- BERG - University of Stirling Mailing Lists

Kept Animals Bill - interesting tender opportunity
by Hannah Buchanan-Smith 26 Apr '22

26 Apr '22

Defra has issued a research tender to develop the associated 'zoo-level' primate standards to the Kept Animals Bill that is going through parliament: The development of species specific guidance for primate standards for specialist keepers<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.contr…>. Closing date is 31 May. The contract is for one year and offers £60,000 to £75,000. Please follow links if interested to learn mor - or fire on to others who might be interested. ________________________________ The University achieved an overall 5 stars in the QS World University Rankings 2020 UK Sports University of the Year 2020 (Times Higher Good University Guide) The University of Stirling is a charity registered in Scotland, number SC 011159.

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BERG seminar today, 17:00
by Pawel Fedurek 26 Apr '22

26 Apr '22

Dear BERGers, Just a reminder that today, Andre Pereira (Exeter University) is giving a seminar about his PhD project entitled "The evolution of kinship composition in mammals". Please see the abstract, and the link to the meeting, below. Please note that due to the faculty research day, today's seminar will take place at 17:00 rather than 16:00. Hope to see you later! Abstract All else being equal, cooperating with kin results in overall larger inclusive fitness benefits than with non-kin. Animals can live with kin, non-kin or both, and this kinship composition can thus influence the benefits and costs of group-living and the evolution of within-group cooperation. Yet, the kinship composition of mammalian groups remains uncharacterised. We characterised the taxonomic representation and evolutionary trajectory of kinship composition in mammals using pedigree data from the literature. We found that the ancestors shared by the 18 species in our sample likely lived with kin for most of their evolutionary history. However, we found that only roughly half of the 18 species lived in groups where all same-sex individuals were related, whereas the other half lived in groups where same-sex individuals featured kin and non-kin. Because it is not obvious why individuals might live with non-kin, these results spurred two questions: 1) When might group-members benefit from living with non-kin? 2) How might groups that feature non-kin arise from groups that only feature related individuals? To answer the first question, we used an analytical model to calculate the theoretical optimal kin to non-kin ratio for a group according to the benefits that non-kin provide. Overall, we found that living with some non-kin is beneficial when non-kin provide benefits that are larger than the benefits from inclusive fitness of the potential kin they displace. For the second question, we used agent-based models to simulate a scenario in which group-members might need to increase group size and we explored under what conditions recruiting immigrant non-kin is beneficial. Overall, our results indicated that recruiting unrelated immigrants is beneficial when distance to optimal group size is large and most potential immigrants are unrelated to group-members. Our findings indicate that living with a mixture of kin and non-kin is not rare in mammals and that non-kin can be valuable group-members, further highlighting the importance of considering both indirect and direct fitness benefits as co-drivers of the evolution of sociality. Link to the meeting: https://teams.microsoft.com/dl/launcher/launcher.html?url=%2F_%23%2Fl%2Fmee…<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fteams.mic…> Forthcoming seminars: Date Time Speaker Affiliation Seminar title 27/04/2022 16:00 André Pereira University of Exeter The evolution of kinship composition in mammals 04/05/2022 16:00 Laura Lewis Harvard University TBC, bonobo cognition 11/05/2022 16:00 Alexander Weiss University of Edinburgh TBC 18/05/2022 16:00 Eva Reindl Durham University TBC 25/05/2022 16:00 Shelley Culpepper University of Stirling Interspecific Olfactory Perception of Human Emotions: From the Horses Perspective ________________________________ The University achieved an overall 5 stars in the QS World University Rankings 2020 UK Sports University of the Year 2020 (Times Higher Good University Guide) The University of Stirling is a charity registered in Scotland, number SC 011159.

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BERG seminar, Wednesday at 17:00
by Pawel Fedurek 25 Apr '22

