Luca Hahn
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lucahahn.bsky.social
Luca Hahn
@lucahahn.bsky.social
770 followers 960 following 14 posts
Fascinated by (social) minds - cognition, sociality, culture. PhD student at University of Exeter, Cornwall, UK @uniexecec.bsky.social. Investigating social relationships/networks and social information use in wild jackdaws @cornishjackdaws.bsky.social.
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lucahahn.bsky.social
Luca Hahn @lucahahn.bsky.social · Jun 27
In our new paper we discuss the coevolution of cognition and sociality (link: royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...). It was a pleasure to work on this project with Andoni Sergiou, @josharbon.bsky.social, @inesfuertbauer.bsky.social, @shoalgroup.bsky.social, and @cornishjackdaws.bsky.social!
Reposted by Luca Hahn
cognitiveecol.bsky.social
I am looking for a postdoc to work in our long-term system of food-caching mountain chickadees in the Sierra Nevada mountains. The expected start is April 2026. Please see details here: chickadeecognition.com/positions
If interested and qualified, please contact me directly (email on the website).
POSITIONS
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chickadeecognition.com
October 28, 2025 at 5:49 PM
Reposted by Luca Hahn
wascherclaudia.bsky.social
Very happy to see this collaboration with @babeheim.bsky.social published in Animal Cognition: 'Vocal mimicry in corvids'. Since posting the first preprint, we have identified evidence for vocal mimicry in 8 more species, thanks to the community highlighting additional sources #communityscience
October 30, 2025 at 2:41 PM
Reposted by Luca Hahn
shoalgroup.bsky.social
Primate Society of Great Britain (PSGB) Meeting
National Museum Cardiff, 27-28 November

www.psgb.org/pages/14-mee...
Registration and abstract submission coming soon! Please share!

@mckinneymonkey.bsky.social @inesfuertbauer.bsky.social @willallennz.bsky.social @primatesocietygb.bsky.social
September 3, 2025 at 11:44 AM
Reposted by Luca Hahn
egioxford.bsky.social
Now that we're properly moved in & set up in the new Life & Mind Building, we're pleased to restart our tradition of Friday afternoon seminar speakers, kicking off with Alex Thornton of @cornishjackdaws.bsky.social at 3.30pm on 31 Oct. Also live streamed: see below for details. Corvid-themed for 🎃
October 27, 2025 at 9:28 AM
Reposted by Luca Hahn
delphinedemoor.bsky.social
Social relationships are powerful predictors of fitness across social animals. But *why*?

In our new @cp-trendsecolevo.bsky.social paper, we outline testable predictions for why relationship quality and quantity adaptively vary across socio-ecological contexts.

tinyurl.com/55dnkeh7
The Adaptive Relationships Framework illustrating how broad socioecological pressures shape the social solutions animals use to meet these challenges, and how these lead to social strategies and emergent structures that help them gain access to those solutions.
October 16, 2025 at 7:07 AM
Reposted by Luca Hahn
sonjawild.bsky.social
Out today in @plosbiology.org (1/5)

Siblings and non-parental adults provide alternative pathways to cultural inheritance in juvenile great tits 🐦🧩

Link to study:
10.0.5.91/journal.pbio...

Co-authors:
@lucymaplin.bsky.social
@galarconnieto.bsky.social
October 9, 2025 at 6:06 PM
Reposted by Luca Hahn
eslr.bsky.social
📢🚀 Are you an early-career researcher working on anything related to culture, behaviour or learning? 🧠🌍 Join ESLR, an interdisciplinary research community! We have a NEW website and our membership is now FREE. 👉 Sign up here to get updates and become a member: www.eslrsociety.com/membership
ESLR | Membership
www.eslrsociety.com
October 2, 2025 at 7:43 AM
Reposted by Luca Hahn
benkawam.bsky.social
Are you studying animal sociality?

