Thibaud Gruber
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thibaudgruber.bsky.social
Thibaud Gruber
@thibaudgruber.bsky.social
1K followers 460 following 44 posts
Associate Professor at the University of Geneva. Primatologist. Comparative psychologist. Co-director Bugoma Primate Conservation Project.
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Reposted by Thibaud Gruber
iuliabadescu.bsky.social
Young chimps play weird with tools and other objects & this can lead to innovation! Moss sponging, doll play, leaf clipping to ask for carrying. If copied and retained, rare kid innovations can contribute to cultural complexity 🧪🔬🐵
My fav article I've ever worked on: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
October 21, 2025 at 12:15 PM
Reposted by Thibaud Gruber
profsimonfisher.bsky.social
Twenty-four years ago today, our paper “A forkhead-domain gene is mutated in a severe speech and language disorder” was published: www.nature.com/articles/350....
A personal thread about the ups & downs of the journey we took to get to that point....1/n
🗣️🧬🧪
Image shows the first two printed pages of the paper “A forkhead-domain gene is mutated in a severe speech and language disorder” by Cecilia Lai and colleagues, published in Nature in 2001 (volume 413, pages 519-523). The abstract reads as follows: Individuals affected with developmental disorders of speech and language have substantial difficulty acquiring expressive and/or receptive language in the absence of any profound sensory or neurological impairment and despite adequate intelligence and opportunity. Although studies of twins consistently indicate that a significant genetic component is involved, most families segregating speech and language deficits show complex patterns of inheritance, and a gene that predisposes individuals to such disorders has not been identified. We have studied a unique three-generation pedigree, KE, in which a severe speech and language disorder is transmitted as an autosomal-dominant monogenic trait. Our previous work mapped the locus responsible, SPCH1, to a 5.6-cM interval of region 7q31 on chromosome 7. We also identified an unrelated individual, CS, in whom speech and language impairment is associated with a chromosomal translocation involving the SPCH1 interval. Here we show that the gene FOXP2, which encodes a putative transcription factor containing a polyglutamine tract and a forkhead DNA-binding domain, is directly disrupted by the translocation breakpoint in CS. In addition, we identify a point mutation in affected members of the KE family that alters an invariant amino-acid residue in the forkhead domain. Our findings suggest that FOXP2 is involved in the developmental process that culminates in speech and language.
October 4, 2025 at 1:34 PM
thibaudgruber.bsky.social
There are no words...
janegoodallcan.bsky.social Jane Goodall Institute of Canada @janegoodallcan.bsky.social · Oct 1
The Jane Goodall Institute of Canada has learned this morning, Wednesday, October 1st, 2025, that Dr. Jane Goodall DBE, UN Messenger of Peace and Founder of the Jane Goodall Institute, has passed away due to natural causes.

She was in California as part of her speaking tour in the United States.
October 1, 2025 at 6:45 PM
thibaudgruber.bsky.social
APCs are a bargain for this one, maybe we, as a community, should consider... 🤔
August 22, 2025 at 11:28 AM
thibaudgruber.bsky.social
It was very interesting to venture into unchartered territories for me in this commentary! www.tandfonline.com/eprint/SSGAA...
Prevention as the Original Focus to Acquire Cultural Competence? A Journey into Our Primate Living and Extinct Relatives’ Cultural Lives
Published in Psychological Inquiry: An International Journal for the Advancement of Psychological Theory (Vol. 36, No. 3, 2025)
www.tandfonline.com
August 20, 2025 at 4:47 PM
Reposted by Thibaud Gruber
k4tj4.bsky.social
1
To predict the behaviour of a primate, would you rather base your guess on a closely related species or one with a similar brain shape? We looked at brains & behaviours of 70 species, you’ll be surprised!

🧵Thread on our new preprint with @r3rt0.bsky.social , doi.org/10.1101/2025...
Brain Surfaces of 70 primate species
July 27, 2025 at 5:26 PM
thibaudgruber.bsky.social
We have a new paper out on how old age (variably) impacts chimpanzee tool use! See the thread by Elliot @ehowaspi.bsky.social ⏬⏬
July 16, 2025 at 8:14 AM
Reposted by Thibaud Gruber
ajshackman.bsky.social
osf.io/preprints/ps... - A functionalist theory of emotion - Ralph Adolphs - draft of the first part of a forthcoming book (“The new science of emotion” - Princeton U Press, 2026). What follows is a draft of Chapters 1-4, primarily with the aim of soliciting comments.
OSF
osf.io
July 13, 2025 at 12:13 PM
Reposted by Thibaud Gruber
nakedprimate.bsky.social
📣 Join the K/Creative Ape Team 🤓 2 PhDs on Creativity in Wild Chimpanzees & Bonobos; w myself & the v awesome @kathelijnekoops.bsky.social

