Ammie Kalan
@ammiekalan.bsky.social
Primatologist, Assistant Professor and PI of the Great Ape Behaviour Lab at UVic Anthropology in BC, Canada
www.ammiekkalan.com
www.ammiekkalan.com
Pinned
Ammie Kalan
@ammiekalan.bsky.social
· Apr 4
Saving the cultural legacy of wild animals
Loss of biodiversity threatens the study of tool use and other cultural behaviors in animals
www.science.org
Happy to have a new piece in @science.org with my friend Lydia where we draw attention to the significance of animal material culture for understanding human technical evolution and why we should digitally preserve and protect primate tools and tool use sites. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Reposted by Ammie Kalan
📢 Come to Tübingen and get your PhD with us! Unique opportunity to explore great ape communication 🐵🦧🦍 from multiple disciplinary angles within a single, integrated project. 👇
📢 2 PhD positions (E13 TV-L, 75%) in our DFG-funded project on great ape communication & the evolution of common ground!
🧠 Backgrounds in biology, psychology or linguistics welcome.
🗓️ Deadline: Aug 13
🔗 bit.ly/4l8p7hy & bit.ly/46jcfAq
Please share!
@elmanubohn.bsky.social @meanwhileina.bsky.social
🧠 Backgrounds in biology, psychology or linguistics welcome.
🗓️ Deadline: Aug 13
🔗 bit.ly/4l8p7hy & bit.ly/46jcfAq
Please share!
@elmanubohn.bsky.social @meanwhileina.bsky.social
August 4, 2025 at 7:31 AM
📢 Come to Tübingen and get your PhD with us! Unique opportunity to explore great ape communication 🐵🦧🦍 from multiple disciplinary angles within a single, integrated project. 👇
First time organizing a primatology session on behavioral flexibility in the Anthropocene, let alone first time organizing a conference! Easy to do with supportive co-organizers @uvicanthro.bsky.social, excellent volunteers and the wonderful CABA-ACAB community! @uvicsocialsciences.bsky.social
November 10, 2025 at 5:23 AM
First time organizing a primatology session on behavioral flexibility in the Anthropocene, let alone first time organizing a conference! Easy to do with supportive co-organizers @uvicanthro.bsky.social, excellent volunteers and the wonderful CABA-ACAB community! @uvicsocialsciences.bsky.social
Reposted by Ammie Kalan
Are humans the only rational animals?
For thousands of years, we’ve thought so.
Our new paper, out today in Science, suggests otherwise!
We present evidence that chimpanzees possess several core capacities for rational thought.
Check out Emily's thread: bsky.app/profile/emil...
For thousands of years, we’ve thought so.
Our new paper, out today in Science, suggests otherwise!
We present evidence that chimpanzees possess several core capacities for rational thought.
Check out Emily's thread: bsky.app/profile/emil...
Are humans really the only rational animals? Our NEW PAPER 🎉 out in @science.org suggests otherwise! In a large collaboration led with my joint first author @hanna-schleihauf.bsky.social, we show that “Chimpanzees rationally revise their beliefs” 🧵
Chimpanzees rationally revise their beliefs
The selective revision of beliefs in light of new evidence has been considered one of the hallmarks of human-level rationality. However, tests of this ability in other species are lacking. We examined...
www.science.org
October 30, 2025 at 6:52 PM
Are humans the only rational animals?
For thousands of years, we’ve thought so.
Our new paper, out today in Science, suggests otherwise!
We present evidence that chimpanzees possess several core capacities for rational thought.
Check out Emily's thread: bsky.app/profile/emil...
For thousands of years, we’ve thought so.
Our new paper, out today in Science, suggests otherwise!
We present evidence that chimpanzees possess several core capacities for rational thought.
Check out Emily's thread: bsky.app/profile/emil...