My (now published) first PhD chapter proposes a Bayesian + causal framework to infer the factors shaping the social relationships that animals form with one another.

journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol...
A causal framework for the drivers of animal social network structure
Author summary Behavioural ecologists ask mechanistic questions about behaviour—causal questions. When studying animal societies, these questions often concern the drivers of social network structure....
journals.plos.org
September 30, 2025 at 3:23 PM
Reposted by Luca Hahn
ellileadbeater.bsky.social
Selection Shapes Animal Minds: More completely free videos of talks from our Royal Society Discussion meeting last year. Today's highlighted talk: Dr Zegni Triki (Neuchatel) @zegnitriki.bsky.social @royalsocietypublishing.org @cornishjackdaws.bsky.social youtu.be/WQLjnfhSyD4?...
The fish challenge to vertebrate cognitive evolution
YouTube video by Selection shapes diverse animal minds
youtu.be
September 22, 2025 at 2:14 PM
Reposted by Luca Hahn
elizabethhobson.bsky.social
**PhD POSITIONS** I am recruiting 1-2 PhD students to work on sociality and cognition in Monk Parakeets, starting Fall 2026. Full ad is here: hobsonresearch.com/index.php/20... (please help spread the word!)
Image showing Hobson Lab logo (with parakeets, a social network, and R code), two Monk Parakeets, and several individually-marked parakeets with the text "Now recruiting PhD students!!"
September 23, 2025 at 6:58 PM
Reposted by Luca Hahn
darrencroft.bsky.social
We are hiring - PDRA position exploring how information access shapes social dynamics in killer whales. Collaboration with @samellisq.bsky.social @drwhale.bsky.social Prof Dan Franks (York) start 1st Nov (or ASAP) end 31st Oct 2028. Apps close on 19th Oct.

www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DOT336/p...
September 23, 2025 at 6:29 PM
Reposted by Luca Hahn
behavecol-lab.bsky.social
Please share!🙏
🚨 PhD Oportunity in Avian Behavioural Ecology in Spain
The BirdBond Project (MNCN & IREC) studies how pair bonds form, change & affect reproduction/survival in the spotless starling 🐦
September 19, 2025 at 5:27 PM
Reposted by Luca Hahn
cornishjackdaws.bsky.social
New paper led by @josharbon.bsky.social. Adults jackdaws often bully youngsters, but we show they can learn to be tolerant and attend to juveniles as sources of information. @uniexecec.bsky.social. Funded by @leverhulme.ac.uk & @swbiodtp.bsky.social

royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
August 20, 2025 at 8:16 AM
Reposted by Luca Hahn
josharbon.bsky.social
New @cornishjackdaws.bsky.social paper out today in @royalsociety.org Biology Letters. We found adult jackdaws can learn to tolerate usually bullied or ignored juveniles when they provided information about a new foraging resource.

royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
Wild jackdaws learn to tolerate juveniles to exploit new foraging opportunities | Biology Letters
Social tolerance can enhance access to resources and is thought to be crucial in facilitating the evolution of cooperation, social cognition and culture, but it is unknown whether animals can optimize...
royalsocietypublishing.org
August 20, 2025 at 3:59 AM
Reposted by Luca Hahn
eslr.bsky.social
ESLR is currently undergoing a transition, and a new committee (@alexschakowski.bsky.social, @ahnisnaahsi.bsky.social, @katebonner.bsky.social, @lucahahn.bsky.social, @mariapykala.bsky.social) is working on reinstating its presence and shaping its future. Please feel free to get in touch!
August 18, 2025 at 6:46 AM
Reposted by Luca Hahn
wascherclaudia.bsky.social
The first papers from our special collection on vocal communication in corvids are now live. Most are still under review, stay tuned for more updates as they’re published! link.springer.com/collections/...
Vocal communication in corvids
In the field of vocal communication, research has mostly focussed on birds because of their vocal learning capacity and non-human primates due to their ...
link.springer.com
July 18, 2025 at 8:47 AM
Reposted by Luca Hahn
vernouilleta.bsky.social
Late to the party but the last paper of my PhD was published earlier this year!
Pinyon jays (Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus) and Clark’s nutcrackers (Nucifraga columbiana) can discriminate between pilfering and non-pilfering conspecifics, but not between heterospecifics link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Pinyon Jays (Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus) and Clark’s nutcrackers (Nucifraga columbiana) can discriminate between pilfering and non-pilfering conspecifics, but not between heterospecifics - Animal Cogni...
When foraging, individuals often need to assess potential risk from competitors. Within many food-caching (food-storing) species, individuals can modify their caching behavior depending on whether oth...
link.springer.com
July 10, 2025 at 10:19 AM
Reposted by Luca Hahn
kathelijnekoops.bsky.social
Join us!!! 2 (!) PhD positions on wild chimpanzees and bonobos in the Ape Behaviour & Ecology Group and Wildminds Lab!!! 🤩🤩🤩
nakedprimate.bsky.social Cat Hobaiter @nakedprimate.bsky.social · Jul 2
📣 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 3, 2025 at 4:46 AM
Reposted by Luca Hahn
pec-exeter.bsky.social
NEW PAPER🎺
How does cognition determine an individual’s fitness? A systematic review of the links between cognition, behaviour and fitness in non-human animals

