Mateo Arias-Vélez
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mateoarias.bsky.social
Mateo Arias-Vélez
@mateoarias.bsky.social
93 followers 280 following 8 posts
PhD. Candidate in Philosophy of Science (UNAM). M.A in Philosophy of Science. B.A. in Philosophy.
Interested in philosophy of animal cognition and philosophy of biology
Posts Replies Media Videos
Reposted by Mateo Arias-Vélez
susanamonso.com
Loved this paper by @kristinandrews.bsky.social and Noam Miller. A very convincing argument for the function of consciousness.
The social origins of consciousness | Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
We present the social origins of consciousness hypothesis, according to which the ability to coordinate with group members was the original adaptive function of consciousness. We offer three arguments...
royalsocietypublishing.org
November 18, 2025 at 12:07 PM
Reposted by Mateo Arias-Vélez
alejandrofabregastejeda.com
I am incredibly honored to have been invited as one of the keynote speakers for the XIV PBCS! This long-standing initiative is very supportive of graduate students & early-career researchers, so I encourage everyone to submit their abstracts! See you in Madrid next year! #HPS #HPbio #cogsci #philsky
Poster for the XIV Workshop on Philosophy of Biology and Cognitive Sciences. The background is dark green with large yellow text and decorative abstract flower illustrations in red, yellow, and green at the corners. Dates ‘18–19 June’ appear at the top right, along with the venue: UNED, Edificio de Humanidades, Paseo de la Senda del Rey 7, Madrid. The keynote speakers are Enara García (SDU), Alejandro Fábregas-Tejeda (KU Leuven), and José Antonio Pérez-Escobar (UNED). A bold yellow banner reads ‘Call for Abstracts,’ with a deadline of 15 January. At the bottom is a contact email: xivpbcs@gmail.com
December 2, 2025 at 5:26 PM
Reposted by Mateo Arias-Vélez
langurlover.bsky.social
#Primates #Anthropology
Chimpanzee calls trigger unique brain activity in humans, revealing shared vocal processing skills
The brain doesn't just recognize the human voice. A study by the University of Geneva (UNIGE) shows that certain areas of our auditory cortex respond specifically to the vocalizations of chimpanzees, ...
phys.org
December 3, 2025 at 2:51 PM
Reposted by Mateo Arias-Vélez
orangutanlandtrust.bsky.social
For the first time, scientists have published a detailed report of adoption in these great apes.

www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/arti...
Orangutan adopts little sister after their mother's death
For the first time, scientists have published a detailed report of adoption in these great apes.
www.nationalgeographic.com
November 26, 2025 at 10:44 AM
Reposted by Mateo Arias-Vélez
monkeyologist.bsky.social
New Paper out in Proceedings of the Royal Society B! 🎉 Sequence organization of mother–infant interactions in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) in the wild. See the thread below for a quick explanation, and check out the paper: royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
Sequence organization of mother–infant interactions in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) in the wild | Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
Sequence organization is a fundamental feature of human communication, shaping our interactions. This organization underlies interactions with and without language, appears early in human development ...
royalsocietypublishing.org
November 26, 2025 at 1:14 PM
Reposted by Mateo Arias-Vélez
maxplanck.de
On this day in 1859 English naturalist Charles #Darwin publishes "On the Origin of Species," radically changing the view of #evolution and laying the foundation for evolutionary biology. #otd
In the summer of 1837, Charles Darwin (picture 1)opened a page of his brown leather-bound notebook with the sentence: I think. The page (picture 2) was in the first of four notebooks he had created in London on the question of species change. However, he did not explain what he was thinking in words, but in a fist-sized diagram: a line shoots out from an origin marked with the number ‘1’ and then forks several times. Some branches end in nothingness, while others fan out further and further. In the summer of 1837, Charles Darwin opened a page of his brown leather-bound notebook with the sentence: I think. The page was in the first of four notebooks he had created in London on the question of species change. However, he did not explain what he was thinking in words, but in a fist-sized diagram: a line shoots out from an origin marked with the number ‘1’ and then forks several times. Some branches end in nothingness, while others fan out further and further.
November 24, 2025 at 1:31 PM
Reposted by Mateo Arias-Vélez
ehowaspi.bsky.social
Our New Paper is out in Nature Human Behaviour: 🚨 Culture is critical in driving orangutan diet development past individual potentials! 🦧 www.nature.com/articles/s41.... See 🧵
Culture is critical in driving orangutan diet development past individual potentials - Nature Human Behaviour
Howard-Spink et al. develop an empirically based model of orangutan diet development, which suggests that social learning is vital for orangutans to acquire varied diets.
www.nature.com
November 24, 2025 at 11:05 AM
Reposted by Mateo Arias-Vélez
biorxiv-behav.bsky.social
Maternal glucocorticoids and behavior shape offspring developmental trade-offs in wild baboons https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.11.18.689046v1
November 19, 2025 at 2:45 AM
Reposted by Mateo Arias-Vélez
benkawam.bsky.social
New paper!

