Elliot Howard-Spink
@ehowaspi.bsky.social
Researching primate behaviours | Postdoc at UZH Evo Anthro & NCCR Evolving Language | Former Postdoc at MPI Animal Behavior & DPhil at Oxford Biology | Tools & Culture, Language Evo, Development & Senescence | He/They 🌈
Pinned
Culture is critical in driving orangutan diet development past individual potentials - Nature Human Behaviour
Howard-Spink et al. develop an empirically based model of orangutan diet development, which suggests that social learning is vital for orangutans to acquire varied diets.
www.nature.com
Our New Paper is out in Nature Human Behaviour: 🚨 Culture is critical in driving orangutan diet development past individual potentials! 🦧 www.nature.com/articles/s41.... See 🧵
Reposted by Elliot Howard-Spink
In this study, Howard-Spink et al. develop an empirically based model of orangutan diet development, which suggests that social learning is vital for allowing orangutans to acquire varied diets.
Culture is critical in driving orangutan diet development past individual potentials - Nature Human Behaviour
Howard-Spink et al. develop an empirically based model of orangutan diet development, which suggests that social learning is vital for orangutans to acquire varied diets.
www.nature.com
November 24, 2025 at 8:53 PM
In this study, Howard-Spink et al. develop an empirically based model of orangutan diet development, which suggests that social learning is vital for allowing orangutans to acquire varied diets.
Reposted by Elliot Howard-Spink
November 24, 2025 at 2:03 PM
Our New Paper is out in Nature Human Behaviour: 🚨 Culture is critical in driving orangutan diet development past individual potentials! 🦧 www.nature.com/articles/s41.... See 🧵
Culture is critical in driving orangutan diet development past individual potentials - Nature Human Behaviour
Howard-Spink et al. develop an empirically based model of orangutan diet development, which suggests that social learning is vital for orangutans to acquire varied diets.
www.nature.com
November 24, 2025 at 11:05 AM
Our New Paper is out in Nature Human Behaviour: 🚨 Culture is critical in driving orangutan diet development past individual potentials! 🦧 www.nature.com/articles/s41.... See 🧵
Reposted by Elliot Howard-Spink
Postdoc position in individual-level incentives, social
learning, and payoff-biased imitation shape group-level accuracy in complex prediction and decision-making tasks in Konstanz
files.newsletter2go.com/l3slzozn/s_i...
learning, and payoff-biased imitation shape group-level accuracy in complex prediction and decision-making tasks in Konstanz
files.newsletter2go.com/l3slzozn/s_i...
files.newsletter2go.com
November 17, 2025 at 9:27 AM
Postdoc position in individual-level incentives, social
learning, and payoff-biased imitation shape group-level accuracy in complex prediction and decision-making tasks in Konstanz
files.newsletter2go.com/l3slzozn/s_i...
learning, and payoff-biased imitation shape group-level accuracy in complex prediction and decision-making tasks in Konstanz
files.newsletter2go.com/l3slzozn/s_i...
Reposted by Elliot Howard-Spink
New research from #ProcB: A wide range of abiotic and biotic variables leaves most variation in bird nest architecture unexplained buff.ly/eRawojZ | #AnimalBehaviour #Ecology #Evolution
November 4, 2025 at 2:00 PM
New research from #ProcB: A wide range of abiotic and biotic variables leaves most variation in bird nest architecture unexplained buff.ly/eRawojZ | #AnimalBehaviour #Ecology #Evolution
Reposted by Elliot Howard-Spink
📢 The Call for Abstracts for Culture Conference 2026 is officially OPEN! 📢
🗓️ Deadline: 8 Dec 2025
We welcome submissions from all career stages and relevant disciplines.
🔎Details & submission info: culture-conference.com/abstract-sub...
Keynote speakers & workshop details coming soon!
🗓️ Deadline: 8 Dec 2025
We welcome submissions from all career stages and relevant disciplines.
🔎Details & submission info: culture-conference.com/abstract-sub...
Keynote speakers & workshop details coming soon!
