EVApeCognition: an 18-year dataset of great ape cognition

Alejandro Sánchez-Amaro; Sonja J. Ebel van Wijk; Carin Molenaar; Akzira Abuova; Lizbeth Mujica-Manrique; Sarah M. Leisterer-Peoples; Bret Beheim; Luke Maurits; Anna Albiach-Serrano; Matthias Allritz; Nazli Altınok; Federica Amici; Alice MI Auersperg; Filippo Aureli; Elisa Bandini; Jochen Barth; Leïla Benziad; Bettina E. Bläsing; Manuel Bohn; Marie Bourjade; Juliane Bräuer; Marie-Hélène Broihanne; Sarah F. Brosnan; Nereida Bueno-Guerra; Thomas Bugnyar; David Buttelmann; Frances Buttelmann; Trix Cacchione; Malinda Carpenter; Fernando Colmenares; Catherine Crockford; Katherine A. Cronin; África de Las Heras; Arianna De Marco; Sarah E. DeTroy; Valérie Dufour; Shona Duguid; Robin I. M. Dunbar; Johanna Eckert; Jan M. Engelmann; Joel Fagot; Julia Fischer; Sofia Ingrid Fredrika Forss; Martina Funk; György Gergely; Julia R. Greenberg; Johannes Großmann; Sebastian Grüneisen; Marta Halina; Daniel Hanus; Sarah R. Heilbronner; Christophe Heintz; Robert Hepach; Esther Herrmann; Satoshi Hirata; Alenka Hribar; Gabriele Janzen; Juliane Kaminski; Patricia Kanngiesser; Fumihiro Kano; Katharina C. Kirchhofer; Hagen Knofe; Kathrin S. Kopp; Christopher Krupenye; Isabelle Barbara Laumer; Stephen C. Levinson; Ulf Liszkowski; Héctor M. Manrique; Gema Martin-Ordas; Emma Suvi McEwen; Richard T. Moore; Enric Munar; Marcos Nadal; Christian Nawroth; Suska Nolte; Marie Pelé; Patrizia Potì; Hannes Rakoczy; Julia Riedel; Amélie Romain; Federico Rossano; Yvan I. Russell; Gloria Sabbatini; Marie Schäfer; Marina Scheumann; Martin Schmelz; Benjamin Schmid; Vanesa Schmitt; Carla Sebastián-Enesco; Amanda Madeleine Seed; Chikako Suda-King; Tibor Tauzin; Sebastian Tempelmann; Claudio Tennie; Valentina Truppa; Jana Uher; Amrisha Vaish; Edwin J.C. van Leeuwen; Elisabetta M. Visalberghi; Christoph J. Völter; Victoria Vonau; Claudia A. F. Wascher; Roman M. Wittig; Wouter Wolf; Michael Tomasello; Katja Liebal; Josep Call; Daniel B. M. Haun

doi:10.1038/s41597-026-07191-6

EVApeCognition: an 18-year dataset of great ape cognition

Alejandro Sánchez-Amaro
, Sonja J. Ebel van Wijk
, Carin Molenaar
, Akzira Abuova
, Lizbeth Mujica-Manrique
, Sarah M. Leisterer-Peoples
, Bret Beheim
, Luke Maurits
, Anna Albiach-Serrano
, Matthias Allritz
, Nazli Altınok
, Federica Amici
, Alice MI Auersperg
, Filippo Aureli
, Elisa Bandini
, Jochen Barth
, Leïla Benziad
, Bettina E. Bläsing
, Manuel Bohn
, Marie Bourjade

Juliane Bräuer, Marie-Hélène Broihanne, Sarah F. Brosnan, Nereida Bueno-Guerra, Thomas Bugnyar, David Buttelmann, Frances Buttelmann, Trix Cacchione, Malinda Carpenter, Fernando Colmenares, Catherine Crockford, Katherine A. Cronin, África de Las Heras, Arianna De Marco, Sarah E. DeTroy, Valérie Dufour, Shona Duguid, Robin I. M. Dunbar, Johanna Eckert, Jan M. Engelmann, Joel Fagot, Julia Fischer, Sofia Ingrid Fredrika Forss, Martina Funk, György Gergely, Julia R. Greenberg, Johannes Großmann, Sebastian Grüneisen, Marta Halina, Daniel Hanus, Sarah R. Heilbronner, Christophe Heintz, Robert Hepach, Esther Herrmann, Satoshi Hirata, Alenka Hribar, Gabriele Janzen, Juliane Kaminski, Patricia Kanngiesser, Fumihiro Kano, Katharina C. Kirchhofer, Hagen Knofe, Kathrin S. Kopp, Christopher Krupenye, Isabelle Barbara Laumer, Stephen C. Levinson, Ulf Liszkowski, Héctor M. Manrique, Gema Martin-Ordas, Emma Suvi McEwen, Richard T. Moore, Enric Munar, Marcos Nadal, Christian Nawroth, Suska Nolte, Marie Pelé, Patrizia Potì, Hannes Rakoczy, Julia Riedel, Amélie Romain, Federico Rossano, Yvan I. Russell, Gloria Sabbatini, Marie Schäfer, Marina Scheumann, Martin Schmelz, Benjamin Schmid, Vanesa Schmitt, Carla Sebastián-Enesco, Amanda Madeleine Seed, Chikako Suda-King, Tibor Tauzin, Sebastian Tempelmann, Claudio Tennie, Valentina Truppa, Jana Uher, Amrisha Vaish, Edwin J.C. van Leeuwen, Elisabetta M. Visalberghi, Christoph J. Völter, Victoria Vonau, Claudia A. F. Wascher, Roman M. Wittig, Wouter Wolf, Michael Tomasello, Katja Liebal, Josep Call, Daniel B. M. Haun

