Katja Liebal
Biographic Data
| ID | 105674 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Katja Liebal |
| GIVEN NAMES | Katja |
| FAMILY NAME | Liebal |
| SIGNATURE | LIEBAL K |
| AFFILIATIONS | Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-2447-8327 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 32 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 55 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 32 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2003 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
Gestural Communication in a Wild Population of Moor Macaques (Macaca maura) in South Sulawesi
Gestures are one of the key components of primate communication and have been proposed to be important precursors of intentional communication and human language. Understanding how gestural communication varies across primate taxa is therefore important for reconstructing the evolutionary origins of intentional communication and making inferences about its socio-ecological drivers. In this study, we investigated gesture use in moor macaques ( Mac…
Evidence of Vocal Gradation in the Vocal Repertoire of Wild Moor Macaques ( Macaca maura )
Nonhuman primates constitute an ideal model to study the evolutionary origins of human language, because of their close phylogenetic distance to humans and their reliance on complex communication systems that include different signal types. In this study, we investigated the vocal repertoire of Macaca maura (moor macaques), a highly tolerant primate species endemic to Sulawesi, Indonesia. We conducted detailed acoustic analyses on 1116 high‐quali…
Gestural Sequences in Wild Spider Monkeys ( Ateles geoffroyi )
To date, research on gestural communication in species other than great apes has been quite limited, especially in their natural habitat, although including a broader range of species in different settings is essential for identifying evolutionary patterns and determining whether some of the fundamental characteristics of human communication are widely shared across primates. In this study, we specifically aimed to explore the use of gestural seq…
Parenting culture: A multimethod perspective on parenting practices among the Nso, Cameroon
Parenting behaviors are studied through various qualitative and quantitative methods, including observations, interviews, and questionnaires, to identify both culturally specific and universal patterns of parents' interactions with their offspring. However, these methods have rarely been combined to systematically investigate methodological convergence and divergence in capturing parenting dynamics. The present study employs a mixed method approa…
Multiparous and primiparous mothers partially differ in how they allocate maternal behaviour in captive western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla)
In primates, mothers are crucial for the survival and integration of young offspring into their social group. Usually, mothers adjust their behaviour to the offspring’s age and needs, but maternal experience might modulate developmental changes in such allocation. In this study, we conducted behavioural observations on 7 mother-offspring dyads of captive western lowland gorillas ( Gorilla gorilla gorilla ) to assess whether multiparous mothers ad…
Initiation of Affiliative Interactions and Visual Engagement During Mother-Infant Interactions in Humans, Great Apes and Small Apes
Maternal care is crucial for primate offspring development, particularly in species with prolonged developmental periods, such as humans and other primates. In this study, we used a cross-species and developmental approach to assess the role of mothers and infants in initiating bouts of affiliation (i.e., proximity and grooming) and visual engagement (i.e., unidirectional and mutual gaze) in humans (N = 10), great apes (N = 18) and small apes (N …
Flexibility of Gestural Production in Captive Groups of Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes), Sumatran Orangutans (Pongo abelii), and Siamangs (Symphalangus syndactylus)
Across species, communication systems may differ in their levels of flexibility, but comparisons are challenging, because flexibility is not operationalized in a consistent way. In this study, we investigated different aspects of flexibility in the gestural communication systems of 7 groups of captive apes (N = 53), including 19 chimpanzees ( Pan troglodytes ), 16 Sumatran orangutans ( Pongo abelii ), and 18 siamangs ( Symphalangus syndactylus ).…
Combining remote and collaborative research: A critical reflection on large-scale, comparative, and interdisciplinary research in times of a global crisis
This paper examines the methodological and ethical challenges of conducting remote research on child-animal relationships across thirty communities in 17 countries during the COVID-19 pandemic. It critically assesses remote research as a mode of collaboration informed by decolonial aspirations, highlighting the complexities of navigating temporal and geographical distances, mitigating global inequalities, and addressing political and methodologic…
Applying the human component model of parenting to other primates: Developmental patterns of mother-child interactions across primate species
The component model of human parenting has been extensively used to study parents’ interactions with their offspring and to examine variation across cultural contexts. The current study applies this model to nonhuman primates to investigate which forms of parenting humans share with other primates and how these interactions change over infants’ first year of life. We repeatedly observed 52 mother-infant pairs, including humans ( N = 11), chimpanz…
Compositionality in Primate Gestural Communication and Multicomponent Signal Displays