25 Apr '22

Dear BERGers, Quick reminder that this Wednesday (27 April), Andre Pereira (Exeter University) will be giving a seminar about his PhD project entitled "The evolution of kinship composition in mammals". Please see the abstract, and the link to the meeting, below. Please note that due to the faculty research day, the seminar will take place at 17:00 rather than 16:00. Hope to see you on Wednesday! Abstract All else being equal, cooperating with kin results in overall larger inclusive fitness benefits than with non-kin. Animals can live with kin, non-kin or both, and this kinship composition can thus influence the benefits and costs of group-living and the evolution of within-group cooperation. Yet, the kinship composition of mammalian groups remains uncharacterised. We characterised the taxonomic representation and evolutionary trajectory of kinship composition in mammals using pedigree data from the literature. We found that the ancestors shared by the 18 species in our sample likely lived with kin for most of their evolutionary history. However, we found that only roughly half of the 18 species lived in groups where all same-sex individuals were related, whereas the other half lived in groups where same-sex individuals featured kin and non-kin. Because it is not obvious why individuals might live with non-kin, these results spurred two questions: 1) When might group-members benefit from living with non-kin? 2) How might groups that feature non-kin arise from groups that only feature related individuals? To answer the first question, we used an analytical model to calculate the theoretical optimal kin to non-kin ratio for a group according to the benefits that non-kin provide. Overall, we found that living with some non-kin is beneficial when non-kin provide benefits that are larger than the benefits from inclusive fitness of the potential kin they displace. For the second question, we used agent-based models to simulate a scenario in which group-members might need to increase group size and we explored under what conditions recruiting immigrant non-kin is beneficial. Overall, our results indicated that recruiting unrelated immigrants is beneficial when distance to optimal group size is large and most potential immigrants are unrelated to group-members. Our findings indicate that living with a mixture of kin and non-kin is not rare in mammals and that non-kin can be valuable group-members, further highlighting the importance of considering both indirect and direct fitness benefits as co-drivers of the evolution of sociality. Link to the meeting: https://teams.microsoft.com/dl/launcher/launcher.html?url=%2F_%23%2Fl%2Fmee…<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fteams.mic…> Forthcoming seminars: Date Time Speaker Affiliation Seminar title 27/04/2022 16:00 André Pereira University of Exeter The evolution of kinship composition in mammals 04/05/2022 16:00 Laura Lewis Harvard University TBC, bonobo cognition 11/05/2022 16:00 Alexander Weiss University of Edinburgh TBC 18/05/2022 16:00 Eva Reindl Durham University TBC 25/05/2022 16:00 Shelley Culpepper University of Stirling Interspecific Olfactory Perception of Human Emotions: From the Horses Perspective ________________________________ The University achieved an overall 5 stars in the QS World University Rankings 2020 UK Sports University of the Year 2020 (Times Higher Good University Guide) The University of Stirling is a charity registered in Scotland, number SC 011159.

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BERG seminar today, 16:00
by Pawel Fedurek 19 Apr '22

19 Apr '22

Dear BERGers, This is a quick reminder that today our own Gema is giving a talk about our project on p value reporting in the primate tool use literature. See you later! Forthcoming seminars: Date Time Speaker Affiliation Seminar title 20/04/2022 16:00 Gema Martin-Ordas University of Stirling TBC, reporting p values in primate tool use research 27/04/2022 16:00 André Pereira University of Exeter TBC 04/05/2022 16:00 Laura Lewis Harvard University TBC, bonobo cognition 11/05/2022 16:00 Alexander Weiss University of Edinburgh TBC 18/05/2022 16:00 TBC 25/05/2022 16:00 Shelley Culpepper University of Stirling Interspecific Olfactory Perception of Human Emotions: From the Horses Perspective Link to the meeting: https://teams.microsoft.com/dl/launcher/launcher.html?url=%2F_%23%2Fl%2Fmee…<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fteams.mic…> ________________________________ The University achieved an overall 5 stars in the QS World University Rankings 2020 UK Sports University of the Year 2020 (Times Higher Good University Guide) The University of Stirling is a charity registered in Scotland, number SC 011159.

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Research Culture Awards - please tell Stirling colleagues their value!
by Hannah Buchanan-Smith 14 Apr '22