Lots of studies try to explain how cognition might evolve, by taking a behavioural ecology approach

Has this approach made any progress?🧵
June 26, 2025 at 9:03 AM
Reposted by Luca Hahn
alexrosati.bsky.social
Check out our new paper comparing #socialcognition in #tolerant and #despotic #macaques, by @awad-schwob.bsky.social, Rosie Bettle, Megan Mulhinch & @zeppypearl.bsky.social!

royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10....
Tolerant and despotic macaques show divergent temperament but similar theory of mind | Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
The social intelligence hypothesis proposes that the demands of social life shape the evolution of cognition, but different aspects of social interactions may be relevant. To test how competitive vers...
royalsocietypublishing.org
June 26, 2025 at 1:36 PM
Reposted by Luca Hahn
cornishjackdaws.bsky.social
Part of the Phil Trans special issue "Selection Shapes Diverse Animal Minds", edited with @ellileadbeater.bsky.social.

Thanks to co-authors Andoni Sergiou, @josharbon.bsky.social, @inesfuertbauer.bsky.social & @shoalgroup.bsky.social and all the special issue contributors.

tinyurl.com/35mn84ty
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences: Vol 380, No 1929
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tinyurl.com
June 26, 2025 at 5:08 PM
Reposted by Luca Hahn
cornishjackdaws.bsky.social
Societies might shape minds, but minds can shape societies. In this new paper we discuss how this feedback changes how we think about social and cognitive evolution. Led by @lucahahn.bsky.social

royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
The coevolution of cognition and sociality | Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
Cognition serves to resolve uncertainty. Living in social groups is widely seen as a source of uncertainty driving cognitive evolution, but sociality can also mitigate sources of uncertainty, reducing...
royalsocietypublishing.org
June 26, 2025 at 5:08 PM
lucahahn.bsky.social
In our new paper we discuss the coevolution of cognition and sociality (link: royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...). It was a pleasure to work on this project with Andoni Sergiou, @josharbon.bsky.social, @inesfuertbauer.bsky.social, @shoalgroup.bsky.social, and @cornishjackdaws.bsky.social!
June 27, 2025 at 2:26 PM
Reposted by Luca Hahn
ellileadbeater.bsky.social
Selection Shapes Diverse Animal Minds: our special issue of @royalsocietypublishing.org Phil Trans B on the diverse evolutionary processes underlying cognitive evolution is out today. Thanks to all our contributors! royalsocietypublishing.org/toc/rstb/202...
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences: Vol 380, No 1929
royalsocietypublishing.org
June 26, 2025 at 7:52 AM
lucahahn.bsky.social
Exciting to see this R package for bayesian NBDA models out!
mchimento.bsky.social michael chimento @mchimento.bsky.social · Jun 12
been a long time coming, there's now a preprint along with Will Hoppitt describing our new R package for creating, fitting and interpreting bayesian NBDA models (STBayes). www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1.... Documentation is here michaelchimento.github.io/STbayes/inde...
June 12, 2025 at 6:35 PM