Compositionality is the ability to combine meaningful elements into new combinations with novel meanings, and it has long been considered one of the main hallmarks of human communication. However, very few studies have addressed the compositional aspects of communication in species other than humans, although a comparative approach is essential to understand the evolutionary origins of human compositionality. We review previous research on compos…
Beyond the Canopy: Social Play Behavior in Wild Spider Monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi)
Play is a multifunctional behavior that may confer different advantages depending on the context, the species, sex, and age of the players. Despite numerous studies of social play in primates, we know little about this behavior in platyrrhines. This study was designed to provide a systematic description of social play in a wild group of Geoffroy’s spider monkeys ( Ateles geoffroyi ). We conducted behavioral observations of acrobatic social play, …
Pseudoreplication in Primate Communication Research: 10 Years On
Pseudoreplication is the statistical error of collecting numerous datapoints from a single unit (such as an individual), which are not independent, and applying statistical methods that assume independence of data. Importantly, pseudoreplication increases the chances of Type 1 errors (i.e., false positives), bringing findings and conclusions based on pseudoreplicated analyses into question. Ten years ago, Waller et al. (2013) published a paper hi…
Maternal and offspring behavior in free‐ranging Japanese and moor macaques: A comparative approach
Female primates represent the most important social partner for their developing offspring. However, mothers may strongly differ in the way they relate to their offspring (e.g., in terms of two different dimensions: protectiveness and rejection). In this study, we aimed to assess how dominance style predicts (i) changes in maternal behavior through offspring development, and (ii) the link between maternal behavior and offspring behavior. We condu…
Mother’s Age and Social Integration Modulate Sex-biased Maternal Investment in Wild Spider Monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi)
In many mammal species, mothers are crucial for the survival and development of young offspring. In primates, maternal investment may ensure immatures’ survival and also foster their social integration in the group, providing long-term fitness benefits. In this study, we analysed maternal investment in a wild group (N = 49) of male philopatric spider monkeys ( Ateles geoffroyi ). We assessed whether maternal investment is biased toward sons (comp…
Testing Hypotheses for the Emergence of Gestural Communication in Great and Small Apes (Pan troglodytes, Pongo abelii, Symphalangus syndactylus)
Gestural communication is crucial for primates. However, little is known about how gestural repertoires emerge through development. We conducted behavioural observations on captive apes, including 18 siamangs ( Symphalangus syndactylus ), 16 Sumatran orangutans ( Pongo abelii ), and 19 chimpanzees ( Pan troglodytes ), to test different hypotheses for the emergence of gestures (i.e., Phylogenetic Ritualization, Ontogenetic Ritualization, Social Ne…
Why Cross-Cultural Psychology Is Incomplete Without Comparative and Developmental Perspectives
We argue that comparing adult behavior and cognition across cultures is insufficient to capture the multifaceted complexity of cultural variation. We champion a multidisciplinary perspective that draws on biological and psychological theory and methods. We provide examples for ways in which cross-cultural, developmental, and comparative studies might be combined to unravel the interplay between universal species-typical behaviors and behavioral v…
A comparison of facial expression properties in five hylobatid species
Little is known about facial communication of lesser apes (family Hylobatidae) and how their facial expressions (and use of) relate to social organization. We investigated facial expressions (defined as combinations of facial movements) in social interactions of mated pairs in five different hylobatid species belonging to three different genera using a recently developed objective coding system, the Facial Action Coding System for hylobatid speci…
The emergent practice of infant compliance: An exploration in two cultures
Complying with directives is an important indicator of developing cooperativeness and of the awareness of others' intentions for one's own actions. Nonetheless, little is known about the early emergence of compliance. In the present longitudinal study, we explore this phenomenon in naturalistic settings in two cultural groups. Nine middle-class urban families in the United Kingdom and 13 middle-class urban families in India were videotaped at hom…
Onset and early use of gestural communication in nonhuman great apes
The early gesturing of six bonobos, eight chimpanzees, three gorillas, and eight orangutans was systematically documented using focal animal sampling . Apes' were observed during their first 20 months of life in an effort to investigate: (i) the onset of gesturing; (ii) the order in which signals of different sensory modalities appear; (iii) the extent to which infants make use of these modalities in their early signaling; and (iv) the behavioral…
Infant‐Directed Communication in Lowland Gorillas ( Gorilla gorilla ): Do Older Animals Scaffold Communicative Competence in Infants
Infant‐directed speech is a linguistic phenomenon in which adults adapt their language when addressing infants in order to provide them with more salient linguistic information and aid them in language acquisition. Adult‐directed language differs from infant‐directed language in various aspects, including speech acoustics, syntax, and semantics. The existence of a “gestural motherese” in interaction with infants, demonstrates that not only spoken…
What Role Do Mothers Play in the Gestural Acquisition of Bonobos (Pan paniscus) and Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)
GibbonFacs: A Muscle-Based Facial Movement Coding System for Hylobatids
Do bonobos say NO by shaking their head?