Reposted by Ammie Kalan
TWO papers just out in @royalsocietypublishing.org #biologyletters :
1) Red kites switched from scavenging along roads to foraging away from roads during the COVID-19 lockdowns.
2) Fishers synchronise heart rates when cooperating with dolphins, but only when in close proximity.
1/
1) Red kites switched from scavenging along roads to foraging away from roads during the COVID-19 lockdowns.
2) Fishers synchronise heart rates when cooperating with dolphins, but only when in close proximity.
1/
October 29, 2025 at 4:08 AM
TWO papers just out in @royalsocietypublishing.org #biologyletters :
1) Red kites switched from scavenging along roads to foraging away from roads during the COVID-19 lockdowns.
2) Fishers synchronise heart rates when cooperating with dolphins, but only when in close proximity.
1/
1) Red kites switched from scavenging along roads to foraging away from roads during the COVID-19 lockdowns.
2) Fishers synchronise heart rates when cooperating with dolphins, but only when in close proximity.
1/
Reposted by Ammie Kalan
Low quality papers are flooding the cancer literature — can this AI tool help to catch them? @nature.com
A large language model scans abstracts and titles for signs that an article was produced by a 'paper-mill' company.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
A large language model scans abstracts and titles for signs that an article was produced by a 'paper-mill' company.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Low quality papers are flooding the cancer literature — can this AI tool help to catch them?
A large language model scans abstracts and titles for signs that an article was produced by a 'paper-mill' company.
www.nature.com
October 10, 2025 at 12:40 AM
Low quality papers are flooding the cancer literature — can this AI tool help to catch them? @nature.com
A large language model scans abstracts and titles for signs that an article was produced by a 'paper-mill' company.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
A large language model scans abstracts and titles for signs that an article was produced by a 'paper-mill' company.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Reposted by Ammie Kalan
Dr. Jane made an indelible mark on our understanding of chimpanzees and other species, and also of humankind and the environments we all share.
She inspired curiosity, hope, and compassion in countless people, and paved the way for many others.
#ThankYouJane #RememberingJane
Photo: Marko Zlousic
She inspired curiosity, hope, and compassion in countless people, and paved the way for many others.
#ThankYouJane #RememberingJane
Photo: Marko Zlousic
October 1, 2025 at 9:00 PM
Dr. Jane made an indelible mark on our understanding of chimpanzees and other species, and also of humankind and the environments we all share.
She inspired curiosity, hope, and compassion in countless people, and paved the way for many others.
#ThankYouJane #RememberingJane
Photo: Marko Zlousic
She inspired curiosity, hope, and compassion in countless people, and paved the way for many others.
#ThankYouJane #RememberingJane
Photo: Marko Zlousic
Reposted by Ammie Kalan
The world has lost its most powerful advocate for nature and hope. Yet many remain who will continue her legacy and I know she will continue to inspire generations more.
October 1, 2025 at 6:01 PM
The world has lost its most powerful advocate for nature and hope. Yet many remain who will continue her legacy and I know she will continue to inspire generations more.
Reposted by Ammie Kalan
The count down starts for #CESRabat! Follow @ces2026.bsky.social and join us May 11-13 next year for an exciting meeting in Rabat, Morocco.
Massive thanks to the #CESRabat organising committee:
Sarah Alami (co-chair)
Mathieu Charbonneau (co-chair)
Zachary Garfield
Edmond Seabright
Massive thanks to the #CESRabat organising committee:
Sarah Alami (co-chair)
Mathieu Charbonneau (co-chair)
Zachary Garfield
Edmond Seabright
September 13, 2025 at 3:14 AM
The count down starts for #CESRabat! Follow @ces2026.bsky.social and join us May 11-13 next year for an exciting meeting in Rabat, Morocco.
