Ammie Kalan
Primatologist, Assistant Professor and PI of the Great Ape Behaviour Lab at UVic Anthropology in BC, Canada
www.ammiekkalan.com
- Back in the Boé, Guinea-Bissau after a long journey with two of GAB lab's finest! Happy to see many familiar faces. Thanks @sshrc-crsh.canada.ca for the funding to make this happen!
- Reposted by Ammie KalanDeliberate fire-making by humans in the UK may date to more than 400,000 years ago, according to evidence in Nature. The findings predate previous evidence for the deliberate lighting of fires by around 350,000 years. go.nature.com/4oKHAS4 🏺 🧪
- Reposted by Ammie KalanBig thrill to also see my @beps-bangor.bsky.social colleague @cmbettridge.bsky.social present some of her work on galagos in Senegal and Kenya - from her student Grace Ellison’s PhD! #PSGBCardiff2025
- Reposted by Ammie Kalan📢 Come to Tübingen and get your PhD with us! Unique opportunity to explore great ape communication 🐵🦧🦍 from multiple disciplinary angles within a single, integrated project. 👇
- 📢 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
- First time organizing a primatology session on behavioral flexibility in the Anthropocene, let alone first time organizing a conference! Easy to do with supportive co-organizers @uvicanthro.bsky.social, excellent volunteers and the wonderful CABA-ACAB community! @uvicsocialsciences.bsky.social
- Found some of the participants of the session here on Bluesky! @lemrlab.bsky.social @teichroeb-lab.bsky.social @knomascus.bsky.social
- Reposted by Ammie KalanAre humans the only rational animals? For thousands of years, we’ve thought so. Our new paper, out today in Science, suggests otherwise! We present evidence that chimpanzees possess several core capacities for rational thought. Check out Emily's thread: bsky.app/profile/emil...
- Are humans really the only rational animals? Our NEW PAPER 🎉 out in @science.org suggests otherwise! In a large collaboration led with my joint first author @hanna-schleihauf.bsky.social, we show that “Chimpanzees rationally revise their beliefs” 🧵
- Reposted by Ammie KalanTWO papers just out in @royalsocietypublishing.org #biologyletters : 1) Red kites switched from scavenging along roads to foraging away from roads during the COVID-19 lockdowns. 2) Fishers synchronise heart rates when cooperating with dolphins, but only when in close proximity. 1/
- Reposted by Ammie KalanThis is what democracy looks like. #NoKings
- Reposted by Ammie KalanLow quality papers are flooding the cancer literature — can this AI tool help to catch them? @nature.com A large language model scans abstracts and titles for signs that an article was produced by a 'paper-mill' company. www.nature.com/articles/d41...
- Reposted by Ammie KalanDr. Jane made an indelible mark on our understanding of chimpanzees and other species, and also of humankind and the environments we all share. She inspired curiosity, hope, and compassion in countless people, and paved the way for many others. #ThankYouJane #RememberingJane Photo: Marko Zlousic
- Reposted by Ammie KalanThe world has lost its most powerful advocate for nature and hope. Yet many remain who will continue her legacy and I know she will continue to inspire generations more.
- Reposted by Ammie KalanThe count down starts for #CESRabat! Follow @ces2026.bsky.social and join us May 11-13 next year for an exciting meeting in Rabat, Morocco. Massive thanks to the #CESRabat organising committee: Sarah Alami (co-chair) Mathieu Charbonneau (co-chair) Zachary Garfield Edmond Seabright
- Reposted by Ammie Kalan“We have no other choice for our livelihood, either suffer in poverty or die in a tiger attack.” Read more: www.sapiens.org/culture/tige...
- Reposted by Ammie KalanResearch just published by Marla MacKinnon and Helen Kurki looks at how environmental factors impact growth of the pelvis in forager populations www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
- Reposted by Ammie Kalan“Avoidance of reproductive conflict and the evolution of menopause in chimpanzees” Read how we used genomic data to examine kinship dynamics as they relate to menopause in chimpanzees! royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
- Reposted by Ammie KalanWhy do chimps throw stones at trees? UVic's Ammie Kalan uncovers this unique behavior, offering insights into primate communication and tool use, linking it to our evolutionary past. Image Credit: A.Kalan. @uvicanthro.bsky.social @ammiekalan.bsky.social Full article: news.uvic.ca/2025/great-a...
- Reposted by Ammie KalanThis interviewee rehabilitates illegally traded pangolins that fetch a high price on the black market go.nature.com/3SUakL2
- Reposted by Ammie KalanHot 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 👇
- 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)
- Reposted by Ammie KalanThe orangutans and bonobos are the first two illustrations of a series on behavior and movement of animals in their environment. #SciArt More coming soon! :) For @mpi-animalbehav.bsky.social
- Reposted by Ammie KalanEveryone watch the interview w @alondra.bsky.social on The Briefing with Jen Psaki tonight. She reveals that a member of DOGE "invited himself" to the closed sessions of the recent #NSB meeting and that DOGE is making decisions about #NSF awards. @briefingwithpsaki.bsky.social @jenpsaki.msnbc.com
- "For me, the answer now lies in refusal, the withdrawal of participation from systems that require dishonesty as the price of belonging." Today I am resigning from the National Science Board and the Library of Congress Scholars Council. I wrote about my decision in TIME. time.com/7285045/resi...
- Reposted by Ammie KalanPrimatologist @ammiekalan.bsky.social is a contributing author on a new @royalsocietypublishing.org paper: "Concerted conservation actions to support chimpanzee cultures" part of a theme issue on ‘Animal culture: conservation in a changing world' 🧪 royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
- Reposted by Ammie KalanHappy #EarthDay! Today—and every day—we stand with scientists, communities, and conservationists around the world working to protect the planet’s #biodiversity. 🌍🦑🐋🍄🌱🐛🦥
- Reposted by Ammie Kalancultural legacies of wild animals - a new perspective in @science.org by our own Dr. @ammiekalan.bsky.social 🧪🔋📚🪛
- Happy to have a new piece in @science.org with my friend Lydia where we draw attention to the significance of animal material culture for understanding human technical evolution and why we should digitally preserve and protect primate tools and tool use sites. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
- Reposted by Ammie KalanInteresting article in Science today about why we should safeguard animal cultures too doi.org/10.1126/scie...
- Reposted by Ammie KalanBehavioural diversity in animals threatened by #biodiversity decline. In @science.org, @ammiekalan.bsky.social @uvic.ca & Lydia Luncz @mpi-eva-leipzig.bsky.social emphasise the urgent need to develop strategies for preserving animal cultural #behaviour. tinyurl.com/569u66sv & doi.org/10.1126/scie...
- Happy to have a new piece in @science.org with my friend Lydia where we draw attention to the significance of animal material culture for understanding human technical evolution and why we should digitally preserve and protect primate tools and tool use sites. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
- Reposted by Ammie KalanReally happy to see this paper out, using field biomechanics we show that wild chimpanzees don't just randomly select plants materials for termite fishing tools – they use a little “folk physics” choosing materials with specific properties! Study in iScience www.cell.com/iscience/ful.... 1/5
- Interviewed by Mongabay for our latest GAB Lab paper, so proud of my student! news.mongabay.com/2025/03/as-a...
- Reposted by Ammie KalanPierre Poilievre: Complains About Public Funding… While Living Off It Pierre Poilievre loves to rant about the CBC getting public funding—but guess who’s been cashing taxpayer-funded paychecks his entire adult life? That’s right, Pierre himself. #SaveTheCBC #PoilievrePublicPayroll #CBC #Cdnpoli
- Reposted by Ammie Kalanthe feminine urge to
- Reposted by Ammie KalanElon’s own AI says that he is the biggest propagator of this disinformation on X.
- Reposted by Ammie Kalan@jeffsebo.bsky.social @birchlse.bsky.social and I put a lot of philosophy into our new Science Perspective on animal consciousness. Mill's analogical argument + inference to the best explanation + careful experiments = justification for consciousness in many animals. Where might it end?
- Reposted by Ammie Kalan🚨Come work with us in charming Tübingen and become a member of our growing Freigeist group! We offer a 2-year postdoc position on the communicative plasticity in wild and captive bonobos, fully funded by @volkswagenstiftung.bsky.social. Applications open until March 15th. bit.ly/4gVa5Je
- Reposted by Ammie KalanWe were able to get a clip of the video to upload from the "turtle dance" research paper. 🧪
- A paper in Nature reports that the loggerhead turtle can learn and remember the magnetic signature of an area and does a ‘turtle dance’ when in a location that they associate with food. go.nature.com/4jSQEDo 🐢 🧪
- Reposted by Ammie KalanTesla's stock is ridiculously overvalued, and even a modest consumer boycott could tank the company, which accounts for the majority of Elon Musk's wealth. The divestment movement weakened apartheid South Africa. Let's do that again. slate.com/business/202...
- Reposted by Ammie KalanAwesome new publication about how Great apes respond to varying levels of HUMAN disturbance 🧪 by ANTH honors student Miranda Gilbert & GabLab founder @ammiekalan.bsky.social www.ammiekkalan.com
- Very proud to share this review published today on responses and consequences of great apes to anthropogenic impact. Led by my fantastic @uvicanthro.bsky.social BSc Hons student Miranda Gilbert! doi.org/10.1007/s103...
- Very proud to share this review published today on responses and consequences of great apes to anthropogenic impact. Led by my fantastic @uvicanthro.bsky.social BSc Hons student Miranda Gilbert! doi.org/10.1007/s103...
- Our literature review shows that behaviours such as crop foraging, road crossing and changing nesting and ranging patterns are documented to increase stress, injury and death of wild apes.
- We then go on to discuss potential long term implications for wild populations and the need for more research on the effects of behavioural responses by apes to changing environments.
- Reposted by Ammie KalanPapers like this really underscore the importance of long term monitoring datasets for understanding climate change impacts on biodiversity... And highlight the dire consequences of even modest temperature increases. 🧪🌍🦤🦜 www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
- Reposted by Ammie KalanAfter 9 years in the making, it's finally out (!) White-faced capuchins with a stronger stress response to previous droughts were more likely to survive a severe El Niño drought. Kudos to the heroic efforts of first authors Sofia Carrera and Irene Godoy. www.science.org/doi/epdf/10....
- Reposted by Ammie KalanCollective action in wild chimpanzees provides further insight into the evolution of cooperative ritual behavior A. K. Kalan Religion, Brain & Behavior 2024 Vol. 14 Issue 4 Pages 416-418 DOI: doi.org/10.1080/2153...
- Reposted by Ammie Kalan🚨 Postdoc Opening! 🚨 Join our human-animal interaction research group at @uarizona.bsky.social College of Vet Med, receive dual mentorship from myself & Kerri Rodriguez, + contribute to a funded study investigating the impact of pets on mental health and wellbeing. Open until filled! bit.ly/3CenLAE
- Reposted by Ammie KalanNeglected primates no more! 162 lemur genomes from 50 species in our latest paper: Ecological and anthropogenic effects on the genomic diversity of lemurs in Madagascar! 1 of 2 lemur evolution papers in Jan25 @natureecoevo.bsky.social 3 big takeaways below! rdcu.be/d4XWV @tmarquesbonet.bsky.social
- Reposted by Ammie KalanY’all! My new book is out on January 25! press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/bo...
- Excellent new paper leveraging the amazing chimp poo collection of the PanAf!
- Chimpanzees bear genetic adaptations that help them thrive in their forest and savannah habitats, some of which may protect against malaria: new @science.org paper led by Prof @aidaandres.bsky.social & Harrison Ostridge @ugiatucl.bsky.social @ucllifesciences.bsky.social www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2025/ja...