Primate Vocalization, Gesture, and the Evolution of Human Language
The performance of language is multimodal, not confined to speech. Review of monkey and ape communication demonstrates greater flexibility in the use of hands and body than for vocalization. Nonetheless, the gestural repertoire of any group of nonhuman primates is small compared with the vocabulary of any human language and thus, presumably, of the transitional form called protolanguage. We argue that it was the coupling of gestural communication…
Gestural communication of orangutans ( Pongo pygmaeus )
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Primate Vocalization, Gesture, and the Evolution of Human Language
The performance of language is multimodal, not confined to speech. Review of monkey and ape communication demonstrates greater flexibility in the use of hands and body than for vocalization. Nonetheless, the gestural repertoire of any group of nonhuman primates is small compared with the vocabulary of any human language and thus, presumably, of the transitional form called protolanguage. We argue that it was the coupling of gestural communication…
Gestural communication of orangutans ( Pongo pygmaeus )
Preview this article: Gestural communication of orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus), Page 1 of 1 /docserver/preview/fulltext/gest.6.1.02lie-1.gif
Compositionality in Primate Gestural Communication and Multicomponent Signal Displays
Compositionality is the ability to combine meaningful elements into new combinations with novel meanings, and it has long been considered one of the main hallmarks of human communication. However, very few studies have addressed the compositional aspects of communication in species other than humans, although a comparative approach is essential to understand the evolutionary origins of human compositionality. We review previous research on compos…
GibbonFacs: A Muscle-Based Facial Movement Coding System for Hylobatids
Gestural communication of apes
Gestural communication of nonhuman primates may allow insight into the evolutionary scenario of human communication given the flexible use and learning of gestures as opposed to vocalizations. This paper provides an overview of the work on the gestural communication of apes with the focus on their repertoire, learning mechanisms, and the flexibility of gesture use during interactions with conspecifics. Although there is a variation between the sp…
The emergent practice of infant compliance: An exploration in two cultures
Complying with directives is an important indicator of developing cooperativeness and of the awareness of others' intentions for one's own actions. Nonetheless, little is known about the early emergence of compliance. In the present longitudinal study, we explore this phenomenon in naturalistic settings in two cultural groups. Nine middle-class urban families in the United Kingdom and 13 middle-class urban families in India were videotaped at hom…
Why Cross-Cultural Psychology Is Incomplete Without Comparative and Developmental Perspectives
We argue that comparing adult behavior and cognition across cultures is insufficient to capture the multifaceted complexity of cultural variation. We champion a multidisciplinary perspective that draws on biological and psychological theory and methods. We provide examples for ways in which cross-cultural, developmental, and comparative studies might be combined to unravel the interplay between universal species-typical behaviors and behavioral v…
What Role Do Mothers Play in the Gestural Acquisition of Bonobos (Pan paniscus) and Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)
Gestural communication in young gorillas ( Gorilla gorilla ): Gestural repertoire, learning, and use
In the present study we investigated the gestural communication of gorillas ( Gorilla gorilla ). The subjects were 13 gorillas (1–6 years old) living in two different groups in captivity. Our goal was to compile the gestural repertoire of subadult gorillas, with a special focus on processes of social cognition, including attention to individual and developmental variability, group variability, and flexibility of use. Thirty‐three different gestur…
Social communication in siamangs ( Symphalangus syndactylus ): Use of gestures and facial expressions
Use of gesture sequences in chimpanzees
Gestural communication in a group of 19 captive chimpanzees ( Pan troglodytes ) was observed, with particular attention paid to gesture sequences (combinations). A complete inventory of gesture sequences is reported. The majority of these sequences were repetitions of the same gestures, which were often tactile gestures and often occurred in play contexts. Other sequences combined gestures within a modality (visual, auditory, or tactile) or acros…
Gestural communication in subadult bonobos (Pan paniscus): Repertoire and use
