Abstract. The length of gestation in eutherian mammals, which is key to their reproductive success, is closely connected to other life history traits, body

A systematic review of the association between women’s morphological traits and fertility

UCL is consistently ranked as one of the top ten universities in the world (QS World University Rankings 2010-2022) and is No.2 in the UK for research power (Research Excellence Framework 2021).

Wild chimpanzees possess diverse cultural repertoires, representing the richest example of non-human animal cultures. However, traditional methods, which investigate culture at the group level, have likely underestimated the full extent of chimpanzee cultural repertoires. In particular, the cultural relevance of everyday behaviors has remained largely unexplored. Here, we investigated evidence for social transmission of everyday behaviors to assess the breadth of individuals' cultural repertoires in a population of wild eastern chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii). First, we validated whether peering (i.e. close-range observation of a conspecific) serves as an indicator of social (i.e., cultural) learning. We then examined the contexts in which chimpanzees engage in peering to determine the range of behaviors that may be culturally transmitted. Finally, we explored potential motivations and additional functions of peering behavior. Our results indicate that chimpanzees use peering for targeted social information seeking in learning-intensive contexts. Peering rate was highest during immaturity, for complex or rare food items, and when observing older, more experienced conspecifics. Overall, wild chimpanzees peered at a wide range of everyday skills, such as feeding and grooming, and directed peering towards various conspecifics from an early age. We found no evidence supporting peering as a begging or submissive 'gesture', but our findings indicate that it may function as a signal to initiate affinitive interactions. Our findings suggest that wild chimpanzees use peering to learn a broad variety of skills, thereby highlighting unrecognized cultural potential in everyday skills. Furthermore, our findings suggest that peering may have multiple functions and underlying motivations.

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Abstract. In recent years, childrearing in high-income countries has become described as ‘relentless’ in its demands on parents. In response to growing del

AbstractBackground and objectives. Lactation is one of the defining features of mammals, yet many humans struggle with breastfeeding. One reason for this i

Abstract. Understanding the drivers of biodiversity is a central goal in evolutionary biology. In particular, sexual selection has long been proposed as a

Simplistic stories about the dangers of polygamy can be compelling and intuitive. But new research suggests some arguments about its harms don’t hold up.

Archives of Sexual Behavior -

Affiliative social relationships have clear links to fitness in many species, yet exactly why that is the case remains elusive. We unify theory from socioecology and network science to set forth testa...

Height preferences when choosing a partner might reflect adaptive mating strategies, whereby tall men are deemed attractive to potential partners due to links with health and resource acquisition. How...

YouTube video by Valerii Chirkov