Great apes reassure one another to maintain the peace Our new study shows that friendly touch before stressful events, like embracing, patting and even kissing, promotes tolerance and peace in chimpanzees and bonobos. Some BBC coverage 🙂 open-access paper below! www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Great Apes kiss and cuddle to keep the peace, says study

Hugging before stressful events may be an ancient way of building trust, say scientists studying apes.

bbc.co.uk

Just had a fantastic time at @ces2026.bsky.social ! I got to present some of my PhD work and to engage in stimulating discussions about the scope of chimpanzee social learning and their cultural potential 🙌 Excited to come back in 2028 ✨ A huge thanks to the organizers! #CES2026

What I find particularly striking is the within-species between-group variation in rates of observed aggression... #BioAnth 🧪 doi.org/10.1126/scia...

🐵💥 After 2000+ hours of observing aggression across 189 zoo-housed bonobos and chimpanzees in 22 groups, we found that the two species are equally aggressive, yet differ in the distribution of aggression across the sexes ♂️♀️ Our study is out now, read more below ⬇️

Emile Bryon@emilebryon.bsky.social · 5mo ago

New publication, and first one as a first author for me! 🥳 Have you heard of the brutal chimpanzee and "hippie" bonobo dichotomy? ☠️🕊️ Today, we report similar aggression magnitudes in 22 captive chimpanzees and bonobos groups - be it all aggression or restricted to contact.

Data from large number of captive groups support findings from studies of wild bonobos and chimpanzees: bonobos are more aggressive than we thought.

Emile Bryon@emilebryon.bsky.social · 5mo ago

New publication, and first one as a first author for me! 🥳 Have you heard of the brutal chimpanzee and "hippie" bonobo dichotomy? ☠️🕊️ Today, we report similar aggression magnitudes in 22 captive chimpanzees and bonobos groups - be it all aggression or restricted to contact.

New publication, and first one as a first author for me! 🥳 Have you heard of the brutal chimpanzee and "hippie" bonobo dichotomy? ☠️🕊️ Today, we report similar aggression magnitudes in 22 captive chimpanzees and bonobos groups - be it all aggression or restricted to contact.

That's a wrap on the Culture Conference 2026! 🎉 Three days packed with fascinating ideas and research, and the kind of conversations you don't want to end. Thank you to every speaker—talks and posters alike—and to every attendee who joined us in Utrecht or online. You made it unforgettable! 🤩

What a pre-conference workshop on Bayesian statistical methods—a powerful toolkit for our community! 📊 Many thanks to Daniel Redhead and Ramona Roller for guiding us through STRAND and to Michael Chimento for the introduction to STbayes. And thank you to all participants for their energy! 🙌

Want to socialise ahead of the conference? Join the Early Career Researchers drinks on the evening of 25th/02! 🍻 An excellent opportunity to meet fellow researchers in a relaxed way. Contact us to join. Reminder: conference and workshop registration is still open (forms on our website) 🔎

🎄Early Christmas present: we still have a few presentation spots available! If you’d like to share your research at the Culture Conference but haven’t submitted yet, you can send us your abstract until this Friday, 19 December. Submission details are on our website (link in bio).

Registrations are now open 📢 Want to join the conference and/or the workshop? Head to our website: culture-conference.com/registration/ As every year, attendance at the conference is free 🎉 (the workshop has a small fee). Reminder: Abstract submission closes soon—submit yours before Monday!

Registration

Registrations for the conference and the pre-conference workshop are now OPEN! Register for the conference (26-27/02): Culture Conference 2026 – Registration form Register for the workshop (2…

culture-conference.com

I'm teaching Statistical Rethinking again starting Jan 2026. This time with live lectures, divided into Beginner and Experienced sections. Will be a lot more work for me, but I hope much better for students. I will record lectures & all will be found at this link: github.com/rmcelreath/s...

The Culture Conference is (once again) indulging in that grand old tradition of EXTENDING the submission deadline‼️ The new deadline for abstract submissions is December 15th. Registration will open very soon—stay tuned! culture-conference.com/abstract-sub...