@snf-fns.ch Uni Zurich @uniofstandrews.bsky.social @efp2026.bsky.social @ips-primatenews.bsky.social @primatesocietygb.bsky.social @primbehavecol.bsky.social 🐵🧪
two 4-year PhD positions in the Ape Behaviour & Ecology Group of the Department of Evolutionary Anthropology at the University of Zurich, and the Wild Minds Lab of the School of Psychology and Neuroscience at the University of St Andrews, to study wild chimpanzees and bonobos. The PhD candidates will work within the Creative Ape Project. The overall goal of the project is to enhance our understanding of the evolution of creativity, and to shed light on whether humans are a uniquely 'creative ape'. To do so we will apply a comparative approach, quantifying the creative capacities of wild non-human apes to investigate the underlying drivers that shape creative expression across species. The project explores four interconnected topics: i) Making mavericks, ii) Funny guys and arty-types, iii) Lone ape geniuses, and iv) Creative ape economies. We employ a comprehensive approach that leverages long-term datasets, new field data, detailed manual video-coding, bespoke automated deep-learning models, and advanced modelling, to extract rich information on the ways in which apes solve problems in their daily lives. Excellent collaborative, independent working and time management skills are essential. Previous field experience (incl. behavioural data collection) is required, and experience working in remote places under difficult living conditions is highly recommended. The project will require strong data management and data analysis skills, and 12-18 months of field work split into 2-3 periods. Please submit your application in a single PDF to kathelijne.koops@iea.uzh.ch and clh42@st-andrews.ac.uk – by 4th of August 2025. Feel free to get in touch if you have any inquiries about the positions. Applications should include: 1) cover letter stating your motivation and how your expertise fits the project (max. 1 page), 2) Curriculum Vitae, 3) copy of the highest degree obtained, 4) names and contact details of two referees, and 5) reprints of 1-2 selected publications A tiny chimpfant looks at the camera with surprise
July 2, 2025 at 10:36 PM
Reposted by Thibaud Gruber
carolinefryns.bsky.social
1/n Hot off the press!
The first empirical chapter of my PhD and the fruit of a hugely collaborative project led with Franziska Wegdell and Johanna Schick is out! We explore if immature-directed vocalisations are present and in what quantity in wild great apes.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
The evolution of infant-directed communication: Comparing vocal input across all great apes
Human infants receive more directed communication than other great ape infants, indicating that it evolved alongside language.
www.science.org
June 25, 2025 at 8:49 PM
Reposted by Thibaud Gruber
rebeccakoomen.bsky.social
🎊Fully funded PhD position on cooperative sustainability🌳

Are you curious about
🧒 developmental,
🌍 cross-cultural
🦧 species comparative
research on cooperative sustainability?

All info here or dm me with questions!
career2.successfactors.eu/sfcareer/job...
Please share! 🙏
Career Opportunities: PhD position Cooperative Sustainability (14208)
career2.successfactors.eu
June 5, 2025 at 9:27 AM
Reposted by Thibaud Gruber
katieacronin.bsky.social
"Emotion leaves a trace in their voice - just like humans." Venkatraman Manikandan shared a clever, practical approach for AI monitoring of chicken vocalizations that could work across entire flocks to get a full picture of #animalwelfare #UFAW2025. Read about it 👇
June 24, 2025 at 1:32 PM
thibaudgruber.bsky.social
The perks of working on a baby ape development project is spending time with them 😀. Popularity contest: Budongo (left) or Bugoma (right)? @snsf.ch
June 24, 2025 at 11:50 AM
thibaudgruber.bsky.social
Killer whales use tools too 😀!
June 24, 2025 at 6:18 AM
Reposted by Thibaud Gruber
bridgetwaller.bsky.social
New review paper on primate facial expression! 🙈🙊🙉 with @jamiewhitehouse.bsky.social @jmicheletta.bsky.social and Olivia O’Callaghan @ntupsychology.bsky.social
natrevpsychol.nature.com Nature Reviews Psychology @natrevpsychol.nature.com · Jun 16
Facial expression production and perception in non-human primates

Review by Bridget M. Waller, Olivia O’Callaghan, Jérôme Micheletta & Jamie Whitehouse

