Rhianna Drummond-Clarke
@savannarhianna.bsky.social
Post doc @MPI_EVA Dept. of Human Origins
Leakey Foundation grantee 🐵 wild chimpanzee positional behaviour and the origins of bipedalism 🌳👣
Field blog 👉 https://apewanders.wordpress.com/
Leakey Foundation grantee 🐵 wild chimpanzee positional behaviour and the origins of bipedalism 🌳👣
Field blog 👉 https://apewanders.wordpress.com/
Reposted by Rhianna Drummond-Clarke
A newly uncovered set of 1.5-million-year-old fossils that includes the first unambiguous Paranthropus boisei hand bones are reported in Nature. The findings offer insights into the evolution of hominin hands. go.nature.com/495cW1I 🧪 🏺
October 16, 2025 at 4:26 PM
A newly uncovered set of 1.5-million-year-old fossils that includes the first unambiguous Paranthropus boisei hand bones are reported in Nature. The findings offer insights into the evolution of hominin hands. go.nature.com/495cW1I 🧪 🏺
Had a lot of fun presenting first results of my postdoctoral project at #ESHE2025 beginning to explore chimpanzee rock climbing in the wild 🧗♀️🙉
collab w/ @gmerc-tz.bsky.social @mbchimp.bsky.social
Excited for the next steps, watch this space!
collab w/ @gmerc-tz.bsky.social @mbchimp.bsky.social
Excited for the next steps, watch this space!
#ESHE2025
Rhianna Drummond-Clarke ‘First documentation and quantification of wild chimpanzee rock climbing’
Camera traps, Issa Valley TZ & Moyen Bafing, Guinea chimps
Rock vs tree climbing: more dynamic movements, biomech diff locomotor modes, reaching further- role of uneven substrates!
Amazing 😍
Rhianna Drummond-Clarke ‘First documentation and quantification of wild chimpanzee rock climbing’
Camera traps, Issa Valley TZ & Moyen Bafing, Guinea chimps
Rock vs tree climbing: more dynamic movements, biomech diff locomotor modes, reaching further- role of uneven substrates!
Amazing 😍
September 28, 2025 at 12:15 PM
Had a lot of fun presenting first results of my postdoctoral project at #ESHE2025 beginning to explore chimpanzee rock climbing in the wild 🧗♀️🙉
collab w/ @gmerc-tz.bsky.social @mbchimp.bsky.social
Excited for the next steps, watch this space!
collab w/ @gmerc-tz.bsky.social @mbchimp.bsky.social
Excited for the next steps, watch this space!
Reposted by Rhianna Drummond-Clarke
Foraging strategy and tree structure as drivers of arboreality and suspensory behaviour in savannah-dwelling chimpanzees 🏺🧪
www.frontiersin.org/journals/eco...
Finds arboreal, especially suspensory locomotion can be advantageous for foraging in a savannah-mosaic and not just closed forest habitats
www.frontiersin.org/journals/eco...
Finds arboreal, especially suspensory locomotion can be advantageous for foraging in a savannah-mosaic and not just closed forest habitats
August 1, 2025 at 12:30 PM
Foraging strategy and tree structure as drivers of arboreality and suspensory behaviour in savannah-dwelling chimpanzees 🏺🧪
www.frontiersin.org/journals/eco...
Finds arboreal, especially suspensory locomotion can be advantageous for foraging in a savannah-mosaic and not just closed forest habitats
www.frontiersin.org/journals/eco...
Finds arboreal, especially suspensory locomotion can be advantageous for foraging in a savannah-mosaic and not just closed forest habitats
Thank you for all your support @leakeyfoundation.org 😊
This is so exciting! Congratulations! We just shared a story about your work on our website. leakeyfoundation.org/how-much-tim...
How much time did our ancestors spend in trees? Studying these chimpanzees might help us find out
How much time did our ancestors spend in trees? A new study on savannah-living chimpanzees could help answer questions about the origins of upright walking.
leakeyfoundation.org
July 30, 2025 at 7:02 AM
Thank you for all your support @leakeyfoundation.org 😊
Reposted by Rhianna Drummond-Clarke
Foraging strategy and tree structure as drivers of arboreality and suspensory behaviour in savannah-dwelling chimpanzees www.frontiersin.org/journals/eco...
Frontiers | Foraging strategy and tree structure as drivers of arboreality and suspensory behaviour in savannah-dwelling chimpanzees
IntroductionThe association between an open habitat (e.g., savannah-mosaics) and increased terrestriality is central to hypotheses of hominin evolution, espe...
www.frontiersin.org
July 29, 2025 at 4:57 PM
Foraging strategy and tree structure as drivers of arboreality and suspensory behaviour in savannah-dwelling chimpanzees www.frontiersin.org/journals/eco...
