Judith Janisch
Postdoc
Abteilung für Menschliche Ursprünge
Max-Planck-Institut für evolutionäre Anthropologie
Deutscher Platz 6
04103 Leipzig
E-Mail:
judith_janisch@[>>> Please remove the text! <<<]eva.mpg.de
Research Interests
Judith’s research focuses on using cutting-edge tools to study the evolution of biomechanical and behavioural adaptations to the arboreal environment of wild animals. She investigated female choice on the complex courtship display of golden-collared manakins in Panama using a fully automated 3D motion capture system as well as developed a protocol to record arboreal locomotion of primates in Uganda and Madagascar in three dimensions. Her current project at the Max Planck Institute of Evolutionary Anthropology will focus on studying the influence of the arboreal and terrestrial environment on chimpanzee locomotion in to 2D and 3D in the Issa Valley in western Tanzania to test hypothesis on human origins.
Curriculum vitae
Career & Education
| Aug 2024-present | Postdoctoral Research Fellowship, Department of Human Origins, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany |
| Aug 2021-Jan 2024 | Postdoctoral Researcher, Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Northeast Ohio Medical University, Ohio, United States |
| Nov 2016-Sept 2021 | Ph.D. candidate, Department of Life Sciences, University of Veterinary Medicine of Vienna, Austria. |
| 2006-2013 | “Magistra der Naturwissenschaften” (equivalent to Master of Science), Department of Cognitive Biology, University of Vienna, Austria |
Research experience and field work
| June-August 2022 | Ranomafana National Park, Madagascar to record gait kinematics and leaping in 2D and 3D of 7 different species of lemurs |
| January-March 2022 | Kibale National Park, Uganda to collect video recordings and substrate parameters to investigate gait kinematics in 8 different species of primates as well as leaping performance in 3D |
| January-Mai 2018 | Gamboa, Panama to collect video recordings of the courtship displays of golden-collared manakins |
| July 2017 | Research stay in Neuchatel, Switzerland to learn how to take sperm samples in Passerines |
| January-April 2017 | Gamboa, Panama to collect video recordings of the courtship displays of golden-collared manakins, blood samples and physical measurements |
| June-August 2016 | Population survey on Crocodylus moreletii with Indigo Expeditions in Laguna del Tigre, Guatemala and assessment of water pollution |
| Sept-Nov 2015 | Research Assistant in Sahamalaza National Park, Madagascar to collect data in behavioural ecology (habitat use, vegetation assessment, observational data, telemetry) and social behaviour of the nocturnal sportive lemur (Lepilemur sahamalazensis) as well as conducting playback experiments |
| March-June 2013 | Research Assistant in Florida, in collaboration with the University of Florida and the St. Augustine Alligator Farm, Zoological Park, Florida, US to collect data in bioacoustics, behavioural ecology and investigating vocal tract physiology of American alligators (Alligator mississippiensis) and Chinese alligators (Alligator sinensis) |
| Dec 2012 | Field work in Austria and Germany to carry out playback experiments and sound recordings of common ravens (Corvus corax) |
| April-Jul 2012 | Data collection on spatial navigation in tortoises for Diploma thesis at “The Parrot Zoo” in Friskney, UK |
Awards
IgNobel Prize 2020 - Reber, S. A., Nishimura, T., Janisch, J., Robertson, M., & Fitch, W. T. (2015). A Chinese alligator in heliox: formant frequencies in a crocodilian. The Journal of Experimental Biology, 218(15), 2442-2447. https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.119552
Grants
Marietta Blau Grant (2020) - Austrian Ministry for Science, Research and Economics BMWFW, Centre for International Cooperation and Mobility OeAD (19200€)
“Förderung von wissenschaftlichen Arbeiten im Ausland für NachwuchswissenschafterInnen” - Short-term grant for going abroad from the bureau of International Relationships of the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna (800€)
KWA (Kurzwissenschaftliches Arbeiten im Ausland) – Short-term grant abroad from the bureau of International Relationships of the University of Vienna (2700€)
Scholarship for ERASMUS term from the state of Burgenland, Austria (800€)
Publications
2024
Janisch J, McNamara A, Myers LC, Schapker N, Dunham NT, Phelps T, Mundry R, Hieronymus T, Shapiro LJ, Young JW (2024). Ecological and phylogenetic influences on limb joint kinematics in wild primates. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society.
DOI
Schapker N, Janisch J, Myers LC, Phelps T, Shapiro LJ, Young JW (2024). From such great heights: The effects of substrate height and the perception of risk on lemur locomotor mechanics. American Journal of Biological Anthropology, e24917.
DOI
Janisch J, Myers LC, Schapker N, Kirven J, Shapiro LJ, Young JW (2024). Pump and sway: wild primates use compliant supports as a tool to augment leaping in the canopy. American Journal of Biological Anthropology.
DOI
Janisch J, Kirven J, Schapker N, Myers LC, Shapiro LJ, Young JW (2024). Protocol to record and analyze primate leaping in 3D in the wild. Journal of Experimental Zoology
2021
Janisch J, Mitoyen C, Perinot E, Spezie G, Fusani L, Quigley C (2021). Video Recording and Analysis of Avian Movements and Behavior: Insights from Courtship Case Studies. Integrative and Comparative Biology, 61(4), 1378-1393.
DOI
Janisch J, Perinot E, Fusani L, Quigley C (2021). Deciphering choreographies of elaborate courtship displays of golden-collared manakins using markerless motion capture. Ethology, 127(7), 550-562.
DOI
Reber SA, OH J, Janisch J, Stevenson C, Foggett S, Wilkinson A (2021). Early life differences in behavioral predispositions in two Alligatoridae species. Animal Cognition, 24, 753-764.
DOI
2020
Janisch J, Perinot E, Fusani L (2020) Behavioural flexibility in the courtship dance of golden-collared manakins (Manacus vitellinus). Animal Behaviour, 166, 61-71.
DOI
2017
Reber SA, Janisch J, Torregrosa K, Darlington J, Vliet KA, Fitch WT (2017). Formants in bellows act as honest acoustic cues in American alligators. Scientific reports, 7(1), 1816.
DOI
2016
Reber SA, Boeckle M, Szipl G, Janisch J, Bugnyar T, Fitch WT. (2016) Territorial raven pairs are sensitive to structural changes in simulated acoustic displays of conspecifics. Animal Behaviour, 116, 153-162.
DOI
2015
Reber SA, Nishimura T, Janisch J, Robertson M, Fitch WT (2015) A Chinese alligator in heliox: formant frequencies in a crocodilian. The Journal of Experimental Biology, 218(15), 2442-2447.
DOI