Abstract Submission

The call for abstracts for Culture Conference 2026 is NOW OPEN! We call for submissions of abstracts of no more than 250 words, summarising the background, aims, methods and results of your work.&n…

culture-conference.com

Are you working on a project where you need to infer whether individuals are socially learning? pathways, correlates of, and individual variation in sensitivity to social transmission? Consider joining the hand-on STbayes workshop to learn about the latest update to the NBDA framework

Culture Conference@cultconf.bsky.social · 8mo ago

⏰ Reminder: 10 days left to submit your abstract for Culture Conference 2026! 🧠 Workshop details are now live! Join us for a hands-on day on cutting-edge tools for analysing social networks & social transmission (registration opens soon). Find all details here: culture-conference.com/workshop/

Come join this exciting workshop on social network analysis and social transmission, all within a Bayesian framework!! 💻 And many thanks to @danielredhead.bsky.social and @mchimento.bsky.social for conducting it, I'm looking forward 🤩 More information below 👇

Culture Conference@cultconf.bsky.social · 8mo ago

⏰ Reminder: 10 days left to submit your abstract for Culture Conference 2026! 🧠 Workshop details are now live! Join us for a hands-on day on cutting-edge tools for analysing social networks & social transmission (registration opens soon). Find all details here: culture-conference.com/workshop/

⏰ Reminder: 10 days left to submit your abstract for Culture Conference 2026! 🧠 Workshop details are now live! Join us for a hands-on day on cutting-edge tools for analysing social networks & social transmission (registration opens soon). Find all details here: culture-conference.com/workshop/

Last keynote announcement: Dr. Taylor Hersh! She explores how animal communication varies over space and time, with a particular focus on cetacean social communication and the cultural processes that shape group-specific vocal traditions. Discover her research here 👉 taylorhersh.weebly.com

Meet our 3rd keynote: Dr. Erin Wessling! Her work connects research on Pan behavioural ecology with conservation practice, with a focus on understanding and protecting chimpanzee cultures. Learn more about Erin’s work 👉 erinwessling.com

🎤 The lineup is here! We are delighted to introduce the keynote speakers for Culture Conference 2026 (26–27 Feb, Utrecht) - to be revealed over the coming days. Explore the growing list on our website: culture-conference.com/keynote-spea... 🧵And meet them below...

📢 The Call for Abstracts for Culture Conference 2026 is officially OPEN! 📢 🗓️ Deadline: 8 Dec 2025 We welcome submissions from all career stages and relevant disciplines. 🔎Details & submission info: culture-conference.com/abstract-sub... Keynote speakers & workshop details coming soon!

Abstract Submission

The call for abstracts for Culture Conference 2026 is NOW OPEN! We call for submissions of abstracts of no more than 250 words, summarising the background, aims, methods and results of your work.&n…

culture-conference.com

‼️SAVE THE DATE‼️ We are excited to welcome you again in Utrecht, NL for the next Culture Conference on the 26th & 27th of February 2026! And surprise! We will also host a hands-on workshop on the 25th/02 🙌💻 So stay tuned for future announcements here & on the website 🔎 culture-conference.com

Culture Conference 2026

26th & 27th February, Utrecht, The Netherlands

culture-conference.com

First publication for me! 🥳 A large part of cultural studies in animals focus on instrumental behaviours such as chimpanzee nut-cracking 🥜. However there is much to learn about the evolution of culture from socially transmitted behaviours with no apparent benefits (non-instrumental culture). 🔎

🎉Welcome to the official Bluesky account for EFP 2026 !!! 🎉 Join us in sunny Montpellier from 29 June to 3 July 2026 for an unforgettable conference. Follow us for updates, sneak peeks, and all things EFP! ☀️📅🌿

In February, I had the incredible opportunity to be part of the Culture Conference 2025 organising team! A heartfelt thank you to my fellow organisers, the amazing student volunteers, all the brilliant speakers, and every attendee who created a vibrant and memorable atmosphere.

Laura Simone Lewis at @cultconf.bsky.social talking about curiosity, particularly cultural curiosity in children 👧👦🎁 @utrechtuniversity.bsky.social #cultureconference2025

Peering into chimp culture 🐵: Nora Slania on social learning in chimpanzees, from the Max Plank Institute of Animal Behaviour @cultconf.bsky.social @noraslania.bsky.social #cultureconference2025

"Hey, hey, you, you, I could be your girlfriend!" The final talk already of #cultureconference2025 on mate copying in wild Drosophilia simulans by Sabine Nöbel @cultconf.bsky.social @sabinenoebel.bsky.social

The Culture Conference 2025 is (already) finished after 2 days of amazing discussions! 
Thank you to everybody for attending and presenting, either online or in person! We hope you spent 2 wonderful and exciting days in Utrecht, full of (social) learning and fascinating science discussions 🥳

Out of mama's shadow, but not too far... Mawa Dafreville talking about vervet monkeys' socialisation @cultconf.bsky.social @mawadafreville.bsky.social #cultureconference2025