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Studies in nonhuman animals have shown that collective intelligence and the wisdom of the crowd are not uniquely human traits. Through social learning, animals can improve their effectiveness over time in tasks such as migration, a pattern that reflects key components of cumulative cultural evolution. However, experimental studies testing whether animals can increase effectiveness through repeated social learning opportunities remain rare. In this study, we tested whether ring-tailed lemurs (Lemur catta) would improve their performance on a series of extractive foraging tasks through social learning and gradual information accumulation. Lemurs were tested in pairs, and after four sessions, one individual was replaced with a naive partner. This stepwise replacement allowed us to assess whether information could be retained and transmitted across successive dyads. We also tested stable dyads and solitary individuals as controls, all receiving the same tasks and an equal number of sessions. Preliminary results suggest that stable dyads performed best, while both solitary individuals and replacement dyads showed similarly poor performance. These findings indicate that Lemur catta may struggle to retain and transmit task-relevant information across changing social partners. Although ring-tailed lemurs are capable social learners, the failure to build on others’ knowledge may stem from low social tolerance in certain dyads, interrupting learning opportunities. These results underscore the role of social relationships in facilitating or constraining the expression of collective intelligence in nonhuman primates.
