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Reposted by Alexis Breen

Thomas MacGillavry @thomasmacgillavry.bsky.social · 2d

#bowerbirds are the only birds that build structures used specifically for courtship. But why and how did this remarkable ability evolve?

We discuss some possibilities in our new review in Emu - Austral Ornithology!

@fusanilab.bsky.social

doi.org/10.1080/0158...

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Max-Planck-Gesellschaft @maxplanck.de · Sep 1

The #MaxPlanckPostdocProgram offers a guaranteed contract of at least 3 years, targeted mentoring, and career workshops. The call for applications is open now! 🚀 Take advantage of this opportunity and browse the job vacancies. www.mpg.de/en/max-planc...

Group photo of postdocs conducting research at a Max Planck Institute

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Felix W. Moll @mollfw.bsky.social · 28d

New paper on precise tool use learning in carrion crows @currentbiology.bsky.social. We show that—like New Caledonian crows—expert carrion crows pay close attention to the working end of their tool, suggesting tool integration into their peripersonal space. 🧵 & vids! 👇

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

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Brendan Barrett @bjjbarrett.bsky.social · Aug 20

New paper from my group led by Odd Jacobson, former PhD student & current postdoc @livingingroups.bsky.social : How do animal groups simultaneously balance between- and within-group competition in dynamic environments and does this impact movement and space use? www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Between-group competitive advantage offsets foraging costs for bigger groups in harsher seasons

Larger animal groups are widely understood to require more space and travel farther to mitigate the foraging costs of within-group competition. Yet, between-group interactions and shifting resource di...

www.biorxiv.org

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Martha W. Alibali @marthaalibali.bsky.social · Jul 18

As an inveterate em-dash user, I loved this. www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/the...

The Em Dash Responds to the AI Allegations

“In recent months, a curious fixation has emerged in corners of academia: the em dash. More specifically, the apparent moral panic around how it is...

www.mcsweeneys.net

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Michael Haslam @twigtechnology.bsky.social · Jun 29

“the widespread appeal of animal tool use is partly due to anthropocentrism”

👍 for this new comparison of how animal tools and nests are talked about, from Sally Street et al.

The need to slap a human-like ‘intelligence’ label on animals is a symptom of this bias (writing a book on that now) 🧪🪹🔨

Anthropocentric bias may explain research disparities between animal tool use and nest building

Scientists are not immune from bias. Studying nonhuman species objectively is inherently challenging, especially for ‘charismatic’ and ostensibly huma…

www.sciencedirect.com

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Charley Wu | hiring PhDs/Postdocs @thecharleywu.bsky.social · Jun 11

🚀Join our team @tuda.bsky.social ! 🚀
I'm looking for 3 PhDs & 1 Postdoc for my @erc.europa.eu project “C4: Compositional Compression in Cognition and Culture” to study learning across individuals, teams, and cultural timescales
👉 PhD: hmc-lab.com/ERC_PhDs.html
👉 Postdoc: hmc-lab.com/ERC_Postdoc....

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Alexis Breen @alexisjbreen.bsky.social · Jun 7

And here’s ours -- fully reproducible code and materials:

🔗 github.com/alexisbreen/...

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GitHub - alexisbreen/Dynamic-nest-building: Reproducible repository

Reproducible repository . Contribute to alexisbreen/Dynamic-nest-building development by creating an account on GitHub.

github.com

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Alexis Breen @alexisjbreen.bsky.social · Jun 7

More great EWA modelling repos worth a shout-out:

🐒 @bjjbarrett.bsky.social et al. (capuchins):
🔗 github.com/bjbarrett/pa...

🐍 @mchimento.bsky.social et al. (Python-based theory):
🔗 github.com/michaelchime...

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GitHub - bjbarrett/panama1: rstan code, graphing code, data simulations, and data for the first panama paper

rstan code, graphing code, data simulations, and data for the first panama paper - bjbarrett/panama1

github.com

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Alexis Breen @alexisjbreen.bsky.social · Jun 7

Not a co-author, but a major influence -- big thanks to @dominikdeffner.bsky.social et al., whose prior modelling work and shared GitHub repo were foundational to this study:

🔗 github.com/DominikDeffn...

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GitHub - DominikDeffner/Dynamic-Social-Learning

Contribute to DominikDeffner/Dynamic-Social-Learning development by creating an account on GitHub.

github.com

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Alexis Breen @alexisjbreen.bsky.social · Jun 7

Huge thanks to all co-authors (T. Eckersley, A. Camacho-Alpízar, C. Lambert, G. Balasubramanian, S. Healy, @rmcelreath.bsky.social, @laurenguillette.bsky.social), with extra thanks to @laurenguillette.bsky.social and @rmcelreath.bsky.social sky.social for encouraging this passion project 🙏

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Alexis Breen @alexisjbreen.bsky.social · Jun 7

Overall, our study shows how computational modelling can link observed behaviour to hidden cognitive mechanisms, and probe their generalisability -- we hope this encourages wider use of these approaches in animal cognition research! 🌐📝⚙️🧠

🧵5/n

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Alexis Breen @alexisjbreen.bsky.social · Jun 7

Using cognitive model estimates, we ran simulations where material rewards varied. Payoff structure -- not (dis)satisfaction -- drove social material choice. But bigger rewards didn’t mean more copying. So, preliminary insights into how material-use strategies may generalise e.g., in tool use.

