Primatologist, Assistant Professor and PI of the Great Ape Behaviour Lab at UVic Anthropology in BC, Canada www.ammiekkalan.com
theconversation.com/why-do-male-... Here's a summary of our recent field work studying the accumulative stone throwing behavior of chimpanzees. Thanks to @sshrc-crsh.canada.ca for funding this research!
Why do male chimpanzees throw rocks at the same trees for more than a decade? We travelled to remote Guinea-Bissau to find outTo study accumulative stone throwing among wild chimpanzees, researchers hike deep into the savanna-woodland of Boé — a habitat increasingly threatened by industrial mining.theconversation.comIt took 3 years to complete this paper and it was difficult(!) but I think both @ctennie.bsky.social and I are grateful for the varied perspectives we gained as a result of this collaboration. If you work on ape culture, hopefully you'll feel the same doi.org/10.1017/ehs.... [Opens in a new window]
Brokering peace in the ape (culture) wars | Evolutionary Human Sciences | Cambridge CoreBrokering peace in the ape (culture) wars - Volume 8doi.orgBack 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!
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/...
Saving the cultural legacy of wild animalsLoss of biodiversity threatens the study of tool use and other cultural behaviors in animalswww.science.orgInterviewed by Mongabay for our latest GAB Lab paper, so proud of my student! news.mongabay.com/2025/03/as-a...
As apes adapt to human disturbance, their new behaviors also put them at risk: StudyHuman activities such as mining, agriculture, urbanization, damming and logging threaten the habitats of great apes in Africa and Asia. Apes have shown resilience to these disruptions by adapting thei...news.mongabay.comVery 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...
A review of great ape behavioural responses and their outcomes to anthropogenic landscapes - PrimatesIndustrial expansion has brought humans and wildlife into closer contact, and added novel, complex dimensions to human–wildlife relationships. The seven great apes (chimpanzee, Bornean orangutan, Suma...doi.org