Not a secret anymore! I am extremely proud and happy to present you the EVApeCognition Dataset, out now in Scientific Data.

Over the last 5 years we have assembled and standardized data from 150 studies on great ape cognition from the WKPRC in the Leipzig Zoo!

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Thinking about applying for funding? Don’t hesitate to reach out to researchers and explore applying together. Many strong proposals start with a simple message.
#Academia #ResearchFunding #Collaboration

This #PhilTransB theme issue, organised by @ellileadbeater.bsky.social and @cornishjackdaws.bsky.social, explores how and why animal minds have evolved to be so different from one another: royalsocietypublishing.org/rstb/issue/3...

Investigating Menzerath’s law in crows and humans during cued vocal ‘counting’ - Animal Cognition Animal Cognition - To uncover universal principles of vocal behavior, studies have examined whether linguistic laws apply across species. Menzerath’s law, for instance, posits that larger...

@daliao.bsky.social et al. examine temporal patterns in vocal sequences during a numerically cued production task in crows and humans (15/15) link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Rooks (Corvus frugilegus) can show spontaneous vocal flexibility when exposed to dynamically changing rhythmic sounds - Animal Cognition Animal Cognition - Musicality is the predisposition to process and produce music. In human beings, processing and producing music often involves entrainment, the ability to synchronise behaviour to...

Martin et al. investigate spontaneous vocal entrainment in rooks, using non-biologically relevant stimuli, suggesting rooks, and possibly other corvids and songbirds, as interesting models for future studies on rhythmic perception (14/15) link.springer.com/article/10.1...

The ontogeny of vocal identity in carrion crows (Corvus corone) - Animal Cognition For social species, the ability to identify individual group members is crucial. Vocalizations often carry individual signatures that can serve as cues for the caller’s identity. However, it is still ...

Gidl et al. investigate how individual vocal signatures develop over time in carrion crows (13/15) link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Variability and individuality in the contact calls of jackdaws (Corvus monedula) - Animal Cognition In socially complex species, vocal signals often convey individual identity, enabling recognition and coordination of individualized groups. Jackdaws (Corvus monedula) are highly social corvids that f...

Jackdaw contact calls also show substantial variation both within and between individuals. This indicates that jackdaw calls are not just generic signals, but carry stable identity information (12/15) link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Wild jackdaws recognise the contact calls of their mate - Animal Cognition Animal Cognition - In stable social environments, the ability to recognise other group members and integrate individual cues with previous experience is likely to be beneficial in mediating social...

In a playback experiment, female jackdaws respond significantly faster to their partner’s calls compared to neighbouring or unfamiliar males, indicating individual vocal recognition (11/15) link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Challenges and new opportunities in deciphering the meaning of corvid call sequences - Animal Cognition Animal Cognition - Due to their complex social systems and remarkable cognitive abilities, corvids are interesting candidates for large scale comparative research on the meaning of animal calls....

@ambresalis.bsky.social et al. review the current state of research on how to understand meaning in corvid vocal communication (10/15) link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Vocal mimicry in Corvids - Animal Cognition Vocal mimicry, the copying of sounds produced by another species or the environment, is commonly described in vocal learners, such as songbirds. Understanding the functions of vocal mimicry can help t...

@babeheim.bsky.social, Waterhouse and I describe how widespread vocal mimicry is in corvids and what might drive its evolution. Evidence is presented in 39 corvid species (30%). Using modelling approaches, we show that mimicry is likely underestimated (9/15)
link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Capturing vocal communication in a free-living corvid: high-resolution data from low-impact miniaturized tags - Animal Cognition Understanding vocal communication is essential to unraveling avian social behavior and cognition; however, audio recording remains particularly challenging in field studies involving wild populations....

Rapid technological advances are transforming the field, opening up entirely new ways to study animal behaviour. Baglione et al. describe the use low-impact miniaturized tags in order to collect high-resolution data from wild corvids (8/15) link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Acoustic variation in alarm calls of Corvidae–effect of morphology, ecology and phylogeny - Animal Cognition Bioacoustic parameters of vocalization are generally well adapted to the environment that the species inhabits and are influenced by the morphology and life history of the species. These effects are f...

Kovářová et al. describe acoustic variation in alarm calls of 66 corvid species, showing high variability in parameters like peak frequency, peak frequency change, harmonicity and call duration (7/15) link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Can an old rook learn new tricks? Vocal command comprehension and obedience in rooks (Corvus frugilegus) - Animal Cognition Although many animal species are known to learn to respond to human verbal commands, this ability is understudied, as are the cues used to do so. For the best-studied species, the dog, domestication i...

Can an old rook learn new tricks? Cornero et al. describe the rook Leo following verbal commands (6/15) link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Vocal efficiency in crows - Animal Cognition Many communicative systems have been selected for efficiency, shaped by the trade-off between information transmission and energetic or temporal constraints. Linguistic laws such as Menzerath’s law—pr...

@masonyoungblood.bsky.social and I show crow call sequences to adhere to Menzerath’s law, with shorter calls occurring in longer sequences. This effect was stronger in females and younger individuals (5/15)
link.springer.com/article/10.1...

The duration of alarm- and territorial defence calls alters receiver response in Eurasian magpies - Animal Cognition Animal Cognition - Animals use vocal signals to provide information across a wide range of contexts. However, it is more complex to identify the information content when the same vocalizations are...

