Cécile Sarabian

Contexts of Anointing Behavior in a Group of Blond Capuchin Monkeys (Sapajus flavius) Inhabiting an Atlantic Forest Fragment Wild blond capuchin anoints with millipede species that secrete a chemical capable of repelling ectoparasites, suggesting a self-medicative function. Social and solitary anointing bouts occurred at s...

Cool study showing just how common it is for capuchins to anoint themselves and each other with the antimicrobial toxins produced by millipedes. 🧪

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1...

INÉDIT 🎬 Elle avait disparu des radars depuis les années 70, pourtant la loutre fait son grand retour, notamment sur le Lez qui traverse Montpellier 🦦. Découvrez dans ce reportage les signes que laisse l’espèce derrière... 🐾

Le reportage 👉 lejournal.cnrs.fr/videos/le-re...

If you work on corvid ecology, behaviour, cognition, or conservation, this might be useful for you 👇
I’ve just published CORVIDATA in Scientific Data 🐦
doi.org/10.1038/s415... (1/4)

EvOCRO Project - Evolutionary Origins of Cognition in Crocodiles on Instagram: "🇬🇧 No, crocodiles are not “surviving dinosaurs.” They share a common ancestor, yes — but they followed their own evoluti... 6 likes, 0 comments - evocroproject on November 30, 2025: "🇬🇧 No, crocodiles are not “surviving dinosaurs.” They share a common ancestor, yes — but they followed their own evolutionary path. And that’...

Welcome to EvOCRO (Evolutionary Origins of Cognition in Crocodiles), the EU-funded project exploring how crocodiles learn and what their minds can teach us about evolution.
www.instagram.com/p/DRrbV3ACIv... #MarieCurieActions #ComparativeCognition #ConservationScience #ResearchEurope

Please repost: 🚨Field assistant position 🐧

We offer a 14-months field assistant position through the French Polar Institute to work on king penguin ecophysiology and behavioral ecology.

Requirements: EU citizen < 30yo having experience with harsh fieldwork & wild bird/mammal handling/sampling.

I’m thrilled to announce that I’m recruiting a funded PhD student at Nottingham Trent University to study the cognitive mechanisms underlying individual differences in parenting in rhesus macaques!
Deadline: 2 February | Start date: April 2026

Comparative Thanatology Highlights — 2025 Edition.
See the thread below for this year’s standout publications.

#comparativethanatology

Environmental journalism is under pressure — exactly where it’s needed most.

The Y. Eva Tan Conservation Reporting Fellowship by Mongabay will support at least 16 early-career journalists from tropical countries. Paid, remote, editor-led.

Apply Dec 15–Feb 1. Learn more: buff.ly/UI8X5ur.

Resharing & please pass it on!

ACCE+ PhD project on the molecular evolution of insectivorous mammals that eat toxic amphibians 🦔🐸. Jointly supervised with brilliant colleagues in @livuni-ismib.bsky.social & @mpi-ce.bsky.social & open to UK & international students. @shabmohammadi.bsky.social

Hence the importance of having geographical and cultural diversity in editorial/reviewing committees ;)

A three by four grid of example stimuli found in the experimental buffet. The first column shows edible insects: meal worms, crickets, and buffalo worms. The second column shows novel savoury snacks for participants in the UK and Austria: Haldiram's Mullu Murukku, roasted broad beans, and Wah-Yuen fried dough. The third column shows common savoury snacks for the same participants: tortilla chips, crisps, and peanuts. The last column shows visually matched non-foods: Lego, wooden buttons, and wooden clothes pegs.

Figure with four panels. In each panel, the x-axis depicts the four types of stimuli: insect snacks, novel snacks, familiar snacks, and non-food. The top two panels show total dwell time across the experiment and average fixation duration. Overall, participants looked at the insects and novel snacks more than at the familiar snacks and non-food. The bottom panels show disgust and desire-to-eat ratings. Insects are scored as much higher on disgust and much lower on desire to eat compared to novel and familiar foods (both of which are rated low on disgust and relatively high on desire to eat).

Quick post on @jonaspotthoff.bsky.social new paper! We found people looked more at novel foods at an experimental buffet, including insects that they find gross! People suppress disgust avoidance when making foraging decisions.

Blog: www.dalmaijer.org/2025/12/fora...
Paper: doi.org/10.1016/j.fo...

