"Who is who? Water makes frog image recognition 100% clear" Have a look at this article about the findings reported in our Edina Nemeshรกzi's latest publication! @klivvvienna.bsky.social doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0341460
www.vetmeduni.ac.at/en/universit...
Formatted version out at last! โDefensive colouration is not a reliable indicator of ๐ infection in aposematic poison ๐ธโ academic.oup.com/beheco/artic... @klivvvienna.bsky.social @behavecol.bsky.social
๐ฉ๐ปโ๐ฌ๐งช
Are you an animal behavior researcher? ๐ธ๐ฆ๐๐ชฒ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐๐Consider supporting @abcmicrogrants.bsky.social this holiday season โ๏ธ๐
It takes less than a minute and your money goes directly towards supporting #AnimalBehavior students!! ๐๐๐
opencollective.com/animal-behav...
Merry Christmas!! This Christmas, give the gift of hope. Your donation helps the Animal Behavior Collective ensure more students receive the resources they need to learn, grow, and thrive. Donate!
Wishing everyone a joyful holiday season โ๏ธ๐โ
At @abcmicrogrants.bsky.social ๐๐๐, weโre excited to support even more #AnimalBehavior students through #microgrants + #mentorship. Your generosity makes this possible - consider donating to help us keep this work going!
This #GivingTuesday please consider donating to @abcmicrogrants.bsky.social to support undergraduate students globally!! ๐ซถ๐บ๏ธ
Help us make #animalbehaviourresearch more inclusive ๐๐๐
Sign up to be a monthly donor, or make a one time contribution using this link
opencollective.com/animal-behav...
New paper out in @behavecol.bsky.social!
Multiple studies show that sexually selected traits such as colours can reflect the presence of pathogens/parasites, but, can defensive coloration do the same? L. Schlippe Justicia, @carodittrich.bsky.social, O. Nokelainen & I tackled that question (1/3)
Our #mentorshipmatching event is two days away now!! ๐ฃ
--> Sign up to be a mentor/mentee, join the @abcmicrogrants.bsky.social community!! ๐๐๐
--> Share this with interested students and ECRs in your group!
--> Become a monthly donor to help us keep growing!
Weโre thrilled to announce the ABC's fourth mentorship-matching event!! ๐ฃ๐ฃ
This is a unique opportunity for you to meet and connect with experienced mentors. The mentorship match event - more of an informal "vibe check" - will be on Nov 6 2025 at 14:00 GMT ๐๐
Help us spread the word!! #mentorship
#CrowCoG is hiring๐จMULTIPLE PAID RESEARCH ASSISTANT POSITIONS ๐จfor our 2026 field season (May - Sep)! Field and aviary-based positions - come help us study the remarkable tool-making New Caledonian crows. Apply here: bit.ly/3WlxxHE
Our new paper is out! @camillasoravia.bsky.social leads this research, which looks into the relationship between heat- mediated cognitive impairment and the antipredator response in wild pied babblers. royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
The Suriname Toad (Pipa pipa) is a horror inducing frog. During mating, the eggs are laid into the backs of the female frog. There, they develop and then hatch out of the back.
๐ธ Chaline Olivier
discover more at buff.ly/RCBnUSE
In memory of Jane Goodall, English primatologist and anthropologist and the world's foremost expert on chimpanzees. Take a look at her 1985 article published in #PhilTransB 'Conditions of innovative behaviour in primates': royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
Want to help make the field of animal behaviour more accessible to help? Visit the @abcmicrogrants.bsky.social at poster 72 to learn about how to apply for microgrants and mentorship, become a mentor or financial contributor. ๐๐๐
@behaviour2025.bsky.social @asab.org
I had a blast at the @ecobhvr2025.bsky.social in Montpellier last week ๐
what a friendly (and free) conference to start off sharing the first findings of my PhD ๐๐ฝ
Having Sir David Attenborough narrate a story based on our findings on the dyeing poison frog was something that I never imagined, even in my wildest dreams. Now itโs happening, in the new BBC series โParenthoodโ (Episode on Freshwater)! ๐คฉ www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Zih...
๐ธ: Screenshot from trailer
Two more presentations from our group at #ATBC2025 are done and dusted! ๐ธ๐งช๐Paul Kesseler presented a poster on Hg contamination in phytotelmata and their inhabitants at Nouragues (French Guiana), which he investigated during his Masterโs (1/2)
Super proud of Lia Schlippe Justicia, who gave an excellent talk on her PhD work involving frog disease, skin microbiome and habitat disturbance ๐ธ๐งฌ๐๐๏ธ๐๏ธ
#ATBC2025
@klivvvienna.bsky.social
Five white Goffin's cockatoos sit on various branches of a small tree with large green leaves. They have cute, big eyes and quite small beaks. They are about the same size as the leaves.
Why did some birds evolve to be so clever? Mark O'Hara & Berenika Mioduszewska took on the challenge of studying wild Goffin's cockatoos on a small Indonesian island.
Their exciting findings help answer that question.
