Elodie Mandel-Briefer

Feral horses and cattle create more resilient nature, rewilding study reveals Protected natural areas across Europe are changing. Climate change, with rising temperatures and heavy rainfall, is turbocharging the growth of shrubs and trees, choking the flowers and insects that n...

2026. Feral horses and cattle create more resilient nature, rewilding study reveals phys.org/news/2026-03...

How and why does cognition vary so greatly between individuals and species? In @natrevbiodiv.nature.com, we propose the "Predatory Intelligence Hypothesis" which posits that the cognitive challenges associated with predator–prey interactions drive a cognitive co-evolutionary arms race

rdcu.be/e5KIj

2026. Reliability and precision of thermal imaging measurements to study animal behaviour and welfare. www.researchgate.net/publication/... led by @debottam1991.bsky.social

Nyt, dansk studie løser mysterie om hestens unikke vrinskelyd Forskere fra Københavns Universitet er dykket ned i de særlige mekanismer, som skaber hestenes hvinende vrinsk. Den nye viden kan hjælpe os med at forstå hestene bedre, siger forskere.

Nyt, dansk studie løser mysterie om hestens unikke vrinskelyd #dkvid #dkforsk

Screening, sorting, and the feedback cycles that imperil peer review The process of peer review is vital to contemporary science, but is also under enormous strain. This study uses mathematical models to dissect the threats to the long-term viability of peer review, su...

1. Kevin Gross and I have a new paper out today PLOS Biology.

We used economic models based around screening games and the market for unpaid labor to highlight a meltdown cycle threatening peer review.

Scientists uncover how horses make their distinctive whinny: by whistling while singing at the same time. spkl.io/63320AvlDa

Elodie Briefer & colleagues
@currentbiology.bsky.social

New paper led by former PhD student @romainlefevre.bsky.social: 10 years after the first experiment, we finally know how horses make their biphonic and unsusually high pitch whinnies! Thanks to many collaborators including @tecumsehfitch.bsky.social & David Reby
doi.org/10.1016/j.cu...

Our BehaveAI paper has just come out!

Easy & effective tracking & behavioural classification, even with tiny (2px), fast moving, camouflaged objects.

Paper: doi.org/10.1371/jour...
Download: github.com/troscianko/B...

@uniexecec.bsky.social @kevinjgaston.bsky.social @jimamclgalloway.bsky.social

🐥⬇️

New research from #BiologyLetters: Distress calls as social stressors affecting chicken welfare royalsocietypublishing.org/rsbl/article... | #AnimalBehaviour #DevelopmentalBiology

Our newest paper is out! "Beluga societies: the social and cultural lives of an enigmatic odontocete" is now published in Behavioral Ecology & Sociobiology.
doi.org/10.1007/s00265-025-03630-3
Led by @jaclynaubin.bsky.social with our collaborators @raincoast.org & GREMM. Check out Jaclyn's thread 👇.

Pūkeko birds combine sound elements to create complex call sequences for communication, study reveals Pūkeko use sound elements to create calls and combine them to create complex call sequences in order to expand the range of options for expressing themselves—these are the findings of an international...

2026. Pūkeko birds (Porphyrio melanotus melanotus) combine sound elements to create complex call sequences for communication phys.org/news/2026-01...

📖Published!

animal2vec and MeerKAT: A self-supervised transformer for rare-event raw audio input and a large-scale reference dataset for bioacoustics

A new transformative bioacoustic tool tailored for sparse and unbalanced bioacoustic data🦉

🔎 Find out more:

Human emotional odours influence horses’ behaviour and physiology Olfaction is the most widespread sensory modality animals use to communicate, yet much remains to be discovered about its role. While most studies focused on intraspecific interactions and reproductio...

2026. Human emotional odours influence horses’ behaviour and physiology dx.plos.org/10.1371/jour...

What do we know about vocal communication of emotion between different species of terrestrial tetrapods? Investigating how animals perceive and interpret emotional signals across a variety of species is essential for deepening our understanding of the complexities underlying animal communication and soc...

