Berkay Arslan

🐒🕸️ New preprint! Confused about how to model animal social networks?

ASNA can be confusing—but also full of opportunity. We break down 5 common misunderstandings in animal social network analysis and share solutions from behavioural ecology, anthro, stats, & network science. Hope it helps!

A 🧵

🎊 New paper out! In this @cp-trendscognsci.bsky.social Forum, we (with @lucasmolleman.bsky.social and @bjornlindstrom.bsky.social) summarize how reward learning can lead to adaptive social learning. We also explore the broader consequences for cultural evolution:
www.cell.com/trends/cogni... 🚄

Congrats Elisa and Sofia on the first (of many) papers that derived from their @einsteinberlin.bsky.social price-winning project (paper available here: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...)

Social anxiety in macaques

Tibetan macaques show self-directed behaviors before facing difficult social situations. For example, when females plan to approach higher-ranking females, or when low-ranking males are plan to approach receptive females.

(paper) onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

🎊Fully funded PhD position on cooperative sustainability🌳

Are you curious about
🧒 developmental,
🌍 cross-cultural
🦧 species comparative
research on cooperative sustainability?

All info here or dm me with questions!
career2.successfactors.eu/sfcareer/job...
Please share! 🙏

Map of study site showing the islands of Coiba and Jicarón in Coiba National Park, Panama. On Coiba, both sexes of adult white-faced capuchins use stone tools, while on Jicarón only males have been observed to use tools.

Why do we see sex-biases in tool use in some primate groups but not in others? Read my 2nd PhD chapter, #openaccess in American Journal of Primatology
(doi.org/10.1002/ajp....) for an exploration of this question in an unique island system where white-faced capuchins use stone tools. A 🧵 (1/8)

Postdoctoral Fellowships call: 6 steps to prepare your application These tips and tricks will help you find the best host organisation and prepare a successful proposal.

📢 The MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowship call is now open!
Join our international expert team to explore minds across species.

We study:
🐒 Primates
🐕 Dogs
🐘 Elephants
🐴 Donkeys and horses

🔗 contact one of us to discuss your application: marie-sklodowska-curie-actions.ec.europa.eu/actions/post...
#MSCA

Chimpanzee drumming shows rhythmicity and subspecies variation Chimpanzees drum on the buttress roots of trees for communication. Eleuteri et al. investigate the presence of key elements of musical rhythm and of regional variation in chimpanzee buttress drumming....

TLDR: new paper headed up by @vestaeleuteri.bsky.social
& with an awesome team, incl @andrearavignani.bsky.social , showing chimps have rhythm in their drumming & differences b/w east & west drum rhythms!

www.cell.com/current-biol...

But didn’t we know this already you ask? Well… 🧵1/16

My interview for *The Philosopher's Zone* podcast on Feminism and Primatology is out now!

I managed to scrounge up the courage to listen and I'm quite proud 🙃

You can listen to the ep via the ABC website or in the usual podcast places

#hps #sts #histsci #PhilSci #feminism #primatology

Wanted to share a handy little resource with you all (especially those in dev psych) — my lab & I made a "journal submission cheat sheet" that summarizes article types, word limits, & other requirements for the journals we typically submit to. Link below 👇🏼
docs.google.com/spreadsheets...

Early empathy development: Concern and comforting in 9- and 18-month-old infants from Uganda and the UK Empathy, the capacity to share and understand others’ emotional states, is important for navigating our social lives, yet its development in infancy remains poorly understood. Moreover, most research ...

🚨 New paper alert 🚨

Collaboration between @yorkpsychology.bsky.social and @durhamdcerc.bsky.social / @durhampsych.bsky.social

A longitudinal, cross cultual, study on infant development of concern & comforting:
journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...

@zannaclay.bsky.social

The flexibility of social learning and its conservation implications in mammals and beyond | Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences Conservation strategies seek to ensure that populations persist and are resilient to environmental change. As learning from others can shape the development of skills that help animals survive, reproduce and respond to changing conditions, understanding ...

The flexibility of social learning and its conservation implications in mammals & beyond.

New paper, led by Josh Arbon with fab collaborators Neil Jordan & @neeltjeboogert.bsky.social.

doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2024.0136

@uniexecec.bsky.social @bristolbiosci.bsky.social @royalsocietypublishing.org

Please share our recent posts about the floods in Congo with your friends and followers. The more people who see what’s happening, the more support we can rally.

#Emergency #SaveBonobos #FloodRelief

1/7 Alternatives for a complex mind

Look at the image, it shows the proportion of neurons in the pallium (in blue) and in the cerebellum (red). Primates (including humans) have a rodent-like proportion

(paper) www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
by @gallinaciega.bsky.social
via @Raccoonologist

Two black-and-white headshot photographs presented side by side: on the left that of a human (Charles Darwin) and on the right that of a chimpanzee. In both cases their eyes are gazing intently at the camera.