This article aims to provide an inventory of the communicative gestures used by bonobos (Pan paniscus), based on observations of subadult bonobos and descriptions of gestural signals and similar behaviors in wild and captive bonobo groups. In addition, we focus on the underlying processes of social cognition, including learning mechanisms and flexibility of gesture use (such as adjustment to the attentional state of the recipient). The subjects w…
Gestural communication of apes
Gestural communication of nonhuman primates may allow insight into the evolutionary scenario of human communication given the flexible use and learning of gestures as opposed to vocalizations. This paper provides an overview of the work on the gestural communication of apes with the focus on their repertoire, learning mechanisms, and the flexibility of gesture use during interactions with conspecifics. Although there is a variation between the sp…
Gestural Communication in Nonhuman and Human Primates. Workshop held at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, March 28th–30th, 2004
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Introduction: Gestural communication in nonhuman and human primates
Gestural communication of orangutans ( Pongo pygmaeus )
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Primate Vocalization, Gesture, and the Evolution of Human Language
The performance of language is multimodal, not confined to speech. Review of monkey and ape communication demonstrates greater flexibility in the use of hands and body than for vocalization. Nonetheless, the gestural repertoire of any group of nonhuman primates is small compared with the vocabulary of any human language and thus, presumably, of the transitional form called protolanguage. We argue that it was the coupling of gestural communication…
Do bonobos say NO by shaking their head?
Onset and early use of gestural communication in nonhuman great apes
The early gesturing of six bonobos, eight chimpanzees, three gorillas, and eight orangutans was systematically documented using focal animal sampling . Apes' were observed during their first 20 months of life in an effort to investigate: (i) the onset of gesturing; (ii) the order in which signals of different sensory modalities appear; (iii) the extent to which infants make use of these modalities in their early signaling; and (iv) the behavioral…
Infant‐Directed Communication in Lowland Gorillas ( Gorilla gorilla ): Do Older Animals Scaffold Communicative Competence in Infants
Infant‐directed speech is a linguistic phenomenon in which adults adapt their language when addressing infants in order to provide them with more salient linguistic information and aid them in language acquisition. Adult‐directed language differs from infant‐directed language in various aspects, including speech acoustics, syntax, and semantics. The existence of a “gestural motherese” in interaction with infants, demonstrates that not only spoken…
What Role Do Mothers Play in the Gestural Acquisition of Bonobos (Pan paniscus) and Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)
GibbonFacs: A Muscle-Based Facial Movement Coding System for Hylobatids
The emergent practice of infant compliance: An exploration in two cultures
Complying with directives is an important indicator of developing cooperativeness and of the awareness of others' intentions for one's own actions. Nonetheless, little is known about the early emergence of compliance. In the present longitudinal study, we explore this phenomenon in naturalistic settings in two cultural groups. Nine middle-class urban families in the United Kingdom and 13 middle-class urban families in India were videotaped at hom…
A comparison of facial expression properties in five hylobatid species
Little is known about facial communication of lesser apes (family Hylobatidae) and how their facial expressions (and use of) relate to social organization. We investigated facial expressions (defined as combinations of facial movements) in social interactions of mated pairs in five different hylobatid species belonging to three different genera using a recently developed objective coding system, the Facial Action Coding System for hylobatid speci…
Why Cross-Cultural Psychology Is Incomplete Without Comparative and Developmental Perspectives
We argue that comparing adult behavior and cognition across cultures is insufficient to capture the multifaceted complexity of cultural variation. We champion a multidisciplinary perspective that draws on biological and psychological theory and methods. We provide examples for ways in which cross-cultural, developmental, and comparative studies might be combined to unravel the interplay between universal species-typical behaviors and behavioral v…