Web: go.nature.com/43NLtid
PDF: rdcu.be/erdXJ
June 16, 2025 at 8:52 PM
Reposted by Thibaud Gruber
dansperber.bsky.social
"Rethinking Ostensive Communication in an Evolutionary, Comparative, and Developmental Perspective" now published in Psychological Review
psycnet.apa.org/fulltext/202...
psycnet.apa.org
June 6, 2025 at 3:38 PM
Reposted by Thibaud Gruber
lasfdp.bsky.social
#voxprimato #conference
📢 registration and abstract submission for the 37th conference of the SFDP are open! 🐒
It will be held in Poitiers, France, from 30/09 to 03/10 on the thematic "(Paleo)primatologieS: from the field to the lab" and is organised by the fantastic team @palevoprim.bsky.social! 👏
lasfdp.bsky.social La Société Francophone de Primatologie @lasfdp.bsky.social · Jun 3
#voxprimato #colloque
📢 les inscriptions et soumissions de résumé pour le 37è colloque de la SFDP sont ouvertes! 🐒
Le colloque aura lieu à Poitiers du 30/09 au 03/10 sur le thème "(Paléo)primatologieS: du terrain au laboratoire" et est organisé par la fantastique équipe de @palevoprim.bsky.social! 👏
June 3, 2025 at 9:46 AM
Reposted by Thibaud Gruber
larschittka.bsky.social
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
First evidence of an anxiety-like behavior and its pharmacological modulation in a molluscan model organism, Lymnaea stagnalis - Translational Psychiatry
Translational Psychiatry - First evidence of an anxiety-like behavior and its pharmacological modulation in a molluscan model organism, Lymnaea stagnalis
www.nature.com
May 25, 2025 at 1:45 PM
Reposted by Thibaud Gruber
nicmalexandre.bsky.social
🚨New paper alert!🚨
We show that hummingbird beaks have changed in shape & size since around WWII, driven by the rise of commercialized feeders! 🧵
📄 Paper: dx.doi.org/10.1111/gcb....
#ornithology #evolution #GlobalChangeBiology
Supplemental Feeding as a Driver of Population Expansion and Morphological Change in Anna's Hummingbirds
Bird beaks are highly adaptable, with the potential to undergo rapid morphological shifts in response to environmental change such as climatic variation or food availability. Anna's Hummingbirds (Cal...
dx.doi.org
May 21, 2025 at 1:20 PM
Reposted by Thibaud Gruber
heesenr.bsky.social
Interested in biology and comparative psychology, and working in an interdisciplinary project and research team? I’m advertising two PhD positions on the evolutionary origins of cooperative sociality and communication (start 1.10.) at the University of Konstanz👇 links below!
May 17, 2025 at 9:08 AM
Reposted by Thibaud Gruber
maelmleroux.bsky.social
Only two weeks left to apply!

Come and join me, Alban Lemasson, Katie Slocombe and Simon Townsend!

And spread the word to whoever might be interested!

@efp2024.bsky.social @lasfdp.bsky.social @ips-primatenews.bsky.social
maelmleroux.bsky.social Maël Leroux @maelmleroux.bsky.social · Mar 26
🚨 Job opportunity 🚨
A 3-year post doc position is opening as part of my #APELANG project funded by the @agencerecherche.bsky.social

It’s about multimodal combinatorial communication in wild #chimpanzees 🐵

Job ad here: maelleroux-research.weebly.com/apelang.html
And here 👇🏻
May 13, 2025 at 5:20 PM
Reposted by Thibaud Gruber
revathe.bsky.social
New paper alert! Our study on consistent individual variation in Sumatran orangutan maternal behaviour is out today in @royalsocietypublishing.org! Using ~6000h of observation, we show that mothers are not all the same when it comes to parenting. (1/n)
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
Sumatran orangutan mothers differ in the extent and trajectory of their expression of maternal behaviour | Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
Mothers play a crucial role in the early development and survival of mammalian offspring, and differences in maternal care may affect offspring’s development. Whereas previous research has primarily focused on biological and socioecological factors to ...
royalsocietypublishing.org
May 14, 2025 at 6:31 AM
Reposted by Thibaud Gruber
villesinkkonen.bsky.social
Catopithecus from oligocene of Fayum, Egypt
January 28, 2025 at 3:40 PM
thibaudgruber.bsky.social
Congrats @elerolland.bsky.social @taichimpproject.bsky.social ! Nice work!
May 12, 2025 at 5:19 PM
Reposted by Thibaud Gruber
nakedprimate.bsky.social
TLDR: new paper headed up by @vestaeleuteri.bsky.social
& with an awesome team, incl @andrearavignani.bsky.social , showing chimps have rhythm in their drumming & differences b/w east & west drum rhythms!

www.cell.com/current-biol...

But didn’t we know this already you ask? Well… 🧵1/16
Chimpanzee drumming shows rhythmicity and subspecies variation
Chimpanzees drum on the buttress roots of trees for communication. Eleuteri et al. investigate the presence of key elements of musical rhythm and of regional variation in chimpanzee buttress drumming....
www.cell.com
May 9, 2025 at 8:47 PM