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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.

Original language	English
Journal	Scientific Data
Early online date	9 Apr 2026
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-026-07191-6
Publication status	Early online - 9 Apr 2026

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EVApeCognitionProof, 1.24 MBLicence: CC BY

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Sánchez-Amaro, A., Ebel van Wijk, S. J., Molenaar, C., Abuova, A., Mujica-Manrique, L., Leisterer-Peoples, S. M., Beheim, B., Maurits, L., Albiach-Serrano, A., Allritz, M., Altınok, N., Amici, F., Auersperg, A. MI., Aureli, F., Bandini, E., Barth, J., Benziad, L., Bläsing, B. E., Bohn, M., ... Haun, D. B. M. (2026). EVApeCognition: an 18-year dataset of great ape cognition. Scientific Data. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-026-07191-6

@article{beb7775c8e524913b269393652b94da0,

title = "EVApeCognition: an 18-year dataset of great ape cognition",

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 K{\"o}hler 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.",

author = "Alejandro S{\'a}nchez-Amaro and \{Ebel van Wijk\}, \{Sonja J.\} and Carin Molenaar and Akzira Abuova and Lizbeth Mujica-Manrique and Leisterer-Peoples, \{Sarah M.\} and Bret Beheim and Luke Maurits and Anna Albiach-Serrano and Matthias Allritz and Nazli Altınok and Federica Amici and Auersperg, \{Alice MI\} and Filippo Aureli and Elisa Bandini and Jochen Barth and Le{\"i}la Benziad and Bl{\"a}sing, \{Bettina E.\} and Manuel Bohn and Marie Bourjade and Juliane Br{\"a}uer and Marie-H{\'e}l{\`e}ne Broihanne and Brosnan, \{Sarah F.\} and Nereida Bueno-Guerra and Thomas Bugnyar and David Buttelmann and Frances Buttelmann and Trix Cacchione and Malinda Carpenter and Fernando Colmenares and Catherine Crockford and Cronin, \{Katherine A.\} and \{de Las Heras\}, {\'A}frica and \{De Marco\}, Arianna and DeTroy, \{Sarah E.\} and Val{\'e}rie Dufour and Shona Duguid and Dunbar, \{Robin I. M.\} and Johanna Eckert and Engelmann, \{Jan M.\} and Joel Fagot and Julia Fischer and Forss, \{Sofia Ingrid Fredrika\} and Martina Funk and Gy{\"o}rgy Gergely and Greenberg, \{Julia R.\} and Johannes Gro{\ss}mann and Sebastian Gr{\"u}neisen and Marta Halina and Daniel Hanus and Heilbronner, \{Sarah R.\} and Christophe Heintz and Robert Hepach and Esther Herrmann and Satoshi Hirata and Alenka Hribar and Gabriele Janzen and Juliane Kaminski and Patricia Kanngiesser and Fumihiro Kano and Kirchhofer, \{Katharina C.\} and Hagen Knofe and Kopp, \{Kathrin S.\} and Christopher Krupenye and Laumer, \{Isabelle Barbara\} and Levinson, \{Stephen C.\} and Ulf Liszkowski and Manrique, \{H{\'e}ctor M.\} and Gema Martin-Ordas and McEwen, \{Emma Suvi\} and Moore, \{Richard T.\} and Enric Munar and Marcos Nadal and Christian Nawroth and Suska Nolte and Marie Pel{\'e} and Patrizia Pot{\`i} and Hannes Rakoczy and Julia Riedel and Am{\'e}lie Romain and Federico Rossano and Russell, \{Yvan I.\} and Gloria Sabbatini and Marie Sch{\"a}fer and Marina Scheumann and Martin Schmelz and Benjamin Schmid and Vanesa Schmitt and Carla Sebasti{\'a}n-Enesco and Seed, \{Amanda Madeleine\} and Chikako Suda-King and Tibor Tauzin and Sebastian Tempelmann and Claudio Tennie and Valentina Truppa and Jana Uher and Amrisha Vaish and \{J.C. van Leeuwen\}, Edwin and Visalberghi, \{Elisabetta M.\} and V{\"o}lter, \{Christoph J.\} and Victoria Vonau and Wascher, \{Claudia A. F.\} and Wittig, \{Roman M.\} and Wouter Wolf and Michael Tomasello and Katja Liebal and Josep Call and Haun, \{Daniel B. M.\}",

