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Meynecke & Mulville report the first documented humpback whale mother attending her stillborn. She touched it and rested eye to eye beside it, but, unlike many odontocetes, never tried to lift it to the surface. Link: link.springer.com/article/10.1... #cetaceanthanatology #epimeleticbehavior

Now published: Hammond & Püschel find infant corpse carrying duration in Pan (83 cases) tracks cause of death, infant age, and interbirth intervals, none requiring mothers to grasp death's finality. Full paper here: doi.org/10.1098/rsbl... #primatethanatology #infantcorpsecarrying

Dembitzer & Ben-Ami propose the funeral hypothesis: corpses hold information, and gatherings around them become information centers where knowledge of threats spreads, offsetting their costs. Access here: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.... #comparativethanatology #evolutionarythanatology

Mota-Rojas et al. review emotional pain in non-human mammals, from amygdala, anterior cingulate, and opioid circuitry to grief-like behaviors, dysthymia-like states, and Takotsubo syndrome. Link: www.frontiersin.org/journals/vet... #comparativethanatology #animalgrief

Arnon & Wronski report an adult Indian crested porcupine carrying a juvenile's carcass 8 min after a golden jackal killed it. They favor mortuary behavior over cannibalistic scavenging or osteophagy. Full paper here: doi.org/10.1163/1568539X-bja10376 #comparativethanatology #mortuarybehavior

Kucheravy et al. used a drone to film a female killer whale in the Canadian Arctic carrying her dead calf. Past reports are mostly from the NE Pacific, suggesting the behavior is species-wide. Full paper here: link.springer.com/content/pdf/... #comparativethanatology #epimeleticbehavior

EvoThan @evothan.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

📢 EvoThan2026 starts in just two weeks! The full schedule is now available! Join us September 14–15, 2026 at UCL, London (and online) for the International Symposium on Comparative Evolutionary Thanatology. Registration is free (by Sep 12)! 🔗 Register: evothanatology.wixsite.com/evothan/regi...

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EvoThan @evothan.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

📢 A New EvoThan Symposium is coming! Join us Sept. 14–15, 2026 at UCL, London (and online) for EvoThan2026: International Symposium on Comparative Evolutionary Thanatology. Come learn how animals respond to death and dying. Free to attend! Link: evothanatology.wixsite.com/evothan #EvoThan2026

EvoThan2026 Poster depicting a higanbana flower drawing at the center and surrounding animal drawings at the edges (leopard seal, horse, honey bee, dice snake and a gorilla. Topics including: " grief in animals , undertaking in bees, death-feigning in snakes, corpse carrying in primates, animal concepts of death, hominid burials & more". Free attendance. Website: https://evothanatology.wixsite.com/evothan

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Gareta García et al. report a lethal encounter in bonobos: a coalition attacked an adult female, and her infant was taken by out-group individuals, dying the following day. The corpse carried for 2days. Access: nature.com/articles/s41598-026-40297-w.pdf #comparativethanatology #deadinfantcarrying

del Castillo et al. document wild moor macaques' reactions to a dead adult male in Sulawesi, including visual inspection and vocalizations across multiple age and sex classes. Access here: repository.lincoln.ac.uk/ndownloader/files/63966225 #comparativethanatology #primatethanatology

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Diego et al. report post-mortem infant-directed behaviors in wild Guinea baboons over 12 years, including carrying, grooming, and cannibalism across 63 cases. Full paper here: biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.02.18.706182v1.full.pdf #comparativethanatology #deadinfantcarrying

Mutka et al. report a free-ranging Saimaa ringed seal carrying her dead pup for at least 7 days, documented via camera trap. Full paper here: link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s00300-026-03468-z.pdf #comparativethanatology #epimeleticbehavior

Hammond & Püschel analyse 83 ICC cases across the genus Pan using Bayesian mixed-effects models, finding that carrying duration is predicted by cause of death, infant age, and site-level interbirth intervals. Preprint here: doi.org/10.64898/2026.01.28.702208 #comparativethanatology

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Mu, Yang et al. propose a 5-dimensional framework for comparing death cognition across species. Dolphins, elephants, and chimpanzees show more advanced death understanding than other taxa. Access here: link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11427-025-3118-x #comparativethanatology #deathcognition

del Castillo et al. document moor macaques' reactions to a dead adult male in Sulawesi, including visual inspection and vocalizations across multiple age/sex classes no physical contact. Full paper here: repository.lincoln.ac.uk/ndownloader/files/63966225 #comparativethanatology #primatethanatology

