It is becoming increasingly clear that animal cultures have intrinsic, irreplaceable value, and yet they are not adequately protected by preserving habitat. The time has come for UNESCO to explicitly ...

This article presents a synthesis of recent developments in the study of human evolution over the past five years. It begins with an overview of hominin species nomenclature and diversity, followed b...

Most behavioural studies rely on systematic behavioural sampling, as observing and recording all behavioural events that occur is rarely feasible. Cho…

Objectives As animal brain size increases, cognitive performance generally increases. However, other key brain functions, such as the regulation of somatic processes, processing of sensory input, an...

Using Bayesian phylogenetic analyses of 1436 mammal species, we show that pair-living and group-living species have longer maximum lifespans than solitary species after accounting for body mass and p...

Welcome to a survey for researchers, keepers, and veterinary staff to assess current practices, collaboration, and needs for monitoring non-human primate behavior and welfare. Your reply will be extre...

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Scientific Reports - Insect applications to open wounds by chimpanzees in the wild: first insights from East African chimpanzees

We tested the neophobia threshold hypothesis in six landbird species, including four Darwin's finches. Exploration behavior was consistent over time and contexts, with species exhibiting greater fora....

Tracking what others did and matching other’s expected actions is seen across a range of biological systems. As reciprocal matching rewards and reinforces cooperators and punishes and discourages non-...

In humans and other social mammals, more socially connected females often have higher fitness. Yet evidence linking female sociality to offspring surv…

Researchers at Swansea University have discovered that baboons walk in lines, not for safety or strategy, but simply to stay close to their friends.

This study of 50 wild Western chimpanzee mother–offspring dyads revealed no evidence of disorganized attachment. Instead, offspring exhibited secure-like and insecure avoidant-like behaviours during t...

Evidence across a broad range of disciplines has demonstrated how individuals’ social environments can impact their health, lifespan, reproduction,...

Exeter scientists are among those who have discovered many animals learn and pass on behaviors through social learning or culture, which could have important implications for conservation.

Does human nature constrain social and political change, or do social and political changes transform human nature? Why Human Nature Matters argues that the ans…

It may be time to move on from species stereotypes.

Immature primates acquire skills through social learning from more experienced individuals. The needing-to-learn hypothesis posits that prolonged juvenility evolved to support such social learning und...

Social contagion, which involves behavioural and emotional state matching, is a crucial process for healthy social functioning. In humans as well as o…

Footage of apes consuming fermented breadfruit leads researchers to ask if it may shed light on origins of human feasting

A new study explores how one of our closest primate relatives reacts to unequal treatment—and what it might say about the origins of human morality.

Scientists have fully sequenced the genomes of six living ape species, enabling long-awaited comparisons of hard-to-assemble genomic regions.

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Loss of biodiversity threatens the study of tool use and other cultural behaviors in animals

Even animals with very small brains turn out to have cultural traditions, which poses a puzzler for biologists wondering what makes human culture unique

Social attention patterns suggest that wild chimpanzees learn from their mothers but also from many other tolerant group members across protracted development. This likely enables chimpanzees to learn...

Metacognition, or monitoring and controlling one's knowledge, is a key feature of human cognition. Accumulating evidence shows that foundational forms of metacognition are already present in young in...

Humans lack memories for specific events from the first few years of life. We investigated the mechanistic basis of this infantile amnesia by scanning the brains of awake infants with functional magne...

The goal of Artificial Life research, as articulated by Chris Langton, is "to contribute to theoretical biology by locating life-as-we-know-it within the larger picture of life-as-it-could-be" (1989, ...

Primate and neuroscience studies tell us a lot about how evolution rewards kindness and cooperation