14 Apr '22

Before Tuesday 19th April please consider spending ~5 minutes to let a colleague/s know their research culture value.... Nominations can now be made at this open<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fstir.us19…> link. More details below. Festival of Research 2022 - Research Culture Awards The Festival of Research 2022 programme will once again feature the Research Culture Awards, with co-hosts Prof Rachel Norman (Dean for Research Engagement and Performance, and Prof Eddie Duncan (Associate Dean for Research Faculty of Health Sciences and Sport and Research Environment Group Chair) on Friday 27 May 2pm-3.30pm. Nominations are open<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fstir.us19…> until 19 April and can be made across the following 7 categories: • Outstanding research leadership • Outstanding collaborator • Outstanding support from professional services • Outstanding mentor  • Outstanding early career researcher • Outstanding activity dedicated to enhancing research culture • Outstanding research activity dedicated to equality, diversity and inclusion For full info see the Festival of Research webpage<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fstir.us19…>. Hope you all get a good break! Hannah Hannah M. Buchanan-Smith Professor, Behaviour and Evolution Research Group (BERG) Psychology, Faculty of Natural Sciences University of Stirling Stirling, FK9 4LA Scotland E-mail: h.m.buchanan-smith(a)stir.ac.uk<mailto:h.m.buchanan-smith@stir.ac.uk> Home page: <https://rms.stir.ac.uk/converis-stirling/person/11925> https://www.stir.ac.uk/people/257464 http://marmosetcare.com/ Animal Welfare 24/7 across the lifespan<https://animalconcepts.mykajabi.com/247approachtopromotingoptimalwelfarefor…> https://nc3rs.org.uk/housing-and-husbandry-dogs ________________________________ The University achieved an overall 5 stars in the QS World University Rankings 2020 UK Sports University of the Year 2020 (Times Higher Good University Guide) The University of Stirling is a charity registered in Scotland, number SC 011159.

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BERG seminar today, 16:00
by Pawel Fedurek 13 Apr '22

13 Apr '22

Dear BERGers, Today, Dr Bruce Rawlings (Durham University) is giving a seminar entitled "To copy or create: individual, group and species differences in imitation and innovation". Please see the abstract, and the link to the meeting, below. See you later! Abstract Cumulative cultural evolution (CCE), the improvement of cultural traits over generations via social transmission, is widely believed to be one of humans’ most defining characteristics. Our capacity to build upon others' knowledge, technologies, and skills has produced the most diverse and sophisticated technological repertoire in the animal kingdom. And while other animals such as chimpanzees display impressive cultural diversity, humans stand alone in the extent to which our culture is cumulative. Key to CCE is the interplay between innovation and imitation. Innovations generate new, improved behaviours and skills, while imitation allows for their uptake through social transmission. In my research, I study the individual, group, and species differences in innovative and imitative propensities. In this talk, I will discuss a series of experiments where I find differences and similarities across species in whether, and how, factors such as age, sex, personality, sociality, and flexibility predict children’s and chimpanzees’ propensity to engage in innovation and/or imitation. I will also discuss some ongoing work investigating the development of innovation and (over)imitation cross culturally, where we have collected data on around 1200 children in 14 international populations. Best wishes, Pawel BERG seminars: Date Time Speaker Affiliation Seminar title 13/04/2022 16:00 Bruce Rawlings Durham University TBC, cumulative culture 20/04/2022 16:00 Gema Martin-Ordas University of Stirling TBC, reporting p values in primate tool use research 27/04/2022 16:00 André Pereira University of Exeter TBC 04/05/2022 16:00 Laura Lewis Harvard University TBC, bonobo cognition 11/05/2022 16:00 Alexander Weiss University of Edinburgh TBC 18/05/2022 16:00 TBC 25/05/2022 16:00 Shelley Culpepper University of Stirling Interspecific Olfactory Perception of Human Emotions: From the Horses Perspective Link to the meeting: https://teams.microsoft.com/dl/launcher/launcher.html?url=%2F_%23%2Fl%2Fmee…<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fteams.mic…> ________________________________ The University achieved an overall 5 stars in the QS World University Rankings 2020 UK Sports University of the Year 2020 (Times Higher Good University Guide) The University of Stirling is a charity registered in Scotland, number SC 011159.

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BERG seminar, Wednesday 16:00
by Pawel Fedurek 11 Apr '22

