Roman is the director of the Taï Chimpanzee Project since 2013, and Principle Investigator for topics related to Behavioural Ecology, Cognition, Hormones and Life History of the Taï Chimpanzees and mangabeys.

Some recent publications in relation to the project:

Boesch, C., & Wittig, R. M. (2019). The chimpanzees of the Taï forest: 40 years of research. Cambridge University Press.

Grützmacher, K., Keil, V., Leinert, V., Legullion, F., Henlin, A., Couacy-Hyman, E., Köndgen, S., Lang, A., Deschner, T., Wittig, R. M., & Leendertz, F. H. (2018). Human quarantine: Towards reducing infectious pressure on chimpanzees at the Taї Chimpanzee Project, Côte d'Ivoire. American Journal of Primatology,80(1): e22619.

Wittig, R. M. (2018). Tai Chimpanzees. In J. Vonk, & T. K. Shackelford (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Animal Cognition and Behavior. Cham: Springer International Publishing.

Preis, A., Samuni, L., Mielke, A., Deschner, T., Crockford, C. ǂ., & Wittig, R. M. (2018). Urinary oxytocin levels in relation to post-conflict affiliations in wild male chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus). Hormones and Behavior,105, 28-40.

Mielke, A., Samuni, L., Preis, A., Gogarten, J. F., Crockford, C. ǂ., & Wittig, R. M. (2017). Bystanders intervene to impede grooming in Western chimpanzees and sooty mangabeys. Royal Society Open Science,4: 171296.

Samuni, L., Preis, A., Mundry, R., Deschner, T., Crockford, C. ǂ., & Wittig, R. M. (2017). Oxytocin reactivity during intergroup conflict in wild chimpanzees. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America,114(2), 268-273.

Catherine is Co-director of the Taï Chimpanzee Project and Principal Investigator on topics related to Cognition, Communication, Development and Homrones in Taï chimpanzees and mangabeys.

Some recent publications in relation to the project:

Samuni, L., Preis, A., Deschner, T., Wittig, R. M., & Crockford, C. (2019). Cortisol and oxytocin show independent activity during chimpanzee intergroup conflict. Psychoneuroendocrinology,104, 165-173.

Grawunder, S., Crockford, C., Clay, Z., Kalan, A. K., Stevens, J. M., Stoessel, A., & Hohmann, G. (2018). Higher fundamental frequency in bonobos is explained by larynx morphology. Current Biology,28(20), R1188-R1189.

Mielke, A., Preis, A., Samuni, L., Gogarten, J. F., Wittig, R. M., & Crockford, C. (2018). Flexible decision-making in grooming partner choice in sooty mangabeys and chimpanzees. Royal Society Open Science,5(7): 172143.

Sonnweber, R., Araya-Ajoy, Y. G., Behringer, V., Deschner, T., Tkaczynski, P. J., Fedurek, P., Preis, A., Samuni, L., Zommers, Z., Gomes, C., Zuberbühler, K., Wittig, R. M., & Crockford, C. (2018). Circadian rhythms of urinary cortisol levels vary between individuals in wild male chimpanzees: A reaction norm approach. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution,6: 85.

Fabian is the Head of the Veterianry Unit at TCP since 2000. He examines the distribution and circulation of many microorganisms, including some with zoonotic potential, in wild nonhuman primate communities in sub-Saharan Africa. The Taï chimpanzees have been of particular interest for him since he conducted his PhD at TCP.

Some recent publications in relation to the project:

Gogarten, J. F., Düx, A., Mubemba, B., Pléh, K., Hoffmann, C., Mielke, A., Müller-Tiburtius, J., Sachse, A., Wittig, R. M., Calvignac-Spencer, S., & Leendertz, F. H. (2019). Tropical rainforest flies carrying pathogens form stable associations with social nonhuman primates (advance online). Molecular Ecology.

Löhrich, T., Behringer, V., Wittig, R. M., Deschner, T., & Leendertz, F. H. (2018). The use of neopterin as a noninvasive marker in monitoring diseases in wild chimpanzees. EcoHealth,15(4), 792-803.

Patrono, L. V., Samuni, L., Corman, V. M., Nourifar, L., Röthemeier, C., Wittig, R. M., Drosten, C., Calvignac-Spencer, S., & Leendertz, F. H. (2018). Human coronavirus OC43 outbreak in wild chimpanzees, Côte d´Ivoire, 2016. Emerging Microbes & Infections,7: 118.

