Welcome!

We welcome Gudrun Müller as our new team member. She started in January 2023 and will take care of analysing video data of great apes and children with a focus on language, communication and turn-taking.
Call for applications
New paper in "Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution"
Check out our new paper in "Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution" on turntaking skills in mammals. For full text click here.
New article in National Geographic Magazine
We are pleased to annouce a new article in September's National Geographic Magazine. "The doctors of the forest" is about how chimpanzees use insects for medication and wound-tending. Please see the trailer to the article on YouTube.
Congratulations to GfP award!

We are pleased to announce that our student Emily Campos Sindermann won this year's GfP award (Gesellschaft für Primatologie) for the best thesis. In her thesis "Turn-taking in captive female geladas (Theropithecus gelada)" she investigated whether geladas engage in turn-taking which has been suggested an ancient mechanism of language faculty. Congratulations!
Research for kids

Osnabrück elementary school student Marlene Keeb showed that research can also be interesting for children. As part of the WWU Münster's Forder-Förder-Project (FFP), Marlene gave a lecture at the WWU Münster. She reported about chimpanzees in the African Gabon, their habitat, appearance and intelligence. The project is an offer of the International Center for Research on Giftedness (ICBF) of the Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster for pupils with special talents in primary and secondary schools. You can find more info about the project here.
Welcome!


We welcome Alessandra Mascaro as new research assistant and Frauke Olthoff as guest researcher at CBC!
New article in "Animal Cognition"
For our newest article "Intentional gestural communication amongst red-capped mangabeys (Cercocebus torquatus)" click here: pdf
New paper in "Current Biology"
Check out our new paper in "Current Biology" on insect medication in chimpanzees: "Application of insects to wounds of self and others by chimpanzees in the wild".
For full text click here.
Opening of Interaction Island

On 14th January 2022, we opened with our president, Prof. Susanne Menzel-Riedel, and Prof. Dominik Krinninger, a board member of the CEDER (https://www.ceder.uni-osnabrueck.de/startseite.html), our new child lab, the Interaction Island. We are hoping for many interested children and parents to meet us!
New Research Grant

Congratulations to our Bas van Boekholt, who received a research grant from the Leakey Foundation to investigate the role of turn-taking in social interactions of infant chimpanzees in the Ngogo community, Kibale National Park in Uganda. This grant will fund his second field season as well as two assistents assisting in data collection and coding of the data after he returns from the field.
Welcome!


We welcome Jolinde Vlaeyen and Fanny Tibesar as new CBC team members.
Interview with Metro World News
"Climate change could be behind lethal chimpanzee attacks on gorillas". In an interview with Metro World News, Simone Pika explained what may have caused the interspecific lethal attacks. For text and interview click here: pdf
New article in "Scientific Reports"
Lara Southern published a new paper: "Lethal coalitionary attacks of chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes troglodytes) on gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) in the wild". For full text click here: pdf
New paper in "Primates"
Laura Martinez-Inigo published a new paper about the Rekambo chimpanzee community: "Home range size in central chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes troglodytes) from Loango National Park, Gabon". The article can be found here.
New article in "Frontiers in Psychology"
Samuel H. Cosper published the article "Development of the N400 for Word Learning in the First 2 Years of Life: A Systematic Review" in "Frontiers in Psychology". For full text click here: pdf
New paper on chimpanzees' interaction
Laura Martinez-Inigo, who worked as a volunteer at Loango for a year, just published a paper on "Intercommunity interactions and killings" in our chimpanzee group. Congratulations! The article can be found here.
Welcome!
We welcome Filipa Abreu as a new CBC team member!

New paper on chimpanzees' motherhood
New article by National Geographic on chimp mothermood featuring our Kayla:
"Chimpanzee moms are like us: They mourn, dote and take 'me' time".
For full article click here.
Science for Kids and Teens
A children's version of our new paper on ravens has just been published in the Science Journal for Kids and Teens: "How do ravens' thinking skills compare with apes?" For full text click here.
Interview with Tobias Deschner
"Im Dschungel tragen wir Maske": Tobias Deschner from the Loango Chimpanzee Project in Gabon about his chimpanzee research in the African Savannah. Please find the full interview here.
New paper on ravens

Our new paper on ravens "Ravens parallel great apes in physical and social cognitive skills" has just been published in "Scientific reports". Simone Pika and colleagues investigated the cognitive performance of young ravens and compared them with those of chimpanzees and orang-utans.
The full paper can be found here: pdf
Further information in the press release: pdf
Welcome!
We welcome Sam H. Cosper to the CBC and are happy that he supports our team!

Editor's Choice Collection
Our paper "Wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes troglodytes) exploit tortoises (Kinixys erosa) via percussive technology" published in Scientific Reports has been chosen to be included in the Editors's Choice Collection on Animal cognition and personality! Learn more
Interview with Simone Pika
Social distancing in the Corona crisis leads to a change in human interaction and social relationships. A related interview with Simone Pika about "shaking hands" can be found in the linked Eldoradio podcast and on Spotify.
Welcome!
We welcome Bas van Boekholt to the CBC!
New Research Grant

Congratulations to Harmonie Klein, who got a research grant from the Leakey Foundation to study cooperation in chimpanzees of our Rekambo group (Loango Chimpanzee Project, Gabon) shown during hunting and food sharing. Cooperation with Tobias Deschner from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.
Grantee Spotlight: A very interesting interview with Harmonie can be found here.
Newest publications
May 2020
Boesch, C. et al. (2020). Chimpanzee ethnography reveals unexpected cultural diversity. pdf
Prieur, J., Pika, S. (2020). Gorillas’ (Gorilla g. gorilla) knowledge of conspecifics’ affordances: Intraspecific social tool use for food acquisition. pdf
Fröhlich, M., Müller G., Zeiträg, C., Wittig, M., Pika, S. (2020). Begging and social tolerance: Food solicitation tactics in young chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) in the wild. pdf
September 2019
Simone gave a talk at the 12th International Symposium on Primatology and Wildlife Science in Inuyama (Japan) and had the chance to visit one of the best-constructed enclosures of chimpanzees in the world and meet the famous chimpanzee female "Ai".
September 2018
International Literature Festival in Berlin: As part of the event series "The Evolution of Human Culture", Simone Pika had a talk with Raoul Schrott. Her presentation "Evolution of Consciousness in animals" can be found here: pdf