@disgust-nerds.bsky.social!

Perhaps insects are processed differently (the gut vs the skin defence system, Kupfer et al. 2021) and not as food items in this population? In chimps, we also observed images of invertebrates having an opposite effect on task accuracy, compared to animal carcasses www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Le chagrin des animaux : mythe ou réalité ? - Regarder le documentaire complet | ARTE Que ressentent les animaux face à la mort de leurs congénères, et qu’en comprennent-ils ? À travers des exemples passionnants, une exploration d’un champ d’études en plein essor : la thanatologie anim...

In 2024, my colleagues and I organized the @evothan symposium, bringing together experts in comparative thanatology from around the world.
At the time, a French documentary team captured many of us in action: now available to watch here (w/ Eng subtitles): www.arte.tv/fr/videos/11...

#animalgrief

🚨 The Evothan Collective is now on Bluesky!

Follow for updates on comparative thanatology, discover how animals respond to death and keep up with the newest research in this fascinating field!

#Evothan #ComparativeThanatology

📢 Calling all primatologists 📢

EFP2026 in Montpellier is now open for abstracts & registration!

🗓 Deadline for abstract : 13 March 2026 (before if mobility grant application)

Submit: www.alphavisa.com/efp/2026/abs...

Register: www.alphavisa.com/efp/2026/reg...

All abstracts will be accepted!

[Concours CNRS] Si comme moi, vous attendiez et que vous n'aviez pas vu passer ça.
Ouverture du concours : (a priori) aujourd'hui 8/12
Dépôt des candidatures : jusqu'au 7 janvier

WHAT AN AMAZING GROUP OF DISGUSTED PEOPLE! 😄
Thank you all for attending and for the fantastic talks and discussions throughout the conference! #DisgustAcrossBorders #ConferenceVibes #ScienceCommunity @iast.fr

On to our 2nd session on pathogen disgust in humans!
@dalmaijer.bsky.social showed how the brain and stomach talk during disgust, revealing fast brain-to-gut signals, longer gut-to-brain feedback, and gastric rhythms acting as a “reservoir of caution” against contaminants 🤯 !

Talking about banana research… I think someone had the right socks for it… @atognetti.bsky.social

Ig Nobel Events in Paris (December 9 and 10) Several Ig Nobel Prize winners will gather in Paris, to discuss their work with each other and with audiences. Ig winner Roman Hossein Khonsari, who is doing much of the heavy lifting in organizing…

For those of you in Paris who like to laugh and think: free Ig Nobel events, Dec. 9-10! You just need to book here:

Highly highly recommended! The place is great and @cmolho.bsky.social is fabulous to work with!

We’re very excited to welcome all disgustologists to Toulouse in the coming days for our conference! Looking forward to inspiring talks, great discussions… and maybe a few disgust-inducing surprises 👀🦠

Thank you bringing your knowledge, enthusiasm, and hope to this year's Winter Meeting at National Museum Cardiff. We hope to see you all next year!

Thank you, @dalmaijer.bsky.social! And see you soon at disgust across borders!

Dissecting disgust and fear in chimpanzees: From facilitation to disruption of cognitive processes Disgust and fear are defensive emotions that evolved to address different types of threat. Disgust reduces pathogen exposure through avoidance, whereas fear promotes vigilance and escape from predator...

WOW! What an AMAZING new preprint by @csarabian.bsky.social et al. on disgust and fear processing in chimpanzees. Responses are less accurate and slower for visually induced disgust, and initially better but ultimately worse for disgusting smells.

FOUR experiments! Read it! doi.org/10.1101/2025...

Just got mine! Magnifique !

PhD opportunity: MOVE
Details: blogs.reading.ac.uk/crocus-dla/c...
Deadline: 12/01/26
Supervisors: @shoalgroup.bsky.social, @inesfuertbauer.bsky.social, @wlallen.bsky.social, @nhcooper123.bsky.social, @marinapapa.bsky.social
Apply: blogs.reading.ac.uk/crocus-dla/p...

📢A very exciting #PhDposition with deadline in a couple of weeks!
baboons | human-wildlife interactions | social behaviour
+ a great team of supervisors with complementary expertise from @swanseauni.bsky.social & @exeter.ac.uk

Check it out 👇

Kissing evolved at least 21 million years ago. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... @matildabrindle.bsky.social