Abstract Submission
The call for abstracts for Culture Conference 2026 is NOW OPEN! We call for submissions of abstracts of no more than 250 words, summarising the background, aims, methods and results of your work.&n…
culture-conference.com
November 4, 2025 at 9:36 AM
📢 The Call for Abstracts for Culture Conference 2026 is officially OPEN! 📢
🗓️ Deadline: 8 Dec 2025
We welcome submissions from all career stages and relevant disciplines.
🔎Details & submission info: culture-conference.com/abstract-sub...
Keynote speakers & workshop details coming soon!
🗓️ Deadline: 8 Dec 2025
We welcome submissions from all career stages and relevant disciplines.
🔎Details & submission info: culture-conference.com/abstract-sub...
Keynote speakers & workshop details coming soon!
Reposted by Elliot Howard-Spink
I have published a childrens book! 📚🦧
'The Rimba' is a lyrical tale about the rainforest’s guardian spirit, a wise orangutan named Rimba, who rises to protect her home and the creatures within it, from the impacts of deforestation for palm oil. 🌴
#NewBook #ChildrensBook #orangutan #conservation
'The Rimba' is a lyrical tale about the rainforest’s guardian spirit, a wise orangutan named Rimba, who rises to protect her home and the creatures within it, from the impacts of deforestation for palm oil. 🌴
#NewBook #ChildrensBook #orangutan #conservation
November 3, 2025 at 2:43 PM
I have published a childrens book! 📚🦧
'The Rimba' is a lyrical tale about the rainforest’s guardian spirit, a wise orangutan named Rimba, who rises to protect her home and the creatures within it, from the impacts of deforestation for palm oil. 🌴
#NewBook #ChildrensBook #orangutan #conservation
'The Rimba' is a lyrical tale about the rainforest’s guardian spirit, a wise orangutan named Rimba, who rises to protect her home and the creatures within it, from the impacts of deforestation for palm oil. 🌴
#NewBook #ChildrensBook #orangutan #conservation
Reposted by Elliot Howard-Spink
New article just out in NBR, co-authored with some brilliant linguists I’m working with in the new @dfg.de-funded CRC “Common Ground” (link below)!
What can ambiguity in nonhuman communication teach us about the evolution of language? 🐵🗣️🐘
What can ambiguity in nonhuman communication teach us about the evolution of language? 🐵🗣️🐘
In a new exciting collaboration with @marlenfroehlich.bsky.social and @profgerhard.bsky.social we think about how studying ambiguity in human and great ape communication can advance our theories of language evolution. Paper out at doi.org/10.1016/j.ne...
October 9, 2025 at 9:45 AM
New article just out in NBR, co-authored with some brilliant linguists I’m working with in the new @dfg.de-funded CRC “Common Ground” (link below)!
What can ambiguity in nonhuman communication teach us about the evolution of language? 🐵🗣️🐘
What can ambiguity in nonhuman communication teach us about the evolution of language? 🐵🗣️🐘
Reposted by Elliot Howard-Spink
This is why we fund scientists to study things like oyster slobber even if you don’t think it sounds important
⚠️ Chinese researchers have invented bone glue that mimics how oysters stick to surfaces underwater.
The adhesive can reportedly repair orthopedic fractures in 2-3 minutes, even in blood-rich environments, and is bioabsorbable.
interestingengineering.com/science/chin...
The adhesive can reportedly repair orthopedic fractures in 2-3 minutes, even in blood-rich environments, and is bioabsorbable.
interestingengineering.com/science/chin...
China's oyster-inspired 'bone glue' bonds fractures in minutes
A new oyster-inspired Bone-02 adhesive can revolutionize bone repair without metal fasteners.
interestingengineering.com
September 30, 2025 at 10:35 PM
This is why we fund scientists to study things like oyster slobber even if you don’t think it sounds important
Reposted by Elliot Howard-Spink
So happy to see my first PhD paper out royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
With my amazing supervisor @robinmorrison.bsky.social and the @savinggorillas.bsky.social, we examined female dispersal decisions in mountain gorillas.