Osuna-Mascaró et al. show that Goffin's cockatoos can develop sensitivity to permanent non-functionality,categorizing stimuli as irreparably non-functional after a single negative event. Full paper here: nature.com/articles/s41598-026-57007-1 #comparativethanatology #animalcognition

Zhu & Wang review the neuroethology of corpse-directed behaviors across bees, covering avoidance, removal, cannibalism, and burial + the neurobiological, sensory, and endocrine mechanisms behind them. Review here: sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959438826000103 #comparativethanatology

EvoThan @evothan.bsky.social · 11/12/2025

Kotik & Towers document the rare, closely witnessed decline and final hours of adult male orca whale , including interactions with Pacific white-sided dolphins, humpbacks, and the attentive presence of his kin. Access link here: doi.org/10.1111/mms.... #epimeleticbehaviour #comparativethanatology

All four members of the I4 matriline surrounded by a group of Pacific white-sided dolphins during I76's final moments at the surface. I76 is visible beneath the surface in the bottom left of the frame. Photo: Jared Towers.

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EvoThan @evothan.bsky.social · 11/12/2025

Benjamin et al. report a group of Bryde’s whales repeatedly surfacing, circling, and closely inspecting a deceased adult pod member over several days, marking the first documented case of such thanatological responses in these baleen whales. Link: doi.org/10.20944/pre... #epimeleticbehavior

Several images depicting: a solitary Bryde’s whale spy-hopping near the carcass screening the water surface for intruders; a distressed whale sliding in and out of the water; and repeated blowing around the drifting carcass.

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Chen et al. report thanatological responses in black snub-nosed monkeys, including revisiting and guarding deceased companions, alarm calls, and social partner hugging, alongside some scavenging by local carnivores. Access paper here: doi.org/10.1002/ajp.... #primatethanatology #cameratraps

Behavioral responses of black snub‐nosed monkey (Rhinopithecus strykeri) near conspecific Carcass No. 1 (deceased adult female) on
14 November 2019, at Pianma region, Lushui City, Nujiang Lisu Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province, China. (A) Hugging between OMU
members and occasionally looking at carcass from middle strata ~ 25 m away; (B) looking at carcass and vigilant scanning of surroundings; (C) alarm
calling; (D) teeth chattering and threatening toward individuals from another OMU as they approached the carcass. Photos taken by Pu Liu and
Yixin Chen.

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Delval et al. report a primiparous capuchin mother carrying and caring for her dead infant, maintaining contact most of the time while other group members observed, suggesting coping strategies in response to the loss. Paper here: doi.org/10.1007/s103... #primatethanatology #deadinfantcarrying

Fig. 1 Locomotor adjustments by the mother during corpse-carrying. a) Irene moving bipedally on a branch with the corpse; b) Fire (in rigor
mortis), draped across a branch, while Irene self-grooms; c) Fire left on the branch, while Irene is foraging

Nakamichi & Yamada observed Japanese macaques’ reactions to dying and dead adult companions.Most avoided individuals with maggots, but others with strong social bonds sometimes remained nearby/groomed the deceased. Open-access paper here: doi.org/10.1007/s103... #comparativethanatology #socialbonds

An unrelated 2-year-old female grooming Pet87’s corpse (14:17, December 6, 1999). She was a probable grooming partner before Pet87’s death, as her mother was one of his confirmed grooming partners

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Bersacola et al. used camera traps to document infant corpse carrying (ICC) in multiple unhabituated chimpanzee populations, with carrying durations up to 28 days. Showing camera traps as a great tool for studying rare behaviors: doi.org/10.1002/ece3... #comparativethanatology #deadinfantcarrying

8 camera trap stills depicting chimpanzees carrying dead infants in several states of decomposition.

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Hudson & Watt observed wild beluga whales’ reactions to a dead calf, documenting up to 16 individuals exhibiting approaching and remaining near the carcass. Full article here: doi.org/10.1111/mms.... #comparativethanatology #epimeleticbehavior

Aerial shot of 16 beluga whales swimming in close proximity to a dead calf.

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