Wu, D., Löhrich, T., Sachse, A., Mundry, R., Wittig, R. M., Calvignac‑Spencer, S., Deschner, T., & Leendertz, F. H. (2018). Seasonal and inter‑annual variation of malaria parasite detection in wild chimpanzees. Malaria Journal,17: 38.

Hoffmann, C., Zimmermann, F., Biek, R., Kuehl, H., Nowak, K., Mundry, R., Agbor, A., Angedakin, S., Arandjelovic, M., Blankenburg, A., Brazolla, G., Corogenes, K., Couacy-Hymann, E., Deschner, T., Dieguez, P., Dierks, K., Düx, A., Dupke, S., Eshuis, H., Formenty, P., Ginath Yuh, Y., Goedmakers, A., Gogarten, J. F., Granjon, A.-C., McGraw, S., Grunow, R., Hart, J., Jones, S., Junker, J., Kiang, J., Langergraber, K., Lapuente, J., Lee, K., Leendertz, S. A., Léguillon, F., Leinert, V., Löhrich, T., Marrocoli, S., Mätz-Rensing, K., Meier, A., Merkel, K., Metzger, S., Murai, M., Niedorf, S., De Nys, H. M., Sachse, A., van Schijndel, J., Thiesen, U., Ton, E., Wu, D., Wieler, L. H., Boesch, C., Klee, S. R., Wittig, R. M., Calvignac-Spencer, S., & Leendertz, F. H. (2017). Persistent anthrax as a major driver of wildlife mortality in a tropical rainforest. Nature,548(7665), 82-86.

Liran is Manager of the long-term data of TCP since 2018, including more than 50 group years of behavioural and 20 years of hormonal data. She is deeply involved in the the Behavioural Ecology of the chimpanzees, as well as the Pan-Pan Comparison

Recent publications:

Samuni, L., Preis, A., Deschner, T., Wittig, R. M., & Crockford, C. (2019). Cortisol and oxytocin show independent activity during chimpanzee intergroup conflict. Psychoneuroendocrinology,104, 165-173.

Samuni, L., Preis, A., Deschner, T., Crockford, C. ǂ., & Wittig, R. (2018). Reward of labor coordination and hunting success in wild chimpanzees. Communications Biology,1: 138.

Samuni, L., Preis, A., Mundry, R., Deschner, T., Crockford, C. ǂ., & Wittig, R. M. (2017). Oxytocin reactivity during intergroup conflict in wild chimpanzees. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America,114(2), 268-273.

Tatiana started as a research assistant in Tai in 2018. After completing her tenure she became a PhD student in the EBC project at Tai, researching the communicative milestones during the development and the vocal repertoire of wild chimpanzees.

Her first presentation will be a poster at the workshop of Behaviour and Brain Evolution in Primates in Erice (Italy).

Recent publication:

Bortolato, T., Gloag, R., Reboreda, J. C., & Fiorini, V. D. (2019). Size matters: shiny cowbirds secure more food than host nestmates thanks to their larger size, not signal exaggeration. Animal Behaviour, 157, 201-207.

Aisha joined TCP in 2019 as a postdoc in the EBC project. Since then she investigates the milestones of development in chimpanzees, focusing on the three habituated groups of TCP (North, South and East Group).

Aisha will present her first results in a short talk at the workshop on Behaviour and Brain Evolution in Primates in Erice, Italy.

Recent publications:

Bründl, AC, Sorato E, Sallé L, Thiney AC, Kaulbarsch S, Chaine AS & Russell AF (2019). Experimentally induced increases in fecundity lead to greater nestling care in blue tits. Proc. R. Soc. B DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2019.1013

Clement joined TCP in 2015 to observe the newly habituated group of mangabeys. Clement used two years of behavioural observation and food availability data to investigate the food competition of female and male mangabeys. His first publication was a presentation of the food competition of mangabeys at the meeting of the International Primatological Society at Nairobi, Kenya, 2018.   

Cedric is working on the Pan - Pan comparison. He investigates the behavioural and cognitive differences between wild bonobos and chimpanzees, using observational and field experimental data collection methods. Since 2019 he is also involved in the Ape Attachment project.