🧵4/n

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Alexis Breen @alexisjbreen.bsky.social · Jun 7

We link males' material choices to two asocial and two social latent learning parameters -- their decisions are dynamic! -- to provide the first formal mechanistic evidence for the cognitive basis of birds’ nest building ⚙️🧠

🧵3/n

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Alexis Breen @alexisjbreen.bsky.social · Jun 7

Zebbie nest-builders seem to *copy-if-dissatisfied* with prior material-experience, particularly at 1st choice -- this suggests they recognise the utility of social information.

🧵2/n

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Alexis Breen @alexisjbreen.bsky.social · Jun 7

👇 New #preprint combining computational models with zebbie data: "Dynamic strategic social learning in nest-building zebra finches and its generalisability".

🔗 doi.org/10.1101/2025...

🧵1/n

Dynamic strategic social learning in nest-building zebra finches and its generalisability

Animals often balance asocial and social information strategically, adjusting when and from whom they copy based on context. Yet the cognition driving this dynamic—and its broader implications—remains...

doi.org

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Soapbox Science Berlin @berlin-soapbox.bsky.social · May 26

Today, we're thrilled to announce two of our incredible speakers for the #SoapboxScience Berlin 2025 event.

First up is Dr Annika Tjuka ✨
@annikatjuka.bsky.social

Picture of Dr. Annika working on her computer

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Tomer J. Czaczkes @tomerczaczkes.bsky.social · May 17

Tool use in insects: Assassin bugs apply resin to their forelegs before a stingless bee hunt. This makes the bees attack the bug in just the right position to be caught!

Videos will worth watching

www.pnas.org/doi/full/10....

Tool use aids prey-fishing in a specialist predator of stingless bees | PNAS

Tool use is widely reported across a broad range of the animal kingdom, yet comprehensive empirical tests of its function and evolutionary drivers ...

www.pnas.org

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Anna Thoma @annaithoma.bsky.social · Apr 10

1/n 🆕📄: How do children learn to adapt to different environments when making repeated choices? And what do cognitive immaturity and probability matching have to do with it? Our new article explores how kids & adults differ in probability learning across statistical task structures: mpib.berlin/R3RFy

APA PsycNet

psycnet.apa.org

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Nicholas Wu @nicholaswu.bsky.social · Apr 5

🚨 Lecturer in Animal Behaviour position @waikatouniversity.bsky.social. Fantastic opportunity for someone passionate about teaching & research in animal behaviour, preferably on birds, amphibians, reptiles or bats.

📍 Hamilton, NZ
Closes: 4th May 2025
🔗 www.seek.co.nz/job/83279795...

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Chris Krupenye @chriskrupenye.bsky.social · Mar 23

🚨RT!

The Social & Cognitive Origins group at @jhuartssciences.bsky.social (social-cognitive-origins.com), directed by Dr. Christopher Krupenye, is recruiting a full-time research assistant or lab manager to begin Summer 2025. The position has a one-year minimum, w/ the possibility of extension. 1/

The Social & Cognitive Origins Group at Johns Hopkins University studies how humans and other animals think.

The Homewood campus of Johns Hopkins University in full spring bloom.

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Primate Research and News @ourprimatepast.bsky.social · Mar 6

A new study investigates termite fishing in chimpanzees using camera traps in Mbam and Djerem National Park. Researchers document 46 technique variations, with similarities to both savanna and rainforest communities, suggesting environmental influences shape tool-use behaviors:

Patterns of Technical Variation in Chimpanzee Termite Fishing Behavior in Mbam and Djerem National Park, Cameroon

Chimpanzees exhibit considerable inter- and intra-community variation in cognitively complex tool use behaviors, often attributed to social, genetic, and environmental factors. Termite fishing is a w....

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

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Auke-Florian 🪹 @aukeflorian.nl · Feb 28

JUST OUT! 🚨 Time capsule birds' nests! 🪹

I'm proud to share our discovery of layers of vintage plastic in urban birds’ nests... going back decades in time! 👀

“You flip through these nests like through pages of a history book, uncovering the past.” 📚

Let's dive in! 🧵👇 1/x

#scicomm 🧪🪶

Three photos are shown. A) The Rokin nest, a colourful plastic-filled nest inside a metal pipe. B) The Eurasian coots swimming side by side through the Rokin canal, Amsterdam C) A whole list of vintage plastics ranging from 2022-1991. Photos: Auke-Florian Hiemstra

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John Hawks @johnhawks.net · Mar 3

The word technology brings to mind silicon wafers or carbon fibers. But for most of human existence people relied on organic materials for most of their technology. In a handful of places natural conditions have preserved wooden artifacts from pre-human ancestors.

johnhawks.net/weblog/four-...

Four amazing Stone Age sites with wooden artifacts

From Africa, Asia, and Europe, these sites give us a rare window into the ways that organic technology shaped ancestral lives.

johnhawks.net

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Shoko Sugasawa @shokosugasawa.bsky.social · Feb 24

🚨Fully-funded PhD studentship on insect behaviour, cognition & muscles with me & @viveknityananda.bsky.social at @newcastleuni.bsky.social 🐝🍀🎓🙌Application deadline April 30, start date in September. Drop me an email if you have questions! www.ncl.ac.uk/postgraduate...

Image of a PhD position advert entitled "PhD studentship in Brain, Brawn, and Bugs: cognitive and physical factors of insect dexterity" with images of a praying mantis and a bumblebee foraging.

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