Great coverage by @primatology.net, too! If your eyes need a break they have an audio deepdive that discusses our findings really nicely 🐵🌳
New study on Issa Valley chimpanzees shows bipedalism may have evolved in trees, not just on the ground. Foraging needs in open woodlands kept apes climbing. Rethinking human origins? 🐒🌳 #HumanEvolution #Primatology #Anthropology #Archaeology #Bipedalism
July 29, 2025 at 4:04 PM
Great coverage by @primatology.net, too! If your eyes need a break they have an audio deepdive that discusses our findings really nicely 🐵🌳
🚨New Publication🚨
So happy to have this final chunk of my phd out, and the fruits of my @leakeyfoundation.org research grant 🙉
"arboreal, and especially suspensory, locomotion can be advantageous for foraging in a savannah-mosaic and not just closed forest habitats"
#phddone #womeninscience #wild
So happy to have this final chunk of my phd out, and the fruits of my @leakeyfoundation.org research grant 🙉
"arboreal, and especially suspensory, locomotion can be advantageous for foraging in a savannah-mosaic and not just closed forest habitats"
#phddone #womeninscience #wild
Frontiers | Foraging strategy and tree structure as drivers of arboreality and suspensory behaviour in savannah-dwelling chimpanzees
IntroductionThe association between an open habitat (e.g., savannah-mosaics) and increased terrestriality is central to hypotheses of hominin evolution, espe...
www.frontiersin.org
July 29, 2025 at 3:58 PM
🚨New Publication🚨
So happy to have this final chunk of my phd out, and the fruits of my @leakeyfoundation.org research grant 🙉
"arboreal, and especially suspensory, locomotion can be advantageous for foraging in a savannah-mosaic and not just closed forest habitats"
#phddone #womeninscience #wild
So happy to have this final chunk of my phd out, and the fruits of my @leakeyfoundation.org research grant 🙉
"arboreal, and especially suspensory, locomotion can be advantageous for foraging in a savannah-mosaic and not just closed forest habitats"
#phddone #womeninscience #wild
The last chapter of my phd, out today! Summarised here: phys.org/news/2025-07...
How much time did our ancestors spend up trees? Savanna-living chimpanzees might help us find out
It's hard to tell when—and why—our ancestors got down from trees and started walking on two legs. Many early hominins capable of bipedal walking were also well-adapted for climbing, and we lack fossil...
phys.org
July 29, 2025 at 3:51 PM
The last chapter of my phd, out today! Summarised here: phys.org/news/2025-07...
Coverage of my findings on chimpanzee arboreality in a savannah-mosaic in @sciencedaily.com.web.brid.gy. The need to safely access food at the ends of thin branches may have been the driving force for bipedal, and suspensory, behaviour to evolve in open habitat.
#phd #chimpanzee #womeninscience
#phd #chimpanzee #womeninscience
"Adaptations to arboreal, rather than terrestrial, living may have been key in shaping the early evolution of the human lineage":
@savannarhianna.bsky.social on evolution of bipedalism. #anthropology #chimpanzees #humanevolution 🧪
@savannarhianna.bsky.social on evolution of bipedalism. #anthropology #chimpanzees #humanevolution 🧪
Did humans learn to walk in trees?
In the quest to understand how and why early humans started walking on two legs, scientists are now looking to chimpanzees living in dry, open savannah-like environments for clues. A new study reveals...
www.sciencedaily.com
July 29, 2025 at 3:46 PM
Coverage of my findings on chimpanzee arboreality in a savannah-mosaic in @sciencedaily.com.web.brid.gy. The need to safely access food at the ends of thin branches may have been the driving force for bipedal, and suspensory, behaviour to evolve in open habitat.
#phd #chimpanzee #womeninscience
#phd #chimpanzee #womeninscience
Reposted by Rhianna Drummond-Clarke
Our newest issue is now live! On the cover a female killer whale grasps a floating stalk of bull kelp as observed by @drwhale.bsky.social and colleagues, utilizing these during tactile social interactions, potentially as a form of tool-assisted allogrooming. www.cell.com/current-biol...
June 23, 2025 at 3:14 PM
Our newest issue is now live! On the cover a female killer whale grasps a floating stalk of bull kelp as observed by @drwhale.bsky.social and colleagues, utilizing these during tactile social interactions, potentially as a form of tool-assisted allogrooming. www.cell.com/current-biol...
🌳🦍 NEW PUBLICATION 🦍🌳
In the first study of gorilla arboreality outside of Virunga, we recognise the importance of arboreality for gorillas, with big implications for understanding their anatomy, ecology and making evolutionary inferences from gorilla-like morphology in the fossil record.
