Kayla Kolff
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kaylakolff.bsky.social
Kayla Kolff
@kaylakolff.bsky.social
590 followers 190 following 5 posts
Postdoctoral researcher studying chimpanzee social and medicative behaviour. (she/her)

https://www.kaylakolff.com/
Posts Replies Media Videos
Reposted by Kayla Kolff
jaapderoode.bsky.social
Wound care in chimpanzees! Like chimpanzees in Central Africa, scientists have now shown that East African chimpanzees also apply flying insects to their own and each other's wounds. This is likely some form of medication, which is more widespread than we thought. 🧪

www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Insect applications to open wounds by chimpanzees in the wild: first insights from East African chimpanzees - Scientific Reports
Scientific Reports - Insect applications to open wounds by chimpanzees in the wild: first insights from East African chimpanzees
www.nature.com
August 31, 2025 at 8:22 PM
kaylakolff.bsky.social
🚨 NEW PAPER OUT 🚨

Excited to share our new study documenting the first reported case of insect-application to their own and others’ open wounds in East African chimpanzees from the Ngogo community! 🪰

👉 Open access: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

1/2
Insect applications to open wounds by chimpanzees in the wild: first insights from East African chimpanzees - Scientific Reports
Scientific Reports - Insect applications to open wounds by chimpanzees in the wild: first insights from East African chimpanzees
www.nature.com
September 4, 2025 at 2:17 PM
Reposted by Kayla Kolff
danielredhead.bsky.social
🐒🕸️ New preprint! Confused about how to model animal social networks?

ASNA can be confusing—but also full of opportunity. We break down 5 common misunderstandings in animal social network analysis and share solutions from behavioural ecology, anthro, stats, & network science. Hope it helps!

A 🧵
Five misunderstandings in animal social network analysis
ecoevorxiv.org
August 4, 2025 at 4:21 PM
Reposted by Kayla Kolff
vicmartignac.bsky.social
So happy to see my first PhD paper out royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...

With my amazing supervisor @robinmorrison.bsky.social and the @savinggorillas.bsky.social, we examined female dispersal decisions in mountain gorillas.
Dispersed female networks: female gorillas’ inter-group relationships influence dispersal decisions | Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
Dispersal is a fundamental aspect of many animal societies, impacting gene flow, knowledge transmission, culture and individual fitness. However, little is known about the information individuals use when dispersing. Mountain gorillas exhibit a flexible ...
royalsocietypublishing.org
August 6, 2025 at 4:24 PM
Reposted by Kayla Kolff
perkinskeighley.bsky.social
I love a good animal communication article.

New research by @kaylakolff.bsky.social & Simone Pika highlighted in @us.theconversation.com suggests turn-taking, a core feature of human language, also plays a role in how chimpanzees communicate.

🔗 tinyurl.com/atdjn6mb

#langsky #linguistics

TLDR 👇
Whose turn is it? The question is at the heart of language and chimpanzees ask it too
Chimpanzees’ turn-taking shows skills that may have supported the evolution of human conversation.
tinyurl.com
July 17, 2025 at 2:50 PM
Reposted by Kayla Kolff
koenfucius.bsky.social
Although people sometimes talk over each other, we are capable of effective turn-taking in conversation. A unique human trait?

Not really, @kaylakolff.bsky.social & Simone Pika write—other animals do so, too, like chimpanzees while grooming:

buff.ly/UyG2Fzm
July 16, 2025 at 8:17 PM
Reposted by Kayla Kolff
nakedprimate.bsky.social
📣 Join the K/Creative Ape Team 🤓 2 PhDs on Creativity in Wild Chimpanzees & Bonobos; w myself & the v awesome @kathelijnekoops.bsky.social

