Emotion integration in meerkat vocalisations Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich Contact: isabel.driscoll@ieu.uzh.ch Emotional encoding is ubiquitous in human and non-human animal vocalisations, either as a driver of vocal production or additional information encoded alongside meaning. In human vocalisation, both semantic and emotional information can be…
Paternity in Cape Ground Squirrels Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich Contact: jessica.rivera@uzh.ch One of the main factors that goes into an animal’s decisions to disperse from its natal group is whether or not there are available mates. In our population of Cape ground squirrels, some…
The influence of seasonality on Cape ground squirrel group behaviour Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich Contact: Katherine.fegan@ieu.uzh.ch Animals capability to change their behaviour as a result to the changing in seasons has been documented as a novel adaptation to survive in extreme and unpredictable environments.…
Identifying conditions that elicit novelty-seeking across mammal species Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich Contact: sofia.forss@ieu.uzh.ch, www.sofiaforss.com Cognitive evolution remains one of the burning subjects in biological science and has been my passion during my academic career. Whilst I previously researched questions regarding novelty response, problem-solving…
Submission calls in female meerkats Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental StudiesUniversity of ZurichContact: mara.zali@uzh.ch Animals living in groups benefit of many advantages, but they also invariably experience the costs of conflicts that arise when group members have different interests. Among animal species many strategies have evolved to reduce these…
I am a postdoctoral researcher whose work broadly concerns behavioural flexibility in animals at all levels, but particularly with regards to their communicative behaviour and the light this can shed on human language evolution. I am currently part of the NCCR Evolving Language team, where I am working with Prof.…
Does tuberculosis infection impact meerkat movement? Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of ZurichContact: siomha.campbell@uzh.ch The movement decisions of animals impact resource distribution and disease transmission. In turn, diseases can modify the behaviour, physiology, and social relationships of an animal, as well as affecting group dynamics. Tuberculosis (TB)…
Habitat mapping of Kuruman River Reserve and surrounding ranches Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies University of Zurich Contact: paul.haverkamp@ieu.uzh.ch My research interests focus on wildlife habitat utilization and distribution and I am using my background in remote sensing to develop a habitat map for the Kuruman River Reserve.…
Vocal communication in meerkats: individual variation and dominance effects University of Zurich, Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies Contact: megan.wyman@ieu.uzh.ch Communication is crucial to social organization, reproduction, and social interactions in group living cooperative species. Individual variation within signals may be affected by a variety of sources which influence…
Vocal Coordination in the Meerkat “Watchman’s Song” Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies University of Zurich Contact: ramona.rauber@ieu.uzh.ch Animals often face the trade-off between foraging and anti-predator vigilance. The sentinel system represents one way of minimizing this trade-off, by having one individual on raised guard, scanning the environment…