Tatiana Bortolato
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
Department of Human Behavior, Ecology and Culture
Deutscher Platz 6
04103 Leipzig
Germany
e-mail: tatiana_bortolato@[>>> Please remove the text! <<<]eva.mpg.de
Research
My primary research interest is in the evolution of language. In particular, I am interested in vocal communication in chimpanzees, one of our closest living relatives. I am currently conducting a PhD within the Evolution of Brain Connectivity project under the supervision of Dr. Roman Wittig and Dr. Cathy Crockford. I am studying the vocal repertoire, its complexity and its ontogeny in wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus), at the Taï National Park, Côte d’Ivoire.
Curriculum Vitae
Education
| 2018-ongoing | PhD student at Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany Dissertation: “vocal repertoire, its complexity and its ontogeny in wild chimpanzees” Supervisors: Dr. Roman Wittig & Dr. Catherine Crockford. |
| 2013-2015 | MSc. Animal Behaviour University of Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina Thesis title: “Begging effect of the shiny cowbird (Molothrus bonariensis) and its host, the house wren (Troglodytes aedon), on the parental supply.” Supervisor: Dr. Vanina Fiorini |
| 2009-2012 | BSc. Biology University of Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina |
Field experience
| 2017-2018 | Taï chimpanzee project, Ivory Coast. Research assistant – Collecting behavioural data and urine samples investigating maternal effects on behavioural, hormonal and cognitive variation as part of Patrick Tkaczynski postdoc research. Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Germany. |
| 2016-2017 | Vervet monkey project, South Africa. Research assistant – Collecting long term behavioural data on vervet monkeys for Barrett-Henzi lab, Canada. |
Publications
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Girard-Buttoz, C., Zaccarella, E., Bortolato, T., Friederici, A. D., Wittig, R. M., & Crockford, C. (2022). Chimpanzees produce diverse vocal sequences with ordered and recombinatorial properties. Communications Biology, 5: 410. |
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Grawunder, S., Uomini, N., Samuni, L., Bortolato, T., Girard-Buttoz, C., Wittig, R. M., & Crockford, C. (2022). Chimpanzee vowel-like sounds and voice quality suggest formant space expansion through the hominoid lineage. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Series B: Biological Sciences, 377(1841): 20200455. |
Open Access|
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. |
Meeting Abstract
Bortolato, T., Girard-Buttoz, C., Wittig, R. M. & Crockford, C. (2019). Development of vocal articulation complexity in wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus). Workshop Behaviour and Brain Evolution in Primates 2019, Erice, Sicily, Italy.