@snf-fns.ch Uni Zurich @uniofstandrews.bsky.social @efp2026.bsky.social @ips-primatenews.bsky.social @primatesocietygb.bsky.social @primbehavecol.bsky.social 🐵🧪
two 4-year PhD positions in the Ape Behaviour & Ecology Group of the Department of Evolutionary Anthropology at the University of Zurich, and the Wild Minds Lab of the School of Psychology and Neuroscience at the University of St Andrews, to study wild chimpanzees and bonobos. The PhD candidates will work within the Creative Ape Project. The overall goal of the project is to enhance our understanding of the evolution of creativity, and to shed light on whether humans are a uniquely 'creative ape'. To do so we will apply a comparative approach, quantifying the creative capacities of wild non-human apes to investigate the underlying drivers that shape creative expression across species. The project explores four interconnected topics: i) Making mavericks, ii) Funny guys and arty-types, iii) Lone ape geniuses, and iv) Creative ape economies. We employ a comprehensive approach that leverages long-term datasets, new field data, detailed manual video-coding, bespoke automated deep-learning models, and advanced modelling, to extract rich information on the ways in which apes solve problems in their daily lives. Excellent collaborative, independent working and time management skills are essential. Previous field experience (incl. behavioural data collection) is required, and experience working in remote places under difficult living conditions is highly recommended. The project will require strong data management and data analysis skills, and 12-18 months of field work split into 2-3 periods. Please submit your application in a single PDF to kathelijne.koops@iea.uzh.ch and clh42@st-andrews.ac.uk – by 4th of August 2025. Feel free to get in touch if you have any inquiries about the positions. Applications should include: 1) cover letter stating your motivation and how your expertise fits the project (max. 1 page), 2) Curriculum Vitae, 3) copy of the highest degree obtained, 4) names and contact details of two referees, and 5) reprints of 1-2 selected publications A tiny chimpfant looks at the camera with surprise
July 2, 2025 at 10:36 PM
Reposted by Kayla Kolff
marlenfroehlich.bsky.social
📢 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
June 30, 2025 at 7:39 AM
Reposted by Kayla Kolff
combiocognition.bsky.social
Are you fascinated by #plants, #plant-identification and social and cognitive skills of #chimpanzees? Then come and work with us at the #ComparativeBioCognition lab, #OsnabruckUniversity and the #OzougaChimpanzeeProject (www.ozouga.org). Check info: www.comparative-biocognition.de/communicate/...
www.ozouga.org
May 23, 2025 at 7:35 AM
Reposted by Kayla Kolff
nature.com
📢 Calling PhD students 📢 we want to hear from you!

Help shape the future of PhD education. Take our survey to tell us all about your experiences

https://go.nature.com/43iJAsi
PhD students in STEM: Nature wants to hear from you
Buried in lab work or drowning in data? Take a break and help shape the future of PhD education.
go.nature.com
May 15, 2025 at 11:36 AM
Reposted by Kayla Kolff
zoegoldsborough.bsky.social
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 👇
livingingroups.bsky.social Ecology of Animal Societies @livingingroups.bsky.social · May 19
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)
An illustration of a white-faced capuchin monkey carrying a howler infant on their back while cracking nuts with a stone
May 19, 2025 at 3:08 PM
Reposted by Kayla Kolff
heesenr.bsky.social
Interested in biology and comparative psychology, and working in an interdisciplinary project and research team? I’m advertising two PhD positions on the evolutionary origins of cooperative sociality and communication (start 1.10.) at the University of Konstanz👇 links below!
May 17, 2025 at 9:08 AM
Reposted by Kayla Kolff
paddytkaczynski.bsky.social
🚨🐵Potential primate PhD: tinyurl.com/ym4wb2uf
We're looking for candidates for a project on conservation genomics in a wild endangered primate. This is competitively funded, so experience in field work and genomics is required to have a chance of receiving the scholarship. Informal enquiries welcome
Conservation genomics in an endangered primate at Liverpool John Moores University on FindAPhD.com
PhD Project - Conservation genomics in an endangered primate at Liverpool John Moores University, listed on FindAPhD.com
tinyurl.com
April 7, 2025 at 11:13 AM
Reposted by Kayla Kolff
jolindevlaeyen.bsky.social
🚨 Preprint alert 🚨 – My first PhD paper is out as a preprint!

Need a break from everything happening in the world? Time to focus on #great #apes 🐵✨.