11 Apr '22

Dear BERGers, A reminder that this Wednesday (13 April), Dr Bruce Rawlings (Durham University) will be giving a seminar entitled "To copy or create: individual, group and species differences in imitation and innovation". Please see the abstract, and the link to the meeting, below. Hope to see you on Wednesday! Abstract Cumulative cultural evolution (CCE), the improvement of cultural traits over generations via social transmission, is widely believed to be one of humans’ most defining characteristics. Our capacity to build upon others' knowledge, technologies, and skills has produced the most diverse and sophisticated technological repertoire in the animal kingdom. And while other animals such as chimpanzees display impressive cultural diversity, humans stand alone in the extent to which our culture is cumulative. Key to CCE is the interplay between innovation and imitation. Innovations generate new, improved behaviours and skills, while imitation allows for their uptake through social transmission. In my research, I study the individual, group, and species differences in innovative and imitative propensities. In this talk, I will discuss a series of experiments where I find differences and similarities across species in whether, and how, factors such as age, sex, personality, sociality, and flexibility predict children’s and chimpanzees’ propensity to engage in innovation and/or imitation. I will also discuss some ongoing work investigating the development of innovation and (over)imitation cross culturally, where we have collected data on around 1200 children in 14 international populations. Best wishes, Pawel Date Time Speaker Affiliation Seminar title 13/04/2022 16:00 Bruce Rawlings Durham University o copy or create: individual, group and species differences in imitation and innovation 20/04/2022 16:00 Gema Martin-Ordas University of Stirling TBC, reporting p values in primate tool use research 27/04/2022 16:00 André Pereira University of Exeter TBC 04/05/2022 16:00 Laura Lewis Harvard University TBC, bonobo cognition 11/05/2022 16:00 Alexander Weiss University of Edinburgh TBC 18/05/2022 16:00 Sabrina Brando University of Stirling TBC 25/05/2022 16:00 Shelley Culpepper University of Stirling Interspecific Olfactory Perception of Human Emotions: From the Horses Perspective Link to the meeting: https://teams.microsoft.com/dl/launcher/launcher.html?url=%2F_%23%2Fl%2Fmee…<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fteams.mic…> ________________________________ The University achieved an overall 5 stars in the QS World University Rankings 2020 UK Sports University of the Year 2020 (Times Higher Good University Guide) The University of Stirling is a charity registered in Scotland, number SC 011159.

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BERG seminar today, 16:00
by Pawel Fedurek 05 Apr '22

05 Apr '22

Dear BERGers, A quick reminder that today Dr Stuart Watson (University of Zurich) is giving a seminar entitled "From meaningful meerkats to pattern-processing primates: cross-species insights to the problem of language evolution". Abstract: Language is a uniquely powerful, and uniquely human, means of communication. However, the narrow historical window of language we have access to makes determining the ‘whens’, ‘whys’ and ‘hows’ of its origins challenging. A broad, cross-species comparative approach is necessary to identify precisely which features of language are indeed unique, and which are shared with our animal cousins, thereby shedding light on their evolutionary history. Towards this end, here I will present findings from two recent studies investigating: (a) the underlying ‘meaning’ of the functionally referential alarm calls in wild meerkats using a 'model predator' experiment and (b) the shared capacity to process syntax-like acoustic structures in monkeys, apes and humans using an ’artificial grammar' experiment. See you later! The link to the meeting, as well as a list of the forthcoming speakers, are below this email. Best wishes, Pawel Link to the meeting: https://teams.microsoft.com/dl/launcher/launcher.html?url=%2F_%23%2Fl%2Fmee…<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fteams.mic…> Forthcoming seminars: Date Time Speaker Affiliation Seminar title 06/04/2022 16:00 Stuart Watson University of Zurich From meaningful meerkats to pattern-processing primates: cross-species insights to the problem of language evolution 13/04/2022 16:00 Bruce Rawlings Durham University TBC, cumulative culture 20/04/2022 16:00 Gema Martin-Ordas University of Stirling TBC, reporting p values in primate tool use research 27/04/2022 16:00 André Pereira University of Exeter TBC 04/05/2022 16:00 Laura Lewis Harvard University TBC, bonobo cognition 11/05/2022 16:00 Alexander Weiss University of Edinburgh TBC 18/05/2022 16:00 Sabrina Brando University of Stirling TBC 25/05/2022 16:00 Shelley Culpepper University of Stirling Interspecific Olfactory Perception of Human Emotions: From the Horses Perspective ________________________________ The University achieved an overall 5 stars in the QS World University Rankings 2020 UK Sports University of the Year 2020 (Times Higher Good University Guide) The University of Stirling is a charity registered in Scotland, number SC 011159.