Massive thanks to the #CESRabat organising committee:
Sarah Alami (co-chair)
Mathieu Charbonneau (co-chair)
Zachary Garfield
Edmond Seabright
Massive thanks to the #CESRabat organising committee:
Sarah Alami (co-chair)
Mathieu Charbonneau (co-chair)
Zachary Garfield
Edmond Seabright
Reposted by Ammie Kalan
“We have no other choice for our livelihood, either suffer in poverty or die in a tiger attack.”
Read more: www.sapiens.org/culture/tige...
Read more: www.sapiens.org/culture/tige...
September 6, 2025 at 5:17 PM
“We have no other choice for our livelihood, either suffer in poverty or die in a tiger attack.”
Read more: www.sapiens.org/culture/tige...
Read more: www.sapiens.org/culture/tige...
Reposted by Ammie Kalan
Research just published by Marla MacKinnon and Helen Kurki looks at how environmental factors impact growth of the pelvis in forager populations
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
July 5, 2025 at 12:55 AM
Research just published by Marla MacKinnon and Helen Kurki looks at how environmental factors impact growth of the pelvis in forager populations
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Reposted by Ammie Kalan
“Avoidance of reproductive conflict and the evolution of menopause in chimpanzees”
Read how we used genomic data to examine kinship dynamics as they relate to menopause in chimpanzees!
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
Read how we used genomic data to examine kinship dynamics as they relate to menopause in chimpanzees!
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
June 25, 2025 at 11:15 AM
“Avoidance of reproductive conflict and the evolution of menopause in chimpanzees”
Read how we used genomic data to examine kinship dynamics as they relate to menopause in chimpanzees!
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
Read how we used genomic data to examine kinship dynamics as they relate to menopause in chimpanzees!
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
Reposted by Ammie Kalan
Why do chimps throw stones at trees? UVic's Ammie Kalan uncovers this unique behavior, offering insights into primate communication and tool use, linking it to our evolutionary past.
Image Credit: A.Kalan. @uvicanthro.bsky.social @ammiekalan.bsky.social
Full article: news.uvic.ca/2025/great-a...
Image Credit: A.Kalan. @uvicanthro.bsky.social @ammiekalan.bsky.social
Full article: news.uvic.ca/2025/great-a...
Great ape behaviour: Unveiling the mysteries - UVic News
Discover how UVic's Ammie Kalan uncovers the secrets of great ape behaviour, from stone tool use to cultural diversity. Discover the secrets of great ape behaviour, from stone tool use to cultural div...
news.uvic.ca
June 23, 2025 at 6:38 PM
Why do chimps throw stones at trees? UVic's Ammie Kalan uncovers this unique behavior, offering insights into primate communication and tool use, linking it to our evolutionary past.
Image Credit: A.Kalan. @uvicanthro.bsky.social @ammiekalan.bsky.social
Full article: news.uvic.ca/2025/great-a...
Image Credit: A.Kalan. @uvicanthro.bsky.social @ammiekalan.bsky.social
Full article: news.uvic.ca/2025/great-a...
Reposted by Ammie Kalan
This interviewee rehabilitates illegally traded pangolins that fetch a high price on the black market
https://go.nature.com/3SUakL2
https://go.nature.com/3SUakL2
I can’t show my face because of pangolin poachers
This interviewee rehabilitates illegally traded pangolins that fetch a high price on the black market.
