News
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New article published by Crawley et al.: Asian elephant calf physiology and mahout perspectives during taming in Myanmar
April 14, 2024Abstract A quarter of Asian elephants are captive, with greater than 90% of these tamed and cared for by handlers (mahouts) in Asia. Although taming is a much-discussed welfare issue, no studies to our knowledge have empirically assessed its impact on calves, and dialogue surrounding taming often lacks perspectives of those involved. Here, we interviewed … Read More
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We are hiring a postdoctoral researcher in functional genomics
November 7, 2023We are hiring a postdoctoral researcher in Functional Genomics into the Myanmar Timber Elephant Project led by professor Virpi Lummaa. The postdoctoral position is funded by the Research Council of Finland and will be based at the University of Turku, Finland. The project will be conducted in close collaboration with Camila Mazzoni’s group in the Leibniz Institute … Read More
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Professor Virpi Lummaa receives nearly €2.5 million in EU funding for research on how societal changes influence human kinship networks
September 21, 2023Professor of Evolutionary Biology Virpi Lummaa from the University of Turku in Finland has received a major funding from the European Research Council ERC. Lummaa received the funding for a research project that focuses on how major societal changes in the past 300 years have influenced human kinship networks and how they, in turn, have … Read More
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Seasonal variation in molecular and physiological stress markers in Asian elephants – new article out by Ukonaho et al. in Conservation Physiology
May 24, 2023Abstract Free-living species exhibit seasonal variation in various life history traits, including vital rates such as birth and death patterns. Different physiological mechanisms are thought to underlie the expression of life history traits that contribute to lifetime fitness. However, although the broad impacts of seasonality on life history traits and trade-offs is well established in … Read More
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Yet another new paper out by Océane Liehrmann et al! First report of reindeer responses to human-given cues
May 16, 2023Abstract Many argue that the animal understanding of human referential communication is a by-product of domestication. However, the domestication hypothesis is not unanimously supported as some nondomesticated species such as sea lions, dolphins, or African elephants perform well in the understanding of human pointing gesture. There is a need to study species with different levels … Read More