Maternal and offspring behavior in free‐ranging Japanese and moor macaques: A comparative approach
Female primates represent the most important social partner for their developing offspring. However, mothers may strongly differ in the way they relate to their offspring (e.g., in terms of two different dimensions: protectiveness and rejection). In this study, we aimed to assess how dominance style predicts (i) changes in maternal behavior through offspring development, and (ii) the link between maternal behavior and offspring behavior. We condu…
Mother’s Age and Social Integration Modulate Sex-biased Maternal Investment in Wild Spider Monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi)
In many mammal species, mothers are crucial for the survival and development of young offspring. In primates, maternal investment may ensure immatures’ survival and also foster their social integration in the group, providing long-term fitness benefits. In this study, we analysed maternal investment in a wild group (N = 49) of male philopatric spider monkeys ( Ateles geoffroyi ). We assessed whether maternal investment is biased toward sons (comp…
Testing Hypotheses for the Emergence of Gestural Communication in Great and Small Apes (Pan troglodytes, Pongo abelii, Symphalangus syndactylus)
Gestural communication is crucial for primates. However, little is known about how gestural repertoires emerge through development. We conducted behavioural observations on captive apes, including 18 siamangs ( Symphalangus syndactylus ), 16 Sumatran orangutans ( Pongo abelii ), and 19 chimpanzees ( Pan troglodytes ), to test different hypotheses for the emergence of gestures (i.e., Phylogenetic Ritualization, Ontogenetic Ritualization, Social Ne…
Applying the human component model of parenting to other primates: Developmental patterns of mother-child interactions across primate species
The component model of human parenting has been extensively used to study parents’ interactions with their offspring and to examine variation across cultural contexts. The current study applies this model to nonhuman primates to investigate which forms of parenting humans share with other primates and how these interactions change over infants’ first year of life. We repeatedly observed 52 mother-infant pairs, including humans ( N = 11), chimpanz…
Compositionality in Primate Gestural Communication and Multicomponent Signal Displays
Compositionality is the ability to combine meaningful elements into new combinations with novel meanings, and it has long been considered one of the main hallmarks of human communication. However, very few studies have addressed the compositional aspects of communication in species other than humans, although a comparative approach is essential to understand the evolutionary origins of human compositionality. We review previous research on compos…
Beyond the Canopy: Social Play Behavior in Wild Spider Monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi)
Play is a multifunctional behavior that may confer different advantages depending on the context, the species, sex, and age of the players. Despite numerous studies of social play in primates, we know little about this behavior in platyrrhines. This study was designed to provide a systematic description of social play in a wild group of Geoffroy’s spider monkeys ( Ateles geoffroyi ). We conducted behavioral observations of acrobatic social play, …
Pseudoreplication in Primate Communication Research: 10 Years On
Pseudoreplication is the statistical error of collecting numerous datapoints from a single unit (such as an individual), which are not independent, and applying statistical methods that assume independence of data. Importantly, pseudoreplication increases the chances of Type 1 errors (i.e., false positives), bringing findings and conclusions based on pseudoreplicated analyses into question. Ten years ago, Waller et al. (2013) published a paper hi…
Multiparous and primiparous mothers partially differ in how they allocate maternal behaviour in captive western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla)
In primates, mothers are crucial for the survival and integration of young offspring into their social group. Usually, mothers adjust their behaviour to the offspring’s age and needs, but maternal experience might modulate developmental changes in such allocation. In this study, we conducted behavioural observations on 7 mother-offspring dyads of captive western lowland gorillas ( Gorilla gorilla gorilla ) to assess whether multiparous mothers ad…
Psychology (27 works) · Primate Behavior and Ecology (23 works) · Biology (18 works) · Animal Vocal Communication and Behavior (16 works) · Communication (15 works) · Animal ecology (12 works) · Developmental psychology (12 works) · Zoology (12 works) · Child and Animal Learning Development (11 works) · Gesture (11 works)