Susana Monsó
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Susana Monsó
@susanamonso.com
3.3K followers 770 following 420 posts
She/her. Associate professor of philosophy at UNED, Madrid. Interested in all things animal. Author of PLAYING POSSUM: HOW ANIMALS UNDERSTAND DEATH.

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[Profile pic: © Gianfranco Tripodo]
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Obsessed with the cover of the Chinese edition of my book!!
A book cover in pastel blue with cream-coloured skulls and bones. The text says “La zarigüeya de Schrödinger. Cómo viven y entienden la muerte los animales. Susana Monsó” in white lettering, surrounded by Chinese characters in black.
November 3, 2025 at 4:10 PM
susanamonso.com
Animal experts! Please can you help me figure out the culprit behind what I found in my office drawer after returning from my holidays? Is it a mouse or a rat? Or something else entirely? I should have it all disinfected right? 😬
The inside of an office drawer with a keyboard, some chapstick, a toothbrush, toothpaste, and handcream. There is a chocolate bar whose wrapping appears to have been torn open. The chocolate shows signs of having been chewed off. There are small poos on the keyboard. Close up of the chewed up chocolate bar. Close up of the poos on the keyboard. More poos in the corner of the drawer.
September 11, 2025 at 8:50 AM
susanamonso.com
In Shanghai, at SAPoLSN 2025, talking about possums, naturally making my dead possum face. [Picture credit goes to @segundo-ortin.bsky.social]
A picture of myself giving a talk and looking as though I’m about to vomit. The picture on the slide behind me shows a possum playing possum.
August 12, 2025 at 5:22 AM
susanamonso.com
Loved this review of Playing Possum in Fortean Times. "[A] bracing, rigorous, jaunty and downright brilliant study" -- thank you, kind stranger!
Screenshot of a review of Playing Possum
July 15, 2025 at 12:33 PM
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This study is an example of the sort of paradigm shift we're hoping for. Ants and humans were compared in their capacity to solve the same puzzle under the same conditions, partly modelled after the ants' abilities. 14/17 www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Four pictures, taken from above, depicting the experimental setup. The two pictures on the left depict a single ant and a single human attempting to move an I-shaped object through an obstructive environment. The two pictures on the right show the same puzzle being solved by a group of ants and a group of humans.
June 16, 2025 at 1:52 PM
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I wouldn’t normally share my theatre stuff here but I’m very proud to be playing Helena in the Madrid Players’ 60th anniversary production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. If you’re in Madrid next weekend, you can come watch our magical show at Teatro Soho.
Picture of two women on stage. One is a brunette wearing an orange dress. She looks menacing. The other one is a blonde in a blue dress. She looks taken aback. Two fairy creatures watch them from behind some steps in the background, in front of a black curtain painted with forest motifs in neon colours. The lighting is blue.
April 7, 2025 at 7:29 AM
susanamonso.com
And lastly, our definition would be applicable to cases of bad medicine in animals. Some chimpanzees, for instance, apply insects to their wounds, which might be medicine even if it doesn't heal them, if the chimps see it as a (misguided) solution to the problem that is a wound. 19/20
Six pictures depicting a chimpanzee in the jungle applying insects to a wound on their leg.
February 3, 2025 at 8:45 AM
susanamonso.com
It also applies to the support during parturition that has been seen in some primate species, such as these white-headed langurs (Pan et al. 2014). 18/20
Six pictures depicting a langur giving birth and being aided by some group members.
February 3, 2025 at 8:45 AM
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So in a way our definition is more restrictive. But in another sense, it's more expansive. It covers for instance the care behaviour directed at individuals who are dying or disabled, such as these dolphins helping a dying individual stay afloat (Park et al. 2012). 17/20
A photograph with a diagram underneath representing a group of dolphins making a raft formation with their bodies to help a dying dolphin stay afloat and breathe.
February 3, 2025 at 8:45 AM
susanamonso.com
This definition applies to human medical practices but also covers many animal practices. It applies for instance to the paradigmatic behaviour of chimpanzees who deal with gut parasites through the consumption of medicinal plants (pictures from Huffman 1997). 15/20
A chimpanzee chewing on a bitter pith, whose juices kill intestinal parasites. A chimpanzee swallowing a leaf whole, which helps dislodge parasites from their intestinal tracts.