year = "2026",

month = apr,

day = "9",

doi = "10.1038/s41597-026-07191-6",

language = "English",

journal = "Scientific Data",

issn = "2052-4463",

publisher = "Springer Nature",

}

Sánchez-Amaro, A, Ebel van Wijk, SJ, Molenaar, C, Abuova, A, Mujica-Manrique, L, Leisterer-Peoples, SM, Beheim, B, Maurits, L, Albiach-Serrano, A, Allritz, M, Altınok, N, Amici, F, Auersperg, AMI, Aureli, F, Bandini, E, Barth, J, Benziad, L, Bläsing, BE, Bohn, M, Bourjade, M, Bräuer, J, Broihanne, M-H, Brosnan, SF, Bueno-Guerra, N, Bugnyar, T, Buttelmann, D, Buttelmann, F, Cacchione, T, Carpenter, M, Colmenares, F, Crockford, C, Cronin, KA, de Las Heras, Á, De Marco, A, DeTroy, SE, Dufour, V, Duguid, S, Dunbar, RIM, Eckert, J, Engelmann, JM, Fagot, J, Fischer, J, Forss, SIF, Funk, M, Gergely, G, Greenberg, JR, Großmann, J, Grüneisen, S, Halina, M, Hanus, D, Heilbronner, SR, Heintz, C, Hepach, R, Herrmann, E, Hirata, S, Hribar, A, Janzen, G, Kaminski, J, Kanngiesser, P, Kano, F, Kirchhofer, KC, Knofe, H, Kopp, KS, Krupenye, C, Laumer, IB, Levinson, SC, Liszkowski, U, Manrique, HM, Martin-Ordas, G, McEwen, ES, Moore, RT, Munar, E, Nadal, M, Nawroth, C, Nolte, S, Pelé, M, Potì, P, Rakoczy, H, Riedel, J, Romain, A, Rossano, F, Russell, YI, Sabbatini, G, Schäfer, M, Scheumann, M, Schmelz, M, Schmid, B, Schmitt, V, Sebastián-Enesco, C, Seed, AM, Suda-King, C, Tauzin, T, Tempelmann, S, Tennie, C, Truppa, V, Uher, J, Vaish, A, J.C. van Leeuwen, E, Visalberghi, EM, Völter, CJ, Vonau, V, Wascher, CAF, Wittig, RM, Wolf, W, Tomasello, M, Liebal, K, Call, J & Haun, DBM 2026, 'EVApeCognition: an 18-year dataset of great ape cognition', Scientific Data. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-026-07191-6

TY - JOUR

T1 - EVApeCognition: an 18-year dataset of great ape cognition

AU - Sánchez-Amaro, Alejandro

AU - Ebel van Wijk, Sonja J.

AU - Molenaar, Carin

AU - Abuova, Akzira

AU - Mujica-Manrique, Lizbeth

AU - Leisterer-Peoples, Sarah M.

AU - Beheim, Bret

AU - Maurits, Luke

AU - Albiach-Serrano, Anna

AU - Allritz, Matthias

AU - Altınok, Nazli

AU - Amici, Federica

AU - Auersperg, Alice MI

AU - Aureli, Filippo

AU - Bandini, Elisa

AU - Barth, Jochen

AU - Benziad, Leïla

AU - Bläsing, Bettina E.

AU - Bohn, Manuel

AU - Bourjade, Marie

AU - Bräuer, Juliane

AU - Broihanne, Marie-Hélène

AU - Brosnan, Sarah F.

AU - Bueno-Guerra, Nereida

AU - Bugnyar, Thomas

AU - Buttelmann, David

AU - Buttelmann, Frances

AU - Cacchione, Trix

AU - Carpenter, Malinda

AU - Colmenares, Fernando

AU - Crockford, Catherine

AU - Cronin, Katherine A.

AU - de Las Heras, África

AU - De Marco, Arianna

AU - DeTroy, Sarah E.

AU - Dufour, Valérie

AU - Duguid, Shona

AU - Dunbar, Robin I. M.

AU - Eckert, Johanna

AU - Engelmann, Jan M.

AU - Fagot, Joel

AU - Fischer, Julia

AU - Forss, Sofia Ingrid Fredrika

AU - Funk, Martina

AU - Gergely, György

AU - Greenberg, Julia R.

AU - Großmann, Johannes

AU - Grüneisen, Sebastian

AU - Halina, Marta

AU - Hanus, Daniel

AU - Heilbronner, Sarah R.

AU - Heintz, Christophe

AU - Hepach, Robert

AU - Herrmann, Esther

AU - Hirata, Satoshi

AU - Hribar, Alