Elliot Howard-Spink
Researching primate behaviours | Postdoc at UZH Evo Anthro & NCCR Evolving Language | Former Postdoc at MPI Animal Behavior & DPhil at Oxford Biology | Tools & Culture, Language Evo, Development & Senescence | He/They 🌈
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- Reposted by Elliot Howard-SpinkStatistical Rethinking 2026 Lecture B01 Multilevel Models is online. This is the first lecture of the "experienced" section, in which we start with multilevel models and venture into vast covariance spaces. Full lecture list still here: github.com/rmcelreath/s...
- Reposted by Elliot Howard-SpinkOur Science Perspective on Ianni et al - neural control of facial expressions involves voluntary pathways @jamiewhitehouse.bsky.social www.science.org/eprint/EKJTZ...
- Reposted by Elliot Howard-SpinkWe are looking to hire a Seabird Field Assistant for 2026 for our Manx Shearwater research project. Please share this to anyone who'd like to get out in the field this summer and learn about biotelemetry, bird handling and research into animal behaviour. drive.google.com/file/d/1SGZt...
- Reposted by Elliot Howard-SpinkIf you work on corvid ecology, behaviour, cognition, or conservation, this might be useful for you 👇 I’ve just published CORVIDATA in Scientific Data 🐦 doi.org/10.1038/s415... (1/4)
- Have you been too busy to read our recent paper on orangutans' culturally-dependent diets? 😔 Never fear, we have published a two-page research briefing to give you a quick overview of our paper's aims, findings, and implications! 🤩 Check it out here: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
- 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 🧵
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- Reposted by Elliot Howard-Spink📢 Calling all primatologists 📢 EFP2026 in Montpellier is now open for abstracts & registration! 🗓 Deadline for abstract : 13 March 2026 (before if mobility grant application) Submit: www.alphavisa.com/efp/2026/abs... Register: www.alphavisa.com/efp/2026/reg... All abstracts will be accepted!
- Reposted by Elliot Howard-SpinkI'm teaching Statistical Rethinking again starting Jan 2026. This time with live lectures, divided into Beginner and Experienced sections. Will be a lot more work for me, but I hope much better for students. I will record lectures & all will be found at this link: github.com/rmcelreath/s...
- Reposted by Elliot Howard-SpinkNew paper out today w @dalmaijer.bsky.social @barbaraklump.bsky.social and @lucymaplin.bsky.social as part of the Phil Trans special issue doi.org/10.1098/rstb.... Over 2 years, we studied a population of cockatoos thought to be the source of the innovation of bin-opening.
- Reposted by Elliot Howard-SpinkToday sees the publication of the Theme Issue featuring the CES Transformation Fund grant scheme. Enjoy! royalsocietypublishing.org/rstb/issue/3... @durhamdcerc.bsky.social @durhamanthropology.bsky.social @cultevolfunding.bsky.social @culturalevolsoc.bsky.social
- Reposted by Elliot Howard-SpinkNew 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/...
- Reposted by Elliot Howard-SpinkIn this study, Howard-Spink et al. develop an empirically based model of orangutan diet development, which suggests that social learning is vital for allowing orangutans to acquire varied diets.
- Reposted by Elliot Howard-SpinkNew paper from the Schuppli group and colleagues! Video summary 👉 youtu.be/W_eOg7vsL_M?...
- 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 🧵
- 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 🧵
- Humans use social learning to accumulate repertoires of knowledge that are significantly broader than any one individual could produce through their own efforts (we term, culturally-dependent repertoires).
- Reposted by Elliot Howard-SpinkPostdoc position in individual-level incentives, social learning, and payoff-biased imitation shape group-level accuracy in complex prediction and decision-making tasks in Konstanz files.newsletter2go.com/l3slzozn/s_i...
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- Reposted by Elliot Howard-Spink📢 The Call for Abstracts for Culture Conference 2026 is officially OPEN! 📢 🗓️ Deadline: 8 Dec 2025 We welcome submissions from all career stages and relevant disciplines. 🔎Details & submission info: culture-conference.com/abstract-sub... Keynote speakers & workshop details coming soon!
- Reposted by Elliot Howard-SpinkI have published a childrens book! 📚🦧 'The Rimba' is a lyrical tale about the rainforest’s guardian spirit, a wise orangutan named Rimba, who rises to protect her home and the creatures within it, from the impacts of deforestation for palm oil. 🌴 #NewBook #ChildrensBook #orangutan #conservation
- Reposted by Elliot Howard-SpinkNew article just out in NBR, co-authored with some brilliant linguists I’m working with in the new @dfg.de-funded CRC “Common Ground” (link below)! What can ambiguity in nonhuman communication teach us about the evolution of language? 🐵🗣️🐘
- In a new exciting collaboration with @marlenfroehlich.bsky.social and @profgerhard.bsky.social we think about how studying ambiguity in human and great ape communication can advance our theories of language evolution. Paper out at doi.org/10.1016/j.ne...
- Reposted by Elliot Howard-SpinkThis is why we fund scientists to study things like oyster slobber even if you don’t think it sounds important
- ⚠️ Chinese researchers have invented bone glue that mimics how oysters stick to surfaces underwater. The adhesive can reportedly repair orthopedic fractures in 2-3 minutes, even in blood-rich environments, and is bioabsorbable. interestingengineering.com/science/chin...
- Reposted by Elliot Howard-SpinkSo happy to see my first PhD paper out royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/... With my amazing supervisor @robinmorrison.bsky.social and the @savinggorillas.bsky.social, we examined female dispersal decisions in mountain gorillas.
- Reposted by Elliot Howard-SpinkExciting new opening @nccrlanguage.bsky.social with the option of permanent extension. If you work in cutting-edge stats and are interested in joining a highly inter-disciplinary, vibrant community, don't hesitate to apply at tinyurl.com/3fxwjk8e
- Reposted by Elliot Howard-SpinkPlease consider helping us support the next generation of primatologists! Any support is greatly appreciated, and will help us host this fantastic event for the second time! 🐒
- We need your help to raise money for our Field Skills Workshop! 🤝 Our workshop provides critical training for emerging primatologists who otherwise would not have opportunities to gain field experience. Consider donating to support this goal via the 🔗: www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding...
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- New paper out in eLife! 🎉 Old age variably impacts chimpanzee engagement and efficiency in stone tool use elifesciences.org/articles/105... (including videos of wild elderly chimpanzees using tools! 🪨 🌰)
- Reposted by Elliot Howard-Spink1/n Hot off the press! The first empirical chapter of my PhD and the fruit of a hugely collaborative project led with Franziska Wegdell and Johanna Schick is out! We explore if immature-directed vocalisations are present and in what quantity in wild great apes. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
- Reposted by Elliot Howard-SpinkNews you can use for better sleep 💤 Like us, orangutans need a good night's sleep. If they don't get enough, they squeeze in a nap the next day. They even have a trick: up to 10 mins napping for each hour missed last night. Try it at home. @livingingroups.bsky.social www.ab.mpg.de/718751/news_...
- Reposted by Elliot Howard-SpinkImportant study yielding new insights into the deep roots of aspects of our communication system/#language— @berthetmelissa.bsky.social M. Surbeck and S. Townsend did great work to reveal semantic composition in vocal combinations in bonobos. 🧪 Out in @science.org : www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
- New Preprint! 🦧 Culture is critical in driving orangutan diet development past individual potentials! Summary in 🧵
- Many animals exhibit a capacity to socially learn. However, to what extent are animals dependent on social-learning to acquire broad repertoires of ecologically-relevant information? Does social learning increase the breadth of acquired knowledge past what individuals could manage alone?
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