EVApeCognition: An 18-Year Dataset of Great Ape Cognition

Authors

• Alejandro Sánchez-Amaro, University of Stirling
• Sonja J. Ebel van Wijk, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
• Carin Molenaar, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
• Akzira Abuova, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
• Lizbeth Mujica-Manrique, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
• Sarah M. Leisterer-Peoples, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
• Bret Beheim, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
• Luke Maurits, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
• Anna Albiach-Serrano, CEU Universities
• Matthias Allritz, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
• Nazli Altınok, University of Konstanz
• Federica Amici, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
• Alice M.I. Auersperg, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna
• Filippo Aureli, Universidad Veracruzana
• Elisa Bandini, University of Zurich
• Jochen Barth, Fraunhofer Institute for Machine Tools and Forming Technology
• Leïla Benziad, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
• Bettina E. Bläsing, Bielefeld University
• Manuel Bohn, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
• Marie Bourjade, Université de Toulouse
• Juliane Bräuer, Friedrich Schiller University Jena
• Marie Hélène Broihanne, Université de Strasbourg
• Sarah F. Brosnan, Georgia State University
• Nereida Bueno-Guerra, Comillas Pontifical University
• Thomas Bugnyar, University of Vienna
• David Buttelmann, University of Bern
• Frances Buttelmann, Friedrich Schiller University Jena
• Trix Cacchione, University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland
• Malinda Carpenter, University of St Andrews
• Fernando Colmenares, Complutense University

Abstract

The study of great ape cognition offers insights into the evolutionary origins of human intelligence, but is hindered by small sample sizes and restricted access to data. To address this, we present the EVApeCognition Dataset, a publicly available resource comprising 262 experimental datasets from 150 scientific publications from the Wolfgang Köhler Primate Research Center (2004–2021) in Leipzig, Germany. Eighty-one apes participated in 150 studies, with a majority (N = 78) participating in more than one study. Publication of the dataset aims to make these unique datasets accessible for future meta-analyses and correlational analyses, helping us better understand how our great ape relatives think, learn, and behave.

DOI Link

10.1038/s41597-026-07191-6

Publication Date

2026-04-09

Publication Title

Scientific data

Volume

13

Issue

1

Acceptance Date

2026-03-31

Deposit Date

2026-07-31

Funding

Thank you to the librarians at the MPI EVA for their assistance in gathering the publication lists. Thank you to the staff at the WKPRC for their assistance with the physical archive and access to internal sources of information. Open Access funding enabled and organized by Projekt DEAL.

Additional Links

https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105040685540

Keywords

Animals, Humans, Cognition, Hominidae/psychology

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Recommended Citation

Sánchez-Amaro, A., Ebel van Wijk, S., Molenaar, C., Abuova, A., Mujica-Manrique, L., Leisterer-Peoples, S., Beheim, B., Maurits, L., Albiach-Serrano, A., Allritz, M., Altınok, N., Amici, F., Auersperg, A., Aureli, F., Bandini, E., Barth, J., Benziad, L., Bläsing, B., Bohn, M., Bourjade, M., Bräuer, J., Broihanne, M., Brosnan, S., Bueno-Guerra, N., Bugnyar, T., Buttelmann, D., Buttelmann, F., Cacchione, T., Carpenter, M., & Colmenares, F. (2026) 'EVApeCognition: An 18-Year Dataset of Great Ape Cognition', Scientific data, 13(1). Available at: 10.1038/s41597-026-07191-6