February 3, 2025 at 8:45 AM
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His is far from the only case of an animal seen dealing with their own or another's health issues. There are ants who amputate the limbs of injured nestmates (Frank et al. 2024)... 3/20
February 3, 2025 at 8:45 AM
susanamonso.com
Estas cosas te pasan demasiado, Jesús 😂 Te dejo por aquí una sugerencia.
January 29, 2025 at 10:54 AM
susanamonso.com
I don’t think 2025 is likely to be cute at all, but I am pretty stoked about being among Lena Dunham’s reads for this year!
A screenshot of Lena Dunham’s instagram profile, featuring a picture of a bunch of books on a wooden table, including a copy of my “Playing Possum”. Off-screen, the caption is “2025 is cute”.
January 5, 2025 at 3:44 PM
susanamonso.com
Still looking for a gift for that weirdly gothic friend of yours, the one insufferably obsessed with animals, or the smug intellectual who nevertheless appreciates a good joke? Here are some reasons why PLAYING POSSUM (published by @princetonupress.bsky.social) may be just what you need:
The cover of PLAYING POSSUM: HOW ANIMALS UNDERSTAND DEATH by Susana Monsó, featuring a bubblegum pink background, red and white lettering, and an illustration of a white opossum walking the line of life, with her dead counterpart upside down underneath her
December 27, 2024 at 1:05 PM
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This classic
Figures from the classic Hare et al. studies on theory of mind, depicting chimpanzees as three Microsoft Paint ovals in a row with a little eye dot.
December 5, 2024 at 9:45 AM
susanamonso.com
@kristinandrews.bsky.social and I are ready for Halloween
A closeup of two women. One has dark hair and wears a witch’s hat and a mask of a monster with an overbite. The other one wears a bird mask. They’re both objectively cool.
October 31, 2024 at 9:36 PM
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Spotted in the wild (ie. Toronto)!
A woman with dark hair wearing a black puffer and beanie looking excited in front of a table full of books. In the centre is a copy of Playing Possum, the book she’s excited about.
October 30, 2024 at 12:07 PM
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I’m in the Wall Street Journal talking, for once, about books that aren’t my own archive.ph/7ffBC
Screenshot of the Wall Street Journal article, reading “Five Best: Books on the Animal Kingdom, selected by the author, most recently, of Playing Possum: How Animals Understand Death” and featuring a closeup of a yellow snail
October 19, 2024 at 6:02 PM
susanamonso.com
It’s here! And it’s so pink! And I can finally put to use the two stuffed possums I have in my office!
A picture of me looking ecstatic holding a copy of Playing Possum: How Animals Understand Death. The cover is bubblegum pink and features a white opossum with an upside-down dead counterpart. A copy of Playing Possum on a green window sill with two stuffed possums, one climbing on it and the other one playing possum.
September 19, 2024 at 10:15 AM
susanamonso.com
I got jelly and wanted to share mine too
September 17, 2024 at 9:01 AM
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Quote with a picture of you from the '80s.

[inside my dad's suitcase, after having decided to put all his underwear on my head]
A toddler sitting inside a brown suitcase, wearing a pink Aristocats pijama and a heap of underpants on her head.
August 8, 2024 at 1:19 PM
susanamonso.com
Final cover! 🔥🔥🔥 @princetonupress.bsky.social
Cover of Playing Possum: How Animals Understand Death by Susana Monsó, featuring a bubblegum pink background, red lettering, an illustration of an opossum with her upside-down dead counterpart and the blurbs “Remarkable” by Peter Singer and “Illuminating” by Tyler Cowen.
June 20, 2024 at 10:32 AM
susanamonso.com
I just finished reading Hanya Yanagihara’s A Little Life. I know I’m late for this, but holy cow, I don’t think I’ve ever read a novel so wise, so beautiful, so sad. The kind of book that breaks your heart a million times and yet you never want to leave it’s world. Wow.
Cover of “A Little Life” by Hanya Yanagihara, featuring a black and white photograph of the face and hand of a man in pain.
June 5, 2024 at 1:19 PM
susanamonso.com
The first blurbs are in! press.princeton.edu/books/hardco...
A screenshot of blurbs on 'Playing Possum' by Lori Gruen, Kristin Andrews, Peter Singer, and David Peña-Guzmán
May 22, 2024 at 9:57 AM
susanamonso.com
My book finally has a cover and I love it!!!
The cover of “Playing Possum: How Animals Understand Death”, featuring a bubblegum pink background, red and white lettering, and an illustration of an opossum with her dead counterpart as her upside-down mirror image.
May 1, 2024 at 8:02 AM