If we really want to grasp what animals are ‘saying’, we need to understand their communication on their terms, not ours, says science writer Helen Pilcher

In this TrendsTalk series “Disability in ecology and evolution” in Trends in Ecology and Evolution, we will be hearing from people about their experiences being disabled in ecology & evolution. We are asking ecologists and evolutionary biologists with disabilities what the community could do to make our field more inclusive – these changes can be very practical things (e.g. large fonts), they could be institutional, or involve people’s attitudes and beliefs. If you identify as disabled or have a chronic condition and would like to share your thoughts, please get in touch – [email protected], we would love to hear from you.

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...

Translation of acceptance speech

Wat een dag.