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Nora Slania

@noraslania.bsky.social

PhD student at MPI of animal behaviour, looking at how and why wild chimps learn (she/they/any)

2 Posts298 Follower 80 Folgt

Nora Slania @noraslania.bsky.social · yesterday

‼️Field work position ‼️ We are looking for a research assistant for chimpanzee field work in Cote d'Ivoire, starting November. 🐵🌳📹 Have field experience, speak French, and want to study chimps with us? Take a look and reach out!

Brendan Barrett @bjjbarrett.bsky.social · 3mo ago

excited about this one: using longitudinal movement data and dyadic models, we show that orangutan moms adjust their ranging patterns so their kids can play with age-mates independent of kinship, at personal costs. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Mothers with similarly aged offspring share more space, and their offspring play more.
Posterior effect sizes from social relations models (SRMs) of (a, b) infant-infant play scans (n = 996
infant-dyad-years across 79 mother dyads) and (c) mother-mother home-range overlap (Bhattacharyya coefficient; n
= 282 mother-dyad years across 71 mother dyads). Panel (a) shows the hurdle component (probability of play
occurrence), sign-flipped so positive values indicate higher probability of play occurrence; panel (b) shows the count
component (play frequency). Points and thick and thin lines show posterior medians with 66% and 89% credible
intervals, respectively. (d) Counterfactual home-range overlap for each dyad when offspring are the same age versus
6 years apart. Points show posterior medians across all mother-mother dyads (one horizontal bar per dyad);
background densities show population-level predictions. (e) Offspring age-difference effect on home-range overlap
versus intersection area. (f) Posterior difference between the two effects (BC overlap minus intersection area).

Zoë Goldsborough @zoegoldsborough.bsky.social · 3mo ago

I’m beyond excited to share I’ve been awarded a Minerva Fast Track Fellowship by @maxplanck.de to start my research group “Culture and Social Behavior” at @mpi-animalbehav.bsky.social! Keep your eyes peeled for a PhD position advertisement coming later this year 🐒 www.ab.mpg.de/1442914/zoe-...

Zoë Goldsborough named Minerva Fast Track Fellow

ab.mpg.de

Elspeth Ready @elspethready.bsky.social · 3mo ago

my group is looking for a HiWi (student assistant) to help transcribe narrative interviews for our project on Inuit health and well-being. Must be a student enrolled in a bachelor or master's program at a German University. Link here: www.eva.mpg.de/career/posit...

Positions available - Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology

eva.mpg.de

Nora Slania @noraslania.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Have a look at the final publication here: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... Turns out (and I know we've all suspected it) chimp culture may be way broader and richer than 39 behaviors. 😉

Chimpanzee culture beyond the conspicuous: Evidence for broad-scale observational social learning in wild individuals

Wild chimpanzee cultures have traditionally been studied through group-level comparisons of a limited set of conspicuous skills. The cultural relevanc…

sciencedirect.com

Michael Haslam@twigtechnology.bsky.social · 11mo ago

Brilliant new study (preprint) led by @noraslania.bsky.social on how wild eastern chimpanzees observe each other. 'Peering'—or close-range attentive observation—happens in all kinds of contexts and esp. for young chimps, opening the door to new cultural traits 🧪👀 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Cat Hobaiter @nakedprimate.bsky.social · last yr.

📣 Join the K/Creative Ape Team 🤓 2 PhDs on Creativity in Wild Chimpanzees & Bonobos; w myself & the v awesome @kathelijnekoops.bsky.social @snf-fns.ch Uni Zurich @uniofstandrews.bsky.social @efp2026.bsky.social @ips-primatenews.bsky.social @primatesocietygb.bsky.social @primbehavecol.bsky.social 🐵🧪

two 4-year PhD positions in the Ape Behaviour & Ecology Group of the Department of Evolutionary Anthropology at the University of Zurich, and the Wild Minds Lab of the School of Psychology and Neuroscience at the University of St Andrews, to study wild chimpanzees and bonobos.
The PhD candidates will work within the Creative Ape Project. The overall goal of the project is to enhance our understanding of the evolution of creativity, and to shed light on whether humans are a uniquely 'creative ape'. To do so we will apply a comparative approach, quantifying the creative capacities of wild non-human apes to investigate the underlying drivers that shape creative expression across species. The project explores four interconnected topics: i) Making mavericks, ii) Funny guys and arty-types, iii) Lone ape geniuses, and iv) Creative ape economies. We employ a comprehensive approach that leverages long-term datasets, new field data, detailed manual video-coding, bespoke automated deep-learning models, and advanced modelling, to extract rich information on the ways in which apes solve problems in their daily lives.

Excellent collaborative, independent working and time management skills are essential. Previous field experience (incl. behavioural data collection) is required, and experience working in remote places under difficult living conditions is highly recommended. The project will require strong data management and data analysis skills, and 12-18 months of field work split into 2-3 periods.

Please submit your application in a single PDF to kathelijne.koops@iea.uzh.ch and clh42@st-andrews.ac.uk – by 4th of August 2025. Feel free to get in touch if you have any inquiries about the positions. Applications should include: 1) cover letter stating your motivation and how your expertise fits the project (max. 1 page), 2) Curriculum Vitae, 3) copy of the highest degree obtained, 4) names and contact details of two referees, and 5) reprints of 1-2 selected publications

A tiny chimpfant looks at the camera with surprise

Louise Mackie, PhD @louisemackie.bsky.social · 2y ago

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

Richard McElreath 🐈‍⬛@rmcelreath.bsky.social · 3y ago

Humans, what's up with us? Where did we come from? Where are we going? Why do my feet hurt? Apply by 31st December 2023 to join The Leipzig School of Human Origins and help find answers to these questions. 🧪 www.eva.mpg.de/career/posit...

Manuel Bohn @elmanubohn.bsky.social · 3y ago

👁️Variation in gaze understanding across the life span: A process-level perspective👁️ Lead: Julia Prein We study basic social-cognitive skills across the lifespan ✅ reliable task suitable from 3 to 80 ✅ computational model to explain individual differences ✅ tests of model implications

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