We investigated whether wild #bonobo infants develop more slowly than #chimpanzee infants, but the answer isn’t so clear-cut!
biorxiv-behav.bsky.social bioRxiv Animal Behavior and Cognition @biorxiv-behav.bsky.social · Mar 15
Great Ape Childhoods: Development of infant bonobos (Pan paniscus) and chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) in the wild https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.03.14.643318v1
March 18, 2025 at 9:56 AM
Reposted by Kayla Kolff
ellengarland.bsky.social
We uncovered the same statistical structure that is a hallmark of human language in whale song, published today in Science. @inbalarnon.bsky.social @simonkirby.bsky.social @jennyallen13.bsky.social @clairenea.bsky.social @emma-carroll.bsky.social
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
February 6, 2025 at 7:15 PM
Reposted by Kayla Kolff
wildlifeimpact.bsky.social
Potential new pangolin species: news.mongabay.com/2025/01/scie...
Scientists unveil potential new pangolin species, highlighting conservation challenges
Around 3.4 million years ago, a hidden evolutionary tale unfolded in the Indo-Burma region: a cryptic pangolin species diverged from the Chinese pangolin (Manis pentadactyla).  Long thought to be the ...
news.mongabay.com
January 27, 2025 at 1:58 PM
Reposted by Kayla Kolff
neprimateconsrv.bsky.social
Javan surilis (Presbytis comata), also called grizzled leaf monkeys, Javan leaf monkeys, and Javan grizzled langurs, are endemic to western and central Java in fragmented pockets. Total remaining population may be as low as 5,500. Threatened by habitat destruction and hunting. Listed as Vulnerable.
January 16, 2025 at 1:13 PM
Reposted by Kayla Kolff
gmerc-tz.bsky.social
Chimpanzees genetically adapted to local habitats, incl. savannas! ...Congratulations to all! Article here www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Local genetic adaptation to habitat in wild chimpanzees
How populations adapt to their environment is a fundamental question in biology. Yet, we know surprisingly little about this process, especially for endangered species, such as nonhuman great apes. Ch...
www.science.org
January 10, 2025 at 7:46 AM
Reposted by Kayla Kolff
jaeggiadrian.bsky.social
🚨 JOB ALERT!! We're looking for a PhD student to join our group! Are you interested in evolutionary medicine / anthropology? Already have a master's? Apply with your own project ideas! See link: jobs.uzh.ch/job-vacancie... #EvMed @bioanth.org @ehbea.bsky.social Please RT!
UZH: PhD position in evolutionary anthropology and medicine
The Human Ecology Group of the Institute of Evolutionary Medicine (IEM) Institute of Evolutionary Medicine at the University of Zurich, led by Prof. Adrian Jaeggi, is inviting applications from prospe...
jobs.uzh.ch
December 2, 2024 at 1:10 PM
Reposted by Kayla Kolff
wildlifeimpact.bsky.social
Oluwa Forest Reserve, home to red-capped mangabeys, chimps, and other rare species, is losing its forest to farming. news.mongabay.com/2024/11/a-ni...
A Nigerian reserve, once a stronghold for chimps, is steadily losing its forest to farming
Oluwa Forest Reserve, located in southwestern Nigeria, contains some of the last large swaths of old growth — also called “primary” — forest in the region. These forests are home to a rich diversity o...
news.mongabay.com
November 23, 2024 at 8:08 AM
Reposted by Kayla Kolff
dingemansemark.bsky.social
⚡ Out now! Interactive repair and the foundations of language, w/ N.J. Enfield

🔒 doi.org/10.1016/j.ti...
🆓 pure.mpg.de/pubman/item/...
My blog: ideophone.org/interactive-...
Cover of Dingemanse & Enfield, Interactive repair and the foundations of language
December 4, 2023 at 7:19 PM
Reposted by Kayla Kolff
arturczeszumski.bsky.social
*** SAVE THE DATE***

Neural foundations of cooperative social interactions

On the 15th of December at 13:45 CET, I will defend my PhD thesis at VU Amsterdam and University of Osnabrück

Ceremony Link: youtube.com/VUBeadlesOffice

Thesis: research.vu.nl/en/publicati...
Neural foundations of cooperative social interactions
research.vu.nl
November 27, 2023 at 1:03 PM
Reposted by Kayla Kolff
taichimpproject.bsky.social
NEW PAPER on the tactical use of hill tops in Taï chimpanzees
journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...
November 3, 2023 at 10:31 AM
Reposted by Kayla Kolff
marspidermonkey.bsky.social
The poster for Ellen DeGeneres documentary pretty blatantly rips off the cover of Ugandan vet Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka’s book.

#Primates 🧪🏺🦊
Cover of “Walking with Gorillas: The Journey of an African Wildlife Vet.” The top has a close-up image of a gorilla, the bottom has a picture of Dr. Karen’s-Zikusoka in a raincoat with the hood pulled over her head, with green vegetation and an out-of-focus gorilla in the backdrop. The title is in a black band in the middle, with “GORILLAS” in the largest font and bolded. Poster for Ellen DeGeneres documentary: “Saving the gorillas: Ellen’s next adventure.” The top of the poster has a close up of a gorilla face, the bottom has Ellen in rain jacket and hat with green vegetation in the backdrop, and the too images are separated by a black banner with the title, with GORILLAS in the largest, bolded text. Facebook post from Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka: “Ellen DeGeneres and Discovery, I’m glad my #WalkingWithGorillas book released in 2022 inspired your new TV documentary poster released in September 2023. We both love gorillas (gorilla emojis). Let’s collaborate!” #OneHealth #SavingGorillasOneSipAtATime #GorillaConservation #TeamGorilla
October 2, 2023 at 3:19 PM