In the first study of gorilla arboreality outside of Virunga, we recognise the importance of arboreality for gorillas, with big implications for understanding their anatomy, ecology and making evolutionary inferences from gorilla-like morphology in the fossil record.
Gorillas are arboreal apes
There is debate over the importance of the arboreal niche in hominid evolution.1,2,3,4,5,6 Gorillas are considered to be primarily terrestrial,7,8,9,1…
www.sciencedirect.com
June 23, 2025 at 3:26 PM
🌳🦍 NEW PUBLICATION 🦍🌳
In the first study of gorilla arboreality outside of Virunga, we recognise the importance of arboreality for gorillas, with big implications for understanding their anatomy, ecology and making evolutionary inferences from gorilla-like morphology in the fossil record.
In the first study of gorilla arboreality outside of Virunga, we recognise the importance of arboreality for gorillas, with big implications for understanding their anatomy, ecology and making evolutionary inferences from gorilla-like morphology in the fossil record.
Had a lot of fun working on this, thinking more about the other African ape 🦍 and bringing trees to the forefront of great ape evolution some more 🌳
#Gorillas in the trees. Researchers show that even large silverback gorillas spend a substantial amount of time in trees. 🌳🦍 New study in @currentbiology.bsky.social led by Martha Robbins, @savannarhianna.bsky.social & @tracykivell.bsky.social. See: tinyurl.com/2j9uv4sm & doi.org/10.1016/j.cu...
Gorillas in the trees
Researchers show that even large silverback gorillas spend a substantial amount of time in trees
tinyurl.com
June 23, 2025 at 3:18 PM
Had a lot of fun working on this, thinking more about the other African ape 🦍 and bringing trees to the forefront of great ape evolution some more 🌳
Reposted by Rhianna Drummond-Clarke
Do chimpanzees use the onset of rains as indicators of termite fishing season? At Issa they do! Team Phillips, Oelze et al. strike again!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
April 20, 2025 at 7:35 AM
Do chimpanzees use the onset of rains as indicators of termite fishing season? At Issa they do! Team Phillips, Oelze et al. strike again!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Rhianna Drummond-Clarke
Hongera sana, Ivorda Mhakilicha! Cattle-primate spatiotemporal overlap @ Issa from camera trap footage...https://brill.com/view/journals/ijfp/aop/article-10.1163-14219980-bja10057/article-10.1163-14219980-bja10057.xml
April 20, 2025 at 7:20 AM
Hongera sana, Ivorda Mhakilicha! Cattle-primate spatiotemporal overlap @ Issa from camera trap footage...https://brill.com/view/journals/ijfp/aop/article-10.1163-14219980-bja10057/article-10.1163-14219980-bja10057.xml
Reposted by Rhianna Drummond-Clarke
Why #humans have a smaller #face than #Neanderthals: In Homo sapiens, facial growth stops at #puberty. New study in #JHE by @alexandraschuh.bsky.social & an intl. research team, incl. Philipp Gunz, Jean-Jacques Hublin, Sarah Freidline. More: tinyurl.com/ywkvwvej & doi.org/10.1016/j.jh...
Why humans have a smaller face than Neanderthals
In Homo sapiens, facial growth stops at puberty.
tinyurl.com
March 27, 2025 at 1:03 PM
Why #humans have a smaller #face than #Neanderthals: In Homo sapiens, facial growth stops at #puberty. New study in #JHE by @alexandraschuh.bsky.social & an intl. research team, incl. Philipp Gunz, Jean-Jacques Hublin, Sarah Freidline. More: tinyurl.com/ywkvwvej & doi.org/10.1016/j.jh...
Reposted by Rhianna Drummond-Clarke
Bird scavenging (or hunting?!) - add it to the diet list! Great capture, @R. Drummond-Clarke!. Extra points for anyone who can identify the bird species!
March 27, 2025 at 9:02 AM
Bird scavenging (or hunting?!) - add it to the diet list! Great capture, @R. Drummond-Clarke!. Extra points for anyone who can identify the bird species!
Reposted by Rhianna Drummond-Clarke
The Tai Chimpanzee Project is making available microCT scans from their collections on human-fossil-record.org. All proceeds are used to support their mission of conservation and non-invasive research in Tai National Park (taichimpproject.org).
The Human Fossil Record: A Digital Resource for Research and Education
The Human Fossil Record: A Digital Resource for Research and Education
human-fossil-record.org
February 13, 2025 at 7:50 AM
The Tai Chimpanzee Project is making available microCT scans from their collections on human-fossil-record.org. All proceeds are used to support their mission of conservation and non-invasive research in Tai National Park (taichimpproject.org).