With my amazing supervisor @robinmorrison.bsky.social and the @savinggorillas.bsky.social, we examined female dispersal decisions in mountain gorillas.
Dispersed female networks: female gorillas’ inter-group relationships influence dispersal decisions | Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
Dispersal is a fundamental aspect of many animal societies, impacting gene flow, knowledge transmission, culture and individual fitness. However, little is known about the information individuals use when dispersing. Mountain gorillas exhibit a flexible ...
royalsocietypublishing.org
August 6, 2025 at 4:24 PM
So happy to see my first PhD paper out royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
With my amazing supervisor @robinmorrison.bsky.social and the @savinggorillas.bsky.social, we examined female dispersal decisions in mountain gorillas.
With my amazing supervisor @robinmorrison.bsky.social and the @savinggorillas.bsky.social, we examined female dispersal decisions in mountain gorillas.
Reposted by Elliot Howard-Spink
Exciting new opening @nccrlanguage.bsky.social with the option of permanent extension. If you work in cutting-edge stats and are interested in joining a highly inter-disciplinary, vibrant community, don't hesitate to apply at tinyurl.com/3fxwjk8e
UZH: Statistician
Within the National Center of Competence in Research (NCCR) Evolving Language and its 46 different research groups from a large variety of disciplines across Switzerland, and the University of Zurich ...
tinyurl.com
July 18, 2025 at 12:06 PM
Exciting new opening @nccrlanguage.bsky.social with the option of permanent extension. If you work in cutting-edge stats and are interested in joining a highly inter-disciplinary, vibrant community, don't hesitate to apply at tinyurl.com/3fxwjk8e
Reposted by Elliot Howard-Spink
Please consider helping us support the next generation of primatologists! Any support is greatly appreciated, and will help us host this fantastic event for the second time! 🐒
We need your help to raise money for our Field Skills Workshop! 🤝 Our workshop provides critical training for emerging primatologists who otherwise would not have opportunities to gain field experience. Consider donating to support this goal via the 🔗: www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding...
Help raise £1000 to Support the PSGB Field Skills Workshop 2025 – JustGiving Crowdfunding
Iʼm raising money to Support the PSGB Field Skills Workshop 2025. Support this JustGiving Crowdfunding Page.
www.justgiving.com
July 19, 2025 at 3:56 PM
Please consider helping us support the next generation of primatologists! Any support is greatly appreciated, and will help us host this fantastic event for the second time! 🐒
Reposted by Elliot Howard-Spink
Brilliant to see this fascinating research! We're especially delighted to see @ehowaspi.bsky.social, visiting researcher at the @qmulsbbs.bsky.social, contributing to this amazing study.
Then vs Now: Same chimp, same task - 17 years apart 🐒🔧
New Oxford-led research suggests that ageing can affect how wild chimpanzees use tools, though the impact varies widely between individuals.
More info ⬇️
www.ox.ac.uk/news/2025-07...
New Oxford-led research suggests that ageing can affect how wild chimpanzees use tools, though the impact varies widely between individuals.
More info ⬇️
www.ox.ac.uk/news/2025-07...
July 16, 2025 at 1:58 PM
Brilliant to see this fascinating research! We're especially delighted to see @ehowaspi.bsky.social, visiting researcher at the @qmulsbbs.bsky.social, contributing to this amazing study.
Reposted by Elliot Howard-Spink
Chimps age - and when they do, using tools becomes more difficult.
Pretty relatable.
Article by @ehowaspi.bsky.social et al. here: elifesciences.org/articles/105... - and footage below.
🧪🌍🐒🔧
Pretty relatable.
Article by @ehowaspi.bsky.social et al. here: elifesciences.org/articles/105... - and footage below.
🧪🌍🐒🔧
Then vs Now: Same chimp, same task - 17 years apart 🐒🔧
New Oxford-led research suggests that ageing can affect how wild chimpanzees use tools, though the impact varies widely between individuals.
More info ⬇️
www.ox.ac.uk/news/2025-07...
New Oxford-led research suggests that ageing can affect how wild chimpanzees use tools, though the impact varies widely between individuals.
