animal Ecology
Creators:	De Moor, D., Skelton, M., MacaqueNet, Amici, F., Arlet, M.E., Balasubramaniam, K.N., Ballesta, S., Berghänel, A., Berman, C.M., Bernstein, S.K., Bhattacharjee, D., Bliss-Moreau, E., Brotcorne, F., Butovskaya, M., Campbell, L.A.D., Carosi, M., Chatterjee, M., Cooper, M.A., Cowl, V.B., De la O, C., De Marco, A., Dettmer, A.M., Dhawale, A.K., Erinjery, J.J., Evans, C.L., Fischer, J., García-Nisa, I., Giraud, G., Hammer, R., Hansen, M.F., Holzner, A., Kaburu, S., Konečná, M., Kumara, H.N., Larrivaz, M., Leca, J.-B., Legrand, M., Lehmann, J., Li, J.-H., Lezé, A.-S., MacIntosh, A., Majolo, B., Maréchal, L., Marty, P.R., Massen, J.J.M., Maulany, R.I., McCowan, B., McFarland, R., Merieau, P., Meunier, H., Micheletta, J., Mishra, P.S., Sah, S.A.M., Molesti, S., Morrow, K.S., Müller-Klein, N., Ngakan, P.O., Palagi, E., Petit, O., Pflüger, L.S., Polizzi di Sorrentino, E., Raghaven, R., Raimbault, G., Ram, S., Reichard, U.H., Riley, E.P., Rincon, A.V., Ruppert, N., Sadoughi, B., Santhosh, K., Schino, G., Sheeran, L.K., Silk, J.B., Singh, M., Sinha, A., Sosa, S., Stribos, M.S., Sueur, C., Tiddi, B., Tkaczynski, P.J., Trebouet, F., Widdig, A., Whitehouse, J., Wooddell, L.J., Xia, D.-P., von Fersen, L., Young, C., Schülke, O., Ostner, J., Neumann, C., Duboscq, J. and Brent, L.J.N.
Publisher:	Wiley
Date:	11 February 2025
ISSN:	0021-8790
Identifiers:	Number Type 10.1111/1365-2656.14223 DOI 2323252 Other
Rights:	© 2025 The Author(s). Journal of Animal Ecology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Ecological Society. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Divisions:	Schools > School of Animal, Rural and Environmental Sciences Schools > School of Social Sciences
Record created by:	Laura Borcherds
Date Added:	07 Jan 2025 13:53
Last Modified:	12 Feb 2025 10:13
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/52791