2026 Klaus Zuberbühler: Ecology and Evolution Researcher – H-Index, Publications & Awards

Discipline name	D-Index	World Ranking	Current World Ranking	National Ranking	Current National Ranking	Publications	Citations
Psychology	87	1105	970	9	8	332	23827
Ecology and Evolution	86	611	584	17	17	399	23223

Research.com Recognitions

2026 - Research.com Psychology in Switzerland Leader Award
2011 - Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh

Overview

Klaus Zuberbühler is affiliated with the University of St Andrews in the United Kingdom. Their research primarily focuses on the study of primate behavior, animal vocal communication, and the ecological aspects of animal behavior. They have published extensively in areas including psychology and biochemistry, genetics, and molecular biology, with particular attention to social psychology, developmental biology, and evolutionary behavior.

Their recent papers include:

Environmental variability supports chimpanzee behavioural diversity (2020, Nature Communications)
Call combinations and compositional processing in wild chimpanzees (2023, Nature Communications)
The long lives of primates and the 'invariant rate of ageing' hypothesis (2021, Nature Communications)
Chimpanzees combine pant hoots with food calls into larger structures (2021, Animal Behaviour)
The reliability of individual vocal signature varies across the bonobo's graded repertoire (2020, Animal Behaviour)

Zuberbühler frequently collaborates with:

Catherine Hobaiter
Roman M. Wittig
Adrian Soldati
Paweł Fedurek
Émilie Genty

The scientist's publications have appeared predominantly in the following venues:

Animal Behaviour
bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
American Journal of Primatology
iScience
Animal Cognition

Their book contributions include a publication from Cambridge University Press titled The Cambridge Handbook of Animal Cognition (2021).

Zuberbühler's main fields of study are:

Psychology
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology

Among subfields, they are active within:

Social Psychology
Developmental Biology
Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
Developmental and Educational Psychology
Ecology

The main research topics covered by their work include:

Primate Behavior and Ecology
Animal Vocal Communication and Behavior
Animal Behavior and Reproduction
Child and Animal Learning Development
Language and cultural evolution
Human-Animal Interaction Studies
Wildlife Ecology and Conservation

Klaus Zuberbühler was awarded the Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 2011.

Best Publications

Generation times in wild chimpanzees and gorillas suggest earlier divergence times in great ape and human evolution

Kevin E. Langergraber;Kay Prüfer;Carolyn Rowney;Christophe Boesch

722
Citations
Lethal aggression in Pan is better explained by adaptive strategies than human impacts

Micahel L. Wilson;Christophe Boesch;Barbara Fruth;Takeshi Furuichi

563
Citations
Wild Chimpanzees Inform Ignorant Group Members of Danger

Catherine Crockford;Roman M. Wittig;Roger Mundry;Klaus Zuberbühler

490
Citations
Diana monkey long-distance calls : messages for conspecifics and predators

Klaus Zuberbühler;Ronald Noë;Robert M Seyfarth

473
Citations
Language evolution: semantic combinations in primate calls.

Kate Arnold;Klaus Zuberbühler

468
Citations
Campbell's monkeys concatenate vocalizations into context-specific call sequences

Karim Ouattara;Alban Lemasson;Klaus Zuberbühler

460
Citations
Chimpanzees modify recruitment screams as a function of audience composition

Katie E. Slocombe;Klaus Zuberbühler

453
Citations
Environmental variability supports chimpanzee behavioural diversity.

Ammie K. Kalan;Lars Kulik;Mimi Arandjelovic;Christophe Boesch

412
Citations
Urinary oxytocin and social bonding in related and unrelated wild chimpanzees

C. Crockford;R. M. Wittig;K. Langergraber;T. E. Ziegler

405
Citations
Chimpanzee Alarm Call Production Meets Key Criteria for Intentionality

Anne Marijke Schel;Simon W. Townsend;Zarin Machanda;Klaus Zuberbühler

389
Citations
Referential labelling in Diana monkeys.

Klaus Zuberbühler

371
Citations
Conceptual Semantics in a Nonhuman Primate

Klaus Zuberbühler;Dorothy L. Cheney;Robert M. Seyfarth

362
Citations
Social network analysis shows direct evidence for social transmission of tool use in wild chimpanzees.

Catherine Hobaiter;Timothée Poisot;Klaus Zuberbühler;William Hoppitt

346
Citations
The Predator Deterrence Function of Primate Alarm Calls

Klaus Zuberbühler;David Jenny;Redouan Bshary

342
Citations
Functionally Referential Communication in a Chimpanzee

Katie E. Slocombe;Klaus Zuberbühler

330
Citations
The central importance of information in studies of animal communication.

Robert M. Seyfarth;Dorothy L. Cheney;Thore Bergman;Julia Fischer

327
Citations
A syntactic rule in forest monkey communication

Klaus Zuberbühler

323
Citations
Meaningful call combinations in a non-human primate.

Kate Arnold;Klaus Zuberbühler

319
Citations
The Syntax and Meaning of Wild Gibbon Songs

Esther Clarke;Ulrich H. Reichard;Klaus Zuberbühler

305
Citations
Leopard predation and primate evolution.

Klaus Zuberbühler;David Jenny

304
Citations
Predator-specific alarm calls in Campbell's monkeys, Cercopithecus campbelli

Klaus Zuberbühler

302
Citations
Interspecies semantic communication in two forest primates.

Klaus Zuberbühler

286
Citations
Food sharing is linked to urinary oxytocin levels and bonding in related and unrelated wild chimpanzees

Roman M. Wittig;Catherine Crockford;Tobias Deschner;Kevin E. Langergraber

284
Citations
Campbell's monkeys use affixation to alter call meaning.

Karim Ouattara;Alban Lemasson;Klaus Zuberbühler

253
Citations

Frequent Co-Authors

Roman M. Wittig Max Planck Society

Catherine Crockford Max Planck Society

Katie E. Slocombe University of York

Catherine Hobaiter University of St Andrews

Christophe Boesch Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology

Philippe Schlenker Institut Jean Nicod

Richard W. Byrne University of St Andrews

Richard W. Wrangham Harvard University

Fabian H. Leendertz Robert Koch Institute

Ronald Noë University of Strasbourg

External Links

Personal website of Klaus Zuberbühler

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