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BERG seminar, Wednesday 16:00
by Pawel Fedurek 03 Apr '22

03 Apr '22

Dear BERGers, A quick reminder that this Wednesday (7 April), Dr Stuart Watson (University of Zurich) will be giving a seminar entitled "From meaningful meerkats to pattern-processing primates: cross-species insights to the problem of language evolution". Abstract: Language is a uniquely powerful, and uniquely human, means of communication. However, the narrow historical window of language we have access to makes determining the ‘whens’, ‘whys’ and ‘hows’ of its origins challenging. A broad, cross-species comparative approach is necessary to identify precisely which features of language are indeed unique, and which are shared with our animal cousins, thereby shedding light on their evolutionary history. Towards this end, here I will present findings from two recent studies investigating: (a) the underlying ‘meaning’ of the functionally referential alarm calls in wild meerkats using a 'model predator' experiment and (b) the shared capacity to process syntax-like acoustic structures in monkeys, apes and humans using an ’artificial grammar' experiment. Hope to see you all on Wednesday! The link to the meeting, as well as a list of the forthcoming speakers, are below this email. Best wishes, Pawel Link to the meeting: https://teams.microsoft.com/dl/launcher/launcher.html?url=%2F_%23%2Fl%2Fmee…<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fteams.mic…> Forthcoming seminars: Date Time Speaker Affiliation Seminar title 06/04/2022 16:00 Stuart Watson University of Zurich TBC, animal social learning 13/04/2022 16:00 Bruce Rawlings Durham University TBC, cumulative culture 20/04/2022 16:00 Gema Martin-Ordas University of Stirling TBC, reporting p values in primate tool use research 27/04/2022 16:00 André Pereira University of Exeter TBC 04/05/2022 16:00 Laura Lewis Harvard University TBC, bonobo cognition 11/05/2022 16:00 Alexander Weiss University of Edinburgh TBC 18/05/2022 16:00 Sabrina Brando University of Stirling TBC 25/05/2022 16:00 Shelley Culpepper University of Stirling TBC ------------------------------- Dr Pawel Fedurek (he/his) Lecturer in Psychology Behaviour and Evolution Research Group (BERG) Division of Psychology, Faculty of Natural Sciences University of Stirling Stirling, FK9 4LA Scotland, UK Tel: +44 (0)1786 467844<tel:+441786467844> Twitter: @fedurekp<https://twitter.com/fedurekp> @BERG_Stirling<https://twitter.com/BERG_Stirling> Staff page<https://www.stir.ac.uk/people/1080868> | BERG page<https://www.stir.ac.uk/about/faculties/natural-sciences/our-research/resear…> I aim to reply within 3 working days (my working days are between Monday and Friday). ________________________________ The University achieved an overall 5 stars in the QS World University Rankings 2020 UK Sports University of the Year 2020 (Times Higher Good University Guide) The University of Stirling is a charity registered in Scotland, number SC 011159.

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Exciting opportunity to gain research experience!
by Pawel Fedurek 30 Mar '22

30 Mar '22

Dear BERGers, Some of you might be interested: Sarah Kraemer, our PhD student investigating learning strategies in capuchin monkeys, is looking for volunteers. This is a great opportunity to gain some research experience working on a super-interesting project! Details below: .................................................................................................. Calling all students interested in animal behaviour and social learning! I am recruiting multiple volunteer students for assistance in 2 tasks for my PhD project that examines social biases in tufted capuchins. Students may reach out with availability to help in one or both tasks: 1. Coding videos of capuchins performing a binary-choice task (specifically recording their choices), to measure inter-rater reliability: short-term, roughly 4-6 weeks from mid-May through June 2. Assisting me in my task of using BORIS software to analyse capuchin videos: long-term, estimated 4-5 months 3. Both efforts will require pre-training, to be carried out between mid-to-end of May (foreseeably longer for the long-term endeavor). Both will involve one meeting/work period with me per week, and a few hours of work on the student's own time per week, but will not add up to a part- or full-time job. This is a great opportunity to be involved in animal behaviour research and gain experience for your own future projects! If interested, e-mail me at s.b.kraemer(a)stir.ac.uk<mailto:s.b.kraemer@stir.ac.uk>. Capu-cheers! -Sarah ......................................................... Sarah B. Kraemer PhD Student | Department of Psychology Behaviour and Evolution Research Group [BERG<https://www.stir.ac.uk/about/faculties/natural-sciences/our-research/resear…>] Scottish Primate Research Group [SPRG<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fliving-lin…>] University of Stirling, UK ________________________________ The University achieved an overall 5 stars in the QS World University Rankings 2020 UK Sports University of the Year 2020 (Times Higher Good University Guide) The University of Stirling is a charity registered in Scotland, number SC 011159.

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