I’m interested in how we can better communicate genetic science, when cool soundbites may confuse more than they clarify. An example: “You share 98.8% of your genes with a chimpanzee!” Is this true? What does it really mean? Let’s unpack this oft-quoted pearl of wisdom in a 🧵 all about sharing. 🧪1/n

Behavioural diversity in animals threatened by #biodiversity decline. In @science.org, @ammiekalan.bsky.social @uvic.ca & Lydia Luncz @mpi-eva-leipzig.bsky.social emphasise the urgent need to develop strategies for preserving animal cultural #behaviour. tinyurl.com/569u66sv & doi.org/10.1126/scie...

Bonobos may combine words in ways previously thought unique to humans Phrases used to smooth over tense social situations have meanings beyond the sum of their parts, study suggests Bonobos use a combination of calls to encourage peace with their partner during mating rituals, research suggests. The discovery is part of a study that suggests our close evolutionary cousins can string together vocalisations to produce phrases with meanings that go beyond the sum of their parts – something often considered unique to human language. Continue reading...

Bonobos may combine words in ways previously thought unique to humans

🐳 UPCOMING BOOK ALERT 🐬
The Evolution of Cetacean Societies

Edited by @darrencroft.bsky.social @andrewfoote.bsky.social @ellengarland.bsky.social and myself

Preorder available now
press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/bo...

#whale #dolphin #animalbehaviour

The loss of a legend- Kanzi, the language-competent bonobo, has died age 44.
Kanzi was exceptional in so many ways and offered us profound insights into the linguistic & cognitive capacities of great apes. He has taught us so much and will be hugely missed.
www.apeinitiative.org/remembering-...

I'm so excited to share that I have been awarded my first grant from @ufaw.bsky.social to study behavioural welfare of red-ruffed lemurs! 🥳🐒 I will be joining @ilyena.bsky.social and Animal-Computer Interaction Group at Glasgow Interactive Systems @uofglasgow.bsky.social as a Research Assistant!

📣📣📣

Applications for the 2025 Diverse Intelligences Summer Institute (DISI) are now open!!

Are you interested in intelligence, mind, and cognition in all its forms? Early-career scholars from any discipline—and storytellers in any medium—are encouraged to apply!

More info: disi.org

Our book Wealth of Gaia, which we’ve been working on with an amazing team, will be out soon! While waiting for its release, we joined a podcast discussing the book’s vision and purpose. You can find the link below to listen! 🌍 🌊 🌱

18-month-olds tailor communication to others’ knowledge, new study finds A recent study found that 18-month-old infants adapt their pointing gestures based on their partner’s knowledge, providing clearer signals to uninformed or misinformed partners, showcasing early development of mentalization.

A recent study found that 18-month-old infants adapt their pointing gestures based on their partner’s knowledge, providing clearer signals to uninformed or misinformed partners, showcasing early development of… #ChildDevelopment #InfantStudies #Mentalization #EarlyChildhood #CommunicationSkills

👋 I am open to work. I am currently a Visiting Scholar (previously Research Associate, 2015-2022) at University of Cambridge and an Affiliate (previously Senior Lecturer, 2021-2024) at Anglia Ruskin University. Please see short academic CV attached or www.drrachaelmiller.com. 1/

The strain on scientific publishing: we set out to characterise the remarkable growth of the scientific literature in the last few years, in spite of declining growth in total scientists. What is going on?

direct.mit.edu/qss/article/...

A 🧵 1/n
#AcademicSky #PhDchat #ScientificPublishing #SciPub

Infants’ Social Evaluation of Helpers and Hinderers: A Large‐Scale, Multi‐Lab, Coordinated Replication Study Evaluating whether someone's behavior is praiseworthy or blameworthy is a fundamental human trait. A seminal study by Hamlin and colleagues in 2007 suggested that the ability to form social evaluatio...

The Manybabies4 paper is out! Infants' Social Evaluation of Helpers and Hinderers: A Large-Scale, Multi-Lab, Coordinated Replication Study onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1... 1000 babies tested in 37 labs; "Overall, 49.34% of infants preferred Helpers over Hinderers in the social condition"

Maybe late to the starter pack game? But haven't seen one specific to those studying the evolution of social behaviour, so made one! Any study species; humans, primates and beyond. Added some initial people but please comment to be added.

go.bsky.app/CibACbM

That's great! Thank you. Can I be added as well? :)

No evidence for inequity aversion in non-human animals: a meta-analysis of accept/reject paradigms | Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences Disadvantageous inequity aversion (IA), a negative response to receiving less than others, is a key building block of the human sense of fairness. While some theorize that IA is shared by species acro...

No evidence for inequity aversion in non-human animals: a #meta-analysis of accept/reject paradigms
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
New paper led by Oded Ritov and w/ @nicholaraihani.bsky.social and Jan Engelmann.

Old age variably impacts chimpanzee engagement and efficiency in stone tool use We know vanishingly little about how long-lived apes experience senescence in the wild, particularly with respect to their foraging behaviors, which are essential for survival. Some wild apes use tool...

New preprint! 🚨 Old age variably impacts chimpanzee engagement and efficiency in stone tool use (tinyurl.com/2j324t9p). For short synopsis, see 🧵.