go.nature.com
June 16, 2025 at 4:31 PM
This interviewee rehabilitates illegally traded pangolins that fetch a high price on the black market
https://go.nature.com/3SUakL2
https://go.nature.com/3SUakL2
Reposted by Ammie Kalan
Hot off the press 📣: one of the most surprising and unsettling findings of my PhD. A novel social tradition emerged in the tool-using white-faced capuchins of Jicarón island… abducting and carrying the infants of another species. Thread with gifs, videos, and all the bizarre details 👇
Humans have many unusual traditions. But did you know animals’ strange behaviors can become culture too? Out now in Current Biology (doi.org/10.1016/j.cu...) we show the rise and spread of a surprising tradition: interspecies infant abduction. Interactive timeline (www.ab.mpg.de/671374) 🧵 (1/12)
May 19, 2025 at 3:08 PM
Hot off the press 📣: one of the most surprising and unsettling findings of my PhD. A novel social tradition emerged in the tool-using white-faced capuchins of Jicarón island… abducting and carrying the infants of another species. Thread with gifs, videos, and all the bizarre details 👇
Reposted by Ammie Kalan
The orangutans and bonobos are the first two illustrations of a series on behavior and movement of animals in their environment. #SciArt
More coming soon! :)
For @mpi-animalbehav.bsky.social
More coming soon! :)
For @mpi-animalbehav.bsky.social
May 16, 2025 at 3:07 PM
The orangutans and bonobos are the first two illustrations of a series on behavior and movement of animals in their environment. #SciArt
More coming soon! :)
For @mpi-animalbehav.bsky.social
More coming soon! :)
For @mpi-animalbehav.bsky.social
Reposted by Ammie Kalan
Everyone watch the interview w @alondra.bsky.social on The Briefing with Jen Psaki tonight. She reveals that a member of DOGE "invited himself" to the closed sessions of the recent #NSB meeting and that DOGE is making decisions about #NSF awards.
@briefingwithpsaki.bsky.social @jenpsaki.msnbc.com
@briefingwithpsaki.bsky.social @jenpsaki.msnbc.com
"For me, the answer now lies in refusal, the withdrawal of participation from systems that require dishonesty as the price of belonging."
Today I am resigning from the National Science Board and the Library of Congress Scholars Council.
I wrote about my decision in TIME.
time.com/7285045/resi...
Today I am resigning from the National Science Board and the Library of Congress Scholars Council.
I wrote about my decision in TIME.
time.com/7285045/resi...
Why I’m Resigning from the NSF and Library of Congress
I cannot participate in systems that require dishonesty as the price of belonging.
time.com
May 14, 2025 at 1:55 AM
Everyone watch the interview w @alondra.bsky.social on The Briefing with Jen Psaki tonight. She reveals that a member of DOGE "invited himself" to the closed sessions of the recent #NSB meeting and that DOGE is making decisions about #NSF awards.
@briefingwithpsaki.bsky.social @jenpsaki.msnbc.com
@briefingwithpsaki.bsky.social @jenpsaki.msnbc.com
Reposted by Ammie Kalan
Primatologist @ammiekalan.bsky.social is a contributing author on a new @royalsocietypublishing.org paper:
"Concerted conservation actions to support chimpanzee cultures"
part of a theme issue on ‘Animal culture: conservation in a changing world' 🧪
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
"Concerted conservation actions to support chimpanzee cultures"
part of a theme issue on ‘Animal culture: conservation in a changing world' 🧪
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
Concerted conservation actions to support chimpanzee cultures | Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
Chimpanzees were among the first animals recognized to have culture, and our understanding
of the breadth of their cultural repertoire has grown significantly since the 1960s.
Throughout their range, ...
royalsocietypublishing.org
May 3, 2025 at 4:23 PM
Primatologist @ammiekalan.bsky.social is a contributing author on a new @royalsocietypublishing.org paper:
"Concerted conservation actions to support chimpanzee cultures"
part of a theme issue on ‘Animal culture: conservation in a changing world' 🧪
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
"Concerted conservation actions to support chimpanzee cultures"
part of a theme issue on ‘Animal culture: conservation in a changing world' 🧪
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
Reposted by Ammie Kalan
Happy #EarthDay!
Today—and every day—we stand with scientists, communities, and conservationists around the world working to protect the planet’s #biodiversity.
🌍🦑🐋🍄🌱🐛🦥
Today—and every day—we stand with scientists, communities, and conservationists around the world working to protect the planet’s #biodiversity.
🌍🦑🐋🍄🌱🐛🦥
April 22, 2025 at 9:29 PM
Happy #EarthDay!