We propose a framework to empirically study animal social relationships by modelling social network (SN) data as time-series—that is, without the need to aggregate them over time.

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Each dyad (a, b) moves through four discrete states over time, represented by coloured circles. The dyad remains in a given state for a certain duration, or "holding time", before transitioning to a new state according to state-specific transition probabilities, indicated by arrows showing all possible (non-zero) transitions. Paintings by Sofia M. Pereira & Judith von Nordheim.
November 12, 2025 at 11:56 AM
Reposted by Mateo Arias-Vélez
langurlover.bsky.social
#Primates
neprimateconsrv.bsky.social New England Primate Conservancy @neprimateconsrv.bsky.social · 23d
With more than 6,700 mammal species on Earth, what sets primates apart? Discover the features, behaviors, and incredible diversity that make primates truly unique. This video is part of our "Discovering Primates" introductory series for young learners. youtu.be/Ne_gzf2Ur4U
WHO are Primates?
YouTube video by New England Primate Conservancy
youtu.be
November 10, 2025 at 3:09 PM
Reposted by Mateo Arias-Vélez
nature.com
The ability to change your mind in response to better evidence is a hallmark of human cognition. Experiments now show that chimps are capable of rational thought too

go.nature.com/3JVLhGk
Be rational: chimp decision-making is guided by the strongest evidence
The ability to change your mind in response to better evidence is a hallmark of human cognition. Experiments now show that chimps are capable of rational thought too.
go.nature.com
November 11, 2025 at 2:05 PM
Reposted by Mateo Arias-Vélez
markrubin.bsky.social
Excellent new preprint by Sarahanne Field and @maddipow.bsky.social argues “bias is not a contaminant to be purged; it is a constitutive element of research, shaping every decision from hypothesis formation to data interpretation.”

Few quotes follow...🧵
maddipow.bsky.social Dr Madeleine Pownall @maddipow.bsky.social · Jul 2
"Science is not, and has never been, a neutral endeavour... the notion that researchers can or should cleanse themselves of bias is untenable, potentially intellectually dishonest, and ethically fraught."

New preprint with the (brilliant) Sarahanne Field #Metascience2025

osf.io/preprints/os...
July 2, 2025 at 3:41 PM
Reposted by Mateo Arias-Vélez
susanamonso.com
If this doesn’t end bonobos’ reputation as the hippies of the great apes I don’t know what will. www.cell.com/current-biol...
Coalitionary intra-group aggression by wild female bonobos
Sonya Pashchevskaya and colleagues document a potentially fatal attack of a male bonobo by a group of females.
www.cell.com
October 7, 2025 at 7:27 PM
Reposted by Mateo Arias-Vélez
ethoges.bsky.social
Geschwisteradoption bei wilden Borneo-Orang-Utans 🦧👭
Scott et al. berichten den ersten detaillierten Fall einer Geschwisteradoption - nach dem Verlust der Mutter adoptierte die ältere Schwester das verwaiste Jungtier, förderte damit dessen Unabhängigkeit und sicherte sein Überleben. #OpenAccess
A Case of Sibling Adoption in Wild Orangutans: Accelerated Development of Independence Following Maternal Loss
Vanna/Ronnie lost her mother Veli when she was between 4.2 and 5 years old (pictured together on the left). Subsequently, Vanna/Ronnie was seen traveling with and sleeping in the same nest as her old...
doi.org
October 8, 2025 at 9:56 AM
mateoarias.bsky.social
I just saw Jane this weekend giving a wonderful talk about the importance of protecting our environment. She has been a profound influence on my thinking. The world has lost one of its greatest advocates. Thank you, Jane, for your invaluable contribution
October 1, 2025 at 6:49 PM
Reposted by Mateo Arias-Vélez
orangutanlandtrust.bsky.social
Jane Goodall, pioneering chimpanzee zoologist who revealed the animals’ links to humans, dies aged 91