In a playback experiment on Eurasian magpies, Kuspiel et al. show that call duration matters. Birds responded faster to longer “chatter” calls, suggesting these signals may convey urgency or motivation, even when the call type itself stays the same (4/15)

link.springer.com/article/10.1...

When to mob? plasticity of antipredator behavior in common ravens’ families (Corvus corax) across offspring development - Animal Cognition The ability to respond appropriately to predators is essential for survival. Because response options vary with predation context, anti-predator behavior is often flexible, context dependent and shape...

How does mobbing behaviour develop and how is it shaped by parents? @silviadamini.bsky.social et al. investigate anti-predator behaviour in common ravens (3/15) link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Editorial: vocal communication in corvids - Animal Cognition Animal Cognition - Corvids are one of the most prominent avian taxa for the study of animal behaviour and cognition, yet their vocal communication remains comparatively understudied. This special...

In our editorial, Valerie Dufour and I summarise the key themes and highlight corvids as a powerful model for exploring the evolution of communication systems and their cognitive underpinnings (2/15) link.springer.com/article/10.1...

🧵 Very proud our special collection on vocal communication in corvids in Animal Cognition (@springernature.com) is now fully published! 🐦

Huge thanks to all collaborators and contributors who made this possible! (1/15)
link.springer.com/collections/...

Great tit perched on a branch, with beak slightly open. Photo credit: Alizée Vernouillet

📢Fully-funded #PhD opportunity with us:

🐦 Quantifying (social) learning and social behaviour in an urbanised world 🐦

Position at @ceec-research.bsky.social

📆29th May deadline
More info: tinyurl.com/yz28s96x
Apply: tinyurl.com/2wpkb64y

#cognition #socialbehaviour #fieldwork #birds

🙏Please Share

Looking forward to co-chairing a symposium on 'Methods to study curiosity-like behaviours in animals' with @monteirotiago.bsky.social at the European Conference for Behavioural Biology (@ecbb2026.bsky.social). Consider applying by 30th April if your work is curiosity/information-seeking related!

🎉 Congratulations to the ASAB Video Competition winner Amaia Alcalde Anton! Check out her video: “What Did I Leave in the Fridge” 🎉 #ASABSpring2026 

Want to know more? Read the paper this entry was based on: doi.org/10.1098/rstb...

Abstract deadline is extended but early bird registration ends today, so make sure you get your ticket: www.aru.ac.uk/events/confe...

Description of the field position and duties

Job Alert 🚨: We are looking for field assistants to join our research projects in South Africa studying chacma baboons. Expenses coved. Please get in touch if interested and share widely. See attached advert 👇

@tylerbonnell.bsky.social

Acknowledgements section of a paper of Rushton's I thank C.D. Ankney, T.A. Bons, A.J. Figueredo, L.S. Gottfredson, A.R. Jensen, and G.F. Miller for critical comments on a previous draft. Some of the data were presented at the Human Behavior and Evolution Society, Amherst, MA, June 2000, the International Society for Research in Intelligence, Newport Beach, CA, December 2003, and the Human Behavior and Evolution Society, Berlin, Germany, July 2004.

The title of that paper, published in the Elsevier journal Intelligence in 2004: Placing intelligence into an evolutionary framework or how g fits into the r–K matrix of life-history traits including longevity

Paragraph from that paper: The underlying explanation is that longevity is a coevolved adaptation with brain size and intelligence, and it is intelligence that underlies social stratification. As harmful environmental factors are removed and so no longer account for as much variance, that which remains must be increasingly due to genes. Because larger brains are more costly to build and maintain than smaller brains, they need to be housed in stronger, longer lived bodies (see also Miller, 2000). Darwinian evolution is frugal, not prodigal.

Why academic societies, as well as journals, have an important role to play in ensuring appropriately rigorous standards in their disciplines: here's discredited race scientist Philippe Rushton acknowledging the role that the conferences of two academic societies played in developing his ideas

Dogs in UK schools – An evaluation of the status quo Animal-assisted education describes activities with non-human animals in the education process, such as school and university environments, and has ga…

Very happy to share this one: Dogs in UK schools – An evaluation of the status quo

We highlight the urgent need for clearer national guidance on minimum standards for training, welfare assessment, and risk management to safeguard both children and animals #AnimalAssistedEducation #AnimalWelfare

Post-doc opportunity on comparative cognition and movement dynamics in corvids with the brilliant Prof Debbie Kelly at the University of Manitoba

Zebra finches in Australia; one of the study organisms for the PhD

Dwarf mongoose staring at a camera in South Africa; one of the PhD study organisms

📢Fully-funded #PhD opportunity with us

❓Quantifying animal #movement patterns & behavioural #interactions in a changing world

👥Joint position in @bristolbiosci.bsky.social & #MacquarieUniversity

📆19th April deadline
tinyurl.com/343acaev
#maths #modelling #data #fieldwork #Australia

🙏PLEASE SHARE

I'm super pleased that #xenocanto has launched this new feature: detailed annotations for its animal sound data! https://xeno-canto.org/article/318 Xeno-canto is the most valuable #birdsong/#animalsound archive. This will help even more!

New work from myself, @kasiawojczulanis.bsky.social @lsburchardt.bsky.social : seabird calls share not only efficiency universals, but also prosodic patterns with our speech. Rallentando rhythms carry info absent in spectra. 🔊🐧
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

1/5 Part of acoustic beauty appears to be universal, and Darwinwas right

By comparing sounds from 16 species with human preferences, researchers found that we tend to choose the same ones they do: from geladas and fruit flies to small tree frogs

(paper) www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...