Some recent publications in relation to the project:

Surbeck, M., Boesch, C., Girard-Buttoz, C., Crockford, C., Hohmann, G., & Wittig, R. M. (2017). Comparison of male conflict behavior in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and bonobos (Pan paniscus), with specific regard to coalition and post-conflict behavior. American Journal of Primatology,79(6): e22641.

Surbeck, M., Girard-Buttoz, C., Boesch, C., Crockford, C., Fruth, B., Hohmann, G., Langergraber, K., Zuberbühler, K., Wittig, R. M., & Mundry, R. (2017). Sex-specific association patterns in bonobos and chimpanzees reflect species differences in cooperation. Royal Society Open Science,4: 161081.

Kathrin is with the project since 2019 working on the EBC project. Since then she focuses on the behavioural and cognitive diversity in chimpanzees under Zoo conditions. Kathrin and her team of research assistants conducts behavioural observation, as well as cooperation task and tool experiments, across Zoos in Germany.

Kathrin will present first results on a mirror test conducted in several Zoos across Germany at the workshop of Behaviour and Brain Evolution in Primates in Erice, Italy.

Sylvain joined TCP in 2013 as a PhD student. He served as a project manager for three years during 2013 - 2016 while he collected the data for his PhD on within- and between-group competition of wild chimpanzees within the Behavioural Ecology Unit of TCP.

Recent publications:

Lemoine, S., Boesch, C., Preis, A., Samuni, L., Crockford, C., & Wittig, R. M. (in press). Group dominance increases territory size and reduces neighbour pressure in wild chimpanzees. Royal Science Open Science.

Lemoine, S., Preis, A., Samuni, L., Boesch, C., Crockford, C. ǂ., & Wittig, R. M. (2020). Between-group competition impacts reproductive success in wild chimpanzees. Current Biology,30(2), 312-318.

Mathieu started as Project manager at TCP in 2018. After his first field season he became a PhD student in the Behavioural Ecology section of TCP, investigating the behavioural variability between neighbouring groups in Tai, using behavioural observations, video footage and experimental field techniques in all four groups of chimpanzees.

Virgile joined TCP as a research assitant starting with the habitzuation of North-East group in 2015. He became Project manager in 2017 and started his PhD on Sociality and Health in 2018.

Patrick joined the Ape Attachmnet project in 2016. Since then he is investigating the maternal effects on behavioural, hormonal and cognitive variation between different populations and groups of chimpanzees.

Recent publications:

Tkaczynski, P. J., Ross, C., MacLarnon, A. M., Mohamed Majolo, B., & Lehmann, J. (2019). Measuring personality in the field: An in situ comparison of personality quantification methods in wild Barbary macaques (Macaca sylvanus). Journal of Comparative Psychology,133(3), 313-325.

Sonnweber, R., Araya-Ajoy, Y. G., Behringer, V., Deschner, T., Tkaczynski, P. J., Fedurek, P., Preis, A., Samuni, L., Zommers, Z., Gomes, C., Zuberbühler, K., Wittig, R. M., & Crockford, C. (2018). Circadian rhythms of urinary cortisol levels vary between individuals in wild male chimpanzees: A reaction norm approach. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution,6: 85.

Prince has joined TCP in 2016. His PhD research investigates the energy balance of the Taï Chimpanzees, combining behaviour observations, energy measures of food items, urinary c-peptide and thyroid hormone measures as well as travel distance. His first publication was a presentation on c-peptide measures related to ecological and social measures at the 2nd meeting of the African Primatological Society in Entebbe, Uganda, September 2019.

Mathilde joined TCP the first time in 2015. After her year with TCP she worked with Budongo Conservation Field Station in Uganda and returned 2018 to TCP in order to collect data for a comparison on social complexity of chimpanzees and mangabeys.

Recent publications:

Grampp, M., Sueur, C., van de Waal, E., & Botting, J. (2019). Social attention biases in juvenile wild vervet monkeys: implications for socialisation and social learning processes. Primates, 60(3), 261-275.

Christelle started as a reserach assistant for the North Group in 2018: After her tenure was over, she decided to continue working with the Tai chimpanzees. She is collecting data for a project related to EBC and Ape Attachment: play behaviour of infants, juveniles and subadults in all four groups.