My second PhD paper is out

What do we know about vocal communication of emotion between different species of terrestrial tetrapods? onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

I was lucky to work on this project with Elodie Briefer (@ebriefer.bsky.social), Katarzyna Pisanski and Florence Levrero.

Same-sex sexual behaviour can help primates to survive — and reproduce Bonds between same-sex individuals help apes and monkeys to manage conflict and strengthen alliances, especially in dry habitats and predator-rich landscapes.

Same-sex sexual behaviour is part of the normal social life of some primates and could play an important part in their long-term success

go.nature.com/4qNGo1I

If you work on corvid ecology, behaviour, cognition, or conservation, this might be useful for you 👇
I’ve just published CORVIDATA in Scientific Data 🐦
doi.org/10.1038/s415... (1/4)

Cover image with sleeping baboon

Our paper is published today in Current Biology and is featured on the cover!

We report a neat, and somewhat counter-intuitive, finding: higher-ranking baboons get less and more interrupted night-time rest.

Happy new year! I wanted to share my new Python package called chatter that streamlines the process of applying AI/ML models to animal communication 🦜🦇🐋🐵👨‍🌾 masonyoungblood.github.io/chatter/

Superb fairy wren in Canberra, Australia.

Lovely start to the year - 1st paper of #PhD student #NatalieTegtman out in latest issue of @asab.org #AnimalBehaviour

How a novel #call changes responses to #alarms:

doi.org/10.1016/j.an...

CONGRATULATIONS Natalie; thanks #RobMagrath; Happy New Year all. 🎉

#animalcommunication #birds #fairywren

Check out our new paper on the #development of #gaze-following in wild #chimpanzees, led by @kris-sabbi.bsky.social, @zeppypearl.bsky.social, & Isabelle Monroe!

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

Humans can accurately categorise negative but not positive emotional facial expressions in horses Recognising emotional facial expressions plays a key role in communication, both within and between species. Many non-human animals, including horses,…

New study with collaborators from the INRAe showing that people recognise horse negative facial expressions more accurately than positive ones www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

🚨 Tenure-track professorship at Goethe University of Frankfurt, Germany, with a focus on evolutionary ecology of social hymenoptera 🐝🐜

Initially for 6 years:
www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/pr...

A graph comparing the number of neurons in the telencephalon of reptiles, birds, and two estimates for T. rex. Even the lowest of these estimates suggests the telencephalic neuron count of T. rex to be similar to that of a pygmy falcon or blackbird - several times more than the largest telencephalic neuron count of extant reptiles.

New paper out! 🧪
On reconstructing dinosaur cognition through contemporary cognitive science - a primer on the function of neurons and cognition, the role of extant animals, thermobiology, tools, arms races, foraging, and model-based cognition.
anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

🚨 New paper alert! "Honestly exaggerated: howler monkey roars are reliable signals of body size and behaviourally relevant to listeners"

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

We show that formants advertise body size and mediate social interactions in black and gold howler monkeys.

International Master of Bioacoustics Home page of the International Master of Bioacoustics

Admissions to the International Master of Bioacoustics for the 26-27 academic year are now open. Please spread the word!
More info here 👇 www.masterofbioacoustics.com?lang=fr

#bioacoustics

Social bonds decrease epigenetic age in male bottlenose dolphins Communications Biology - Across 40 years of behavioural and epigenetic data, male dolphins with stronger social relationships show lower epigenetic ages and therefore appear to age slower compared...

New paper out in @commsbio.nature.com: Social bonds decrease epigenetic age in male bottlenose dolphins rdcu.be/eUoID led by @liviagerber.bsky.social @researchdolphin.bsky.social

Friendship is magic: male dolphins with close friends age more slowly Like friendship itself, the slower ageing is more than just skin deep.

Friendship is magic: male dolphins with close friends age more slowly
theconversation.com/friendship-i...

Our newest research in @currentbiology.bsky.social:

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

We find dominant baboons have more interrupted and less rest at night.

Author list and story in comments below :-)