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home...
Jane Goodall, much-loved pioneering chimpanzee expert, dies aged 91
Award-winning primatologist who established world’s longest-running chimp study still lectured on conservation and climate even over age of 91
www.independent.co.uk
October 1, 2025 at 6:31 PM
mateoarias.bsky.social
Let’s suppose Terminator and M3GAN were happen. How would we know that the IAs have begun to be conscious? Andrews and Birch point out that as long as we don’t know what all conscious forms have in common across different animals, we will never be able to know whether IAs can be conscious.
To understand AI sentience, first understand it in animals | Aeon Essays
As the power of AI grows, we need to have evidence of its sentience. That is why we must return to the minds of animals
aeon.co
August 28, 2025 at 5:40 PM
Reposted by Mateo Arias-Vélez
langurlover.bsky.social
#Primates
For apes, out of sight isn't out of mind: Bonobos can mentally track multiple members of their social circle
A series of hide-and-seek experiments with a bonobo named Kanzi shows for the first time that apes can mentally keep track of multiple familiar humans at once, even when they are out of sight.
phys.org
August 20, 2025 at 2:14 PM
Reposted by Mateo Arias-Vélez
biorxiv-behav.bsky.social
An investigation of social learning of tool-use in bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) using a ball-up / ball-down task https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.08.17.670717v1
August 20, 2025 at 9:45 PM
Reposted by Mateo Arias-Vélez
chriskrupenye.bsky.social
Original link behaving strangely. Here's another one:

royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
Mental representation of the locations and identities of multiple hidden agents or objects by a bonobo | Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
Humans are adept at navigating the social world in part because we flexibly map the locations and identities of agents around us. While field studies suggest primates can track individual conspecifics...
royalsocietypublishing.org
August 21, 2025 at 1:58 PM
Reposted by Mateo Arias-Vélez
bjking.bsky.social
Nice piece by @katewong.bsky.social @sciam.bsky.social on why we humans aren't as unique as some of us like to think... Great examples here from primates, fish, insects, and more. A nice shout-out to my work on animal grief too. #animals #nature #anthropology #evolution 🧪
Whales Mourn, Birds Show Self-Awareness, Plants Remember—Are Humans Really So Special?
Other species exhibit capabilities that were once thought to be exclusive to Homo sapiens
www.scientificamerican.com
August 21, 2025 at 2:12 PM
mateoarias.bsky.social
Today we are celebrating the world orangutan day 🦧
August 19, 2025 at 5:09 PM
Reposted by Mateo Arias-Vélez
susanamonso.com
Our paper on 🌱🦧ANIMAL MEDICINE🐜🍄 has been accepted for publication in Philosophy of Science!

You can find the accepted version here, open access: www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
August 13, 2025 at 7:26 AM
Reposted by Mateo Arias-Vélez
anthrofuentes.bsky.social
En la UNAM el 25 de agosto...presentación de mi libro
Sex is a Spectrum:The Biological Limits of the Binary...acompañanos
August 16, 2025 at 3:09 PM
Reposted by Mateo Arias-Vélez
royalsocietypublishing.org
A new theme issue in #PhilTransB looks at how and why animal minds have evolved to be so different from one another, framing animal #cognition as a diverse set of solutions to life’s many challenges buff.ly/csMZa3R
June 27, 2025 at 3:30 PM