More info ⬇️
www.ox.ac.uk/news/2025-07...
July 15, 2025 at 3:10 PM
Chimps age - and when they do, using tools becomes more difficult.
Pretty relatable.
Article by @ehowaspi.bsky.social et al. here: elifesciences.org/articles/105... - and footage below.
🧪🌍🐒🔧
Pretty relatable.
Article by @ehowaspi.bsky.social et al. here: elifesciences.org/articles/105... - and footage below.
🧪🌍🐒🔧
Reposted by Elliot Howard-Spink
Then vs Now: Same chimp, same task - 17 years apart 🐒🔧
New Oxford-led research suggests that ageing can affect how wild chimpanzees use tools, though the impact varies widely between individuals.
More info ⬇️
www.ox.ac.uk/news/2025-07...
New Oxford-led research suggests that ageing can affect how wild chimpanzees use tools, though the impact varies widely between individuals.
More info ⬇️
www.ox.ac.uk/news/2025-07...
July 15, 2025 at 10:32 AM
Then vs Now: Same chimp, same task - 17 years apart 🐒🔧
New Oxford-led research suggests that ageing can affect how wild chimpanzees use tools, though the impact varies widely between individuals.
More info ⬇️
www.ox.ac.uk/news/2025-07...
New Oxford-led research suggests that ageing can affect how wild chimpanzees use tools, though the impact varies widely between individuals.
More info ⬇️
www.ox.ac.uk/news/2025-07...
New paper out in eLife! 🎉 Old age variably impacts chimpanzee engagement and efficiency in stone tool use elifesciences.org/articles/105... (including videos of wild elderly chimpanzees using tools! 🪨 🌰)
Old age variably impacts chimpanzee engagement and efficiency in stone tool use
Long-term standardized data collection on wild western chimpanzees reveals late-life changes in stone tool use, and the extent of these changes varies between individuals.
elifesciences.org
July 15, 2025 at 11:38 AM
New paper out in eLife! 🎉 Old age variably impacts chimpanzee engagement and efficiency in stone tool use elifesciences.org/articles/105... (including videos of wild elderly chimpanzees using tools! 🪨 🌰)
Reposted by Elliot Howard-Spink
1/n Hot off the press!
The first empirical chapter of my PhD and the fruit of a hugely collaborative project led with Franziska Wegdell and Johanna Schick is out! We explore if immature-directed vocalisations are present and in what quantity in wild great apes.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
The first empirical chapter of my PhD and the fruit of a hugely collaborative project led with Franziska Wegdell and Johanna Schick is out! We explore if immature-directed vocalisations are present and in what quantity in wild great apes.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
The evolution of infant-directed communication: Comparing vocal input across all great apes
Human infants receive more directed communication than other great ape infants, indicating that it evolved alongside language.
www.science.org
June 25, 2025 at 8:49 PM
1/n Hot off the press!
The first empirical chapter of my PhD and the fruit of a hugely collaborative project led with Franziska Wegdell and Johanna Schick is out! We explore if immature-directed vocalisations are present and in what quantity in wild great apes.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
The first empirical chapter of my PhD and the fruit of a hugely collaborative project led with Franziska Wegdell and Johanna Schick is out! We explore if immature-directed vocalisations are present and in what quantity in wild great apes.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Reposted by Elliot Howard-Spink
News you can use for better sleep 💤
Like us, orangutans need a good night's sleep. If they don't get enough, they squeeze in a nap the next day. They even have a trick: up to 10 mins napping for each hour missed last night. Try it at home.
@livingingroups.bsky.social
www.ab.mpg.de/718751/news_...
Like us, orangutans need a good night's sleep. If they don't get enough, they squeeze in a nap the next day. They even have a trick: up to 10 mins napping for each hour missed last night. Try it at home.
@livingingroups.bsky.social
www.ab.mpg.de/718751/news_...
Orangutans nap to make up for lost sleep
New study reveals that wild orangutans recover from sleep loss with daytime naps, much like humans do
www.ab.mpg.de
June 26, 2025 at 6:13 AM
News you can use for better sleep 💤
Like us, orangutans need a good night's sleep. If they don't get enough, they squeeze in a nap the next day. They even have a trick: up to 10 mins napping for each hour missed last night. Try it at home.