Listen: linktr.ee/wild_behavior_pod
Photo: Goffin Lab Tanimbar
You can find the job offers here: evolvinglanguage.ch/jobs/#getapo...
Looking forward to hearing from you ๐
First #fieldwork of my PhD in French Guiana is now completed ๐ฌ๐ซ๐ธ
I don't have the words yet to describe how amazing this place is, but I believe these few videos will do some justice โ๏ธ๐ฅ
#wildlife #experiments #Nouragues
Over the past 4 years, ABC has collected donations and distributed the funds as microgrants to animal behaviour students in financial need. These microgrants have helped students cover costs such as books, travel, registration fees, etc. Thank you to everyone who donated to ABC!
Over the past 4 years, ABC has collected donations and distributed the funds as microgrants to animal behaviour students in financial need. These microgrants have helped students cover costs such as books, travel, registration fees, etc. Thank you to everyone who donated to ABC!
What a great weekend at the #WienerForschungsfest! 100s of visitors learned about how the spots of fire salamanders work as fingerprints, which we can use to count them in the wild (even faster now, with the help of AI!) โซ๏ธ๐ก๐ฆ๐กโซ๏ธ @klivvvienna.bsky.social MASSIVE thanks to our wonderful helpers! ๐๐ผ
Have a look at this coverage of the new paper led by Daniel Shaykevich, featuring Andrius Pasukonis, both currently at
@klivvvienna.bsky.social ๐ Link to paper in the comments ๐ธ
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
I have already been fortunate enough to find these guys around the institute in Vienna, what will it be like in French Guiana..?
More frogs for sure ! ๐ธโ๏ธโ๏ธ
๐ย Relationships can be hard work.ย In fact, the challenges of maintaining social relationships are often thought to have favoured the evolution of intelligence in humans and other social animals.
Photo credits: @cornishjackdaws.bsky.social and @stancaf.bsky.social
PhD position in parrot tool use Job offer: applications opening 19th of February 2025. We are looking for a PhD student (funded by the Austrian Science Fund, FWF) for a doctoral project in the field of animal behaviour and cognition Project Title: Dexterity in the tool use of the Goffinโs cockatoo https://www.fwf.ac.at/forschungsradar/10.55776/PAT2728324 Project Location: The Messerli Research Institute is located at the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna. Its division on Comparative Cognition investigates cognitive abilities in both the social and physical domain of various, free-living as well as domesticated, animal species including Goffinโs cockatoos, keas, dogs, goats and pigs. https://www.vetmeduni.ac.at/en/messerli This PhD project will be conducted at the Goffin Lab in Lower Austria. https://www.vetmeduni.ac.at/cognition/goffin-lab Academic Supervision: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Alice Auersperg (University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna) Project Description: The Goffinโs cockatoo uses and builds tool -based technologies rivalling higher primates, both in captivity as well as in the wild. While we already understand a lot about what kinds of tools animals use in which context, we still know very little about the innovative process and fine-scaled mechanisms underlying such behaviour: how are the cockatoos able to innovate tool use in the first place? Thereby, it is important to consider behavioural as well as physical barriers that animals face when using tools. We currently predict that tool use techniques are strongly affected by the different properties of the tasks the birds are operating their tools upon. This PhD project aims to test to what extent the tool use techniques invented by aviary cockatoos in Austria manifest in a predictable manner based on specific tool and task properties. To achieve this, we plan to blend behavioural analysis and material physics. The findings of this project will help to understand the onset and mechanisms underlyiโฆ
Deadline and project start: Please send your application before 1th of June 2025. The successful candidate can start in July at the earliest (we would like to have started the project by September of this year). Requirements โข A masterโs degree โข A masterโs thesis with a topic related to animal cognition/animal behaviour/comparative psychology or material science. โข Genuine Interest in animal behaviour and cognition โข At least some experience in direct interaction with animals (experience with animal testing is highly appreciated). โข Comfortable with direct contact with parrots โข Statistical knowledge (preferably experience in General Liner Mixed Models, PCA, Survival Analysis etcetera.) โข Experience with R. โข Excellent English skills written and spoken (additional German skills are highly appreciated) โข Excellent teamworking and communication skills What we offer โข Employment at the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna via a FWF funding for a minimum of three years. โข Access to institutional support (administrative support, statistician, IT manager, technician for experimental apparatuses). โข Various scientific events including weekly seminars of comparative cognition researchers โข Opportunity to visit international conferences. โข Opportunity to visit social events for PhD students studying avian cognition in Vienna. โข An international and interdisciplinary work environment at the Messerli Research Institute for Human-Animal Interaction. How to apply: Applications (email: alice.auersperg@vetmeduni.ac.at) will be considered until the 1st of June 2025 Only complete submissions will be taken into consideration. Your application should contain the following information: 1. A Cover Letter detailing your motivation for the research topic, relevant experience, and expectations for the position (max. 2 pages) 2. A Curriculum Vitae including copies of relevant university degree certificates 3. Contact details for two references (incl. email)
We have an exciting new position in our lab for a PhD on parrot tool use! See below