Today—and every day—we stand with scientists, communities, and conservationists around the world working to protect the planet’s #biodiversity.
🌍🦑🐋🍄🌱🐛🦥
Today—and every day—we stand with scientists, communities, and conservationists around the world working to protect the planet’s #biodiversity.
🌍🦑🐋🍄🌱🐛🦥
Reposted by Ammie Kalan
cultural legacies of wild animals - a new perspective in @science.org by our own Dr. @ammiekalan.bsky.social 🧪🔋📚🪛
Happy to have a new piece in @science.org with my friend Lydia where we draw attention to the significance of animal material culture for understanding human technical evolution and why we should digitally preserve and protect primate tools and tool use sites. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Saving the cultural legacy of wild animals
Loss of biodiversity threatens the study of tool use and other cultural behaviors in animals
www.science.org
April 8, 2025 at 3:47 AM
cultural legacies of wild animals - a new perspective in @science.org by our own Dr. @ammiekalan.bsky.social 🧪🔋📚🪛
Reposted by Ammie Kalan
Interesting article in Science today about why we should safeguard animal cultures too
doi.org/10.1126/scie...
doi.org/10.1126/scie...
April 4, 2025 at 5:09 AM
Interesting article in Science today about why we should safeguard animal cultures too
doi.org/10.1126/scie...
doi.org/10.1126/scie...
Reposted by Ammie Kalan
Behavioural diversity in animals threatened by #biodiversity decline. In @science.org, @ammiekalan.bsky.social @uvic.ca & Lydia Luncz @mpi-eva-leipzig.bsky.social emphasise the urgent need to develop strategies for preserving animal cultural #behaviour. tinyurl.com/569u66sv & doi.org/10.1126/scie...
April 4, 2025 at 7:18 AM
Behavioural diversity in animals threatened by #biodiversity decline. In @science.org, @ammiekalan.bsky.social @uvic.ca & Lydia Luncz @mpi-eva-leipzig.bsky.social emphasise the urgent need to develop strategies for preserving animal cultural #behaviour. tinyurl.com/569u66sv & doi.org/10.1126/scie...
Happy to have a new piece in @science.org with my friend Lydia where we draw attention to the significance of animal material culture for understanding human technical evolution and why we should digitally preserve and protect primate tools and tool use sites. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Saving the cultural legacy of wild animals
Loss of biodiversity threatens the study of tool use and other cultural behaviors in animals
www.science.org
April 4, 2025 at 12:43 AM
Happy to have a new piece in @science.org with my friend Lydia where we draw attention to the significance of animal material culture for understanding human technical evolution and why we should digitally preserve and protect primate tools and tool use sites. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Reposted by Ammie Kalan
Really happy to see this paper out, using field biomechanics we show that wild chimpanzees don't just randomly select plants materials for termite fishing tools – they use a little “folk physics” choosing materials with specific properties! Study in iScience www.cell.com/iscience/ful.... 1/5
Engineering skills in the manufacture of tools by wild chimpanzees
Biological sciences; Zoology; Evolutionary biology
www.cell.com
March 25, 2025 at 8:17 AM
Really happy to see this paper out, using field biomechanics we show that wild chimpanzees don't just randomly select plants materials for termite fishing tools – they use a little “folk physics” choosing materials with specific properties! Study in iScience www.cell.com/iscience/ful.... 1/5
Interviewed by Mongabay for our latest GAB Lab paper, so proud of my student! news.mongabay.com/2025/03/as-a...
As apes adapt to human disturbance, their new behaviors also put them at risk: Study
Human activities such as mining, agriculture, urbanization, damming and logging threaten the habitats of great apes in Africa and Asia. Apes have shown resilience to these disruptions by adapting thei...
news.mongabay.com
March 24, 2025 at 9:52 PM
Interviewed by Mongabay for our latest GAB Lab paper, so proud of my student! news.mongabay.com/2025/03/as-a...