@livingingroups.bsky.social
www.ab.mpg.de/718751/news_...
Like us, orangutans need a good night's sleep. If they don't get enough, they squeeze in a nap the next day. They even have a trick: up to 10 mins napping for each hour missed last night. Try it at home.
@livingingroups.bsky.social
www.ab.mpg.de/718751/news_...
Reposted by Elliot Howard-Spink
Important study yielding new insights into the deep roots of aspects of our communication system/#language— @berthetmelissa.bsky.social M. Surbeck and S. Townsend did great work to reveal semantic composition in vocal combinations in bonobos. 🧪 Out in @science.org :
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Extensive compositionality in the vocal system of bonobos
Compositionality, the capacity to combine meaningful elements into larger meaningful structures, is a hallmark of human language. Compositionality can be trivial (the combination’s meaning is the sum ...
www.science.org
April 3, 2025 at 6:07 PM
Important study yielding new insights into the deep roots of aspects of our communication system/#language— @berthetmelissa.bsky.social M. Surbeck and S. Townsend did great work to reveal semantic composition in vocal combinations in bonobos. 🧪 Out in @science.org :
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
New Preprint! 🦧 Culture is critical in driving orangutan diet development past individual potentials! Summary in 🧵
Culture is critical in driving orangutan diet development past individual potentials
Humans accumulate extensive repertoires of culturally-transmitted information, reaching breadths exceeding any individual’s innovation capacity (culturally-dependent repertoires). It is unclear whethe...
www.researchsquare.com
April 3, 2025 at 1:58 PM
New Preprint! 🦧 Culture is critical in driving orangutan diet development past individual potentials! Summary in 🧵
Reposted by Elliot Howard-Spink
Our raffle is now live! Enter to win some amazing primate artwork! Tickets are on sale until Friday afternoon, or as long as tickets last.
The ticket draw will take place at the end of our winter meeting on Friday 13th December.
To enter, follow the link:
raffall.com/372990/enter...
The ticket draw will take place at the end of our winter meeting on Friday 13th December.
To enter, follow the link:
raffall.com/372990/enter...
December 11, 2024 at 7:35 PM
Our raffle is now live! Enter to win some amazing primate artwork! Tickets are on sale until Friday afternoon, or as long as tickets last.
The ticket draw will take place at the end of our winter meeting on Friday 13th December.
To enter, follow the link:
raffall.com/372990/enter...
The ticket draw will take place at the end of our winter meeting on Friday 13th December.
To enter, follow the link:
raffall.com/372990/enter...
New paper out now! 🥳Nonadjacent dependencies and sequential structure of chimpanzee action during a natural tool-use task: peerj.com/articles/184...
Nonadjacent dependencies and sequential structure of chimpanzee action during a natural tool-use task
Many of the complex behaviours of humans involve the production of nonadjacent dependencies between sequence elements, which in part can be generated through the hierarchical organization of sequences...
peerj.com
December 6, 2024 at 11:46 AM
New paper out now! 🥳Nonadjacent dependencies and sequential structure of chimpanzee action during a natural tool-use task: peerj.com/articles/184...
New preprint! 🚨 Old age variably impacts chimpanzee engagement and efficiency in stone tool use (tinyurl.com/2j324t9p). For short synopsis, see 🧵.
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...
tinyurl.com
November 26, 2024 at 12:20 PM
New preprint! 🚨 Old age variably impacts chimpanzee engagement and efficiency in stone tool use (tinyurl.com/2j324t9p). For short synopsis, see 🧵.
Hey y'all I'm on bluesky! Follow me for updates on my research into great ape behaviours, and also a lot of sharing of other cool work on primates/animal behaviour/human evolution! 😎😎
November 8, 2023 at 7:57 PM
Hey y'all I'm on bluesky! Follow me for updates on my research into great ape behaviours, and also a lot of sharing of other cool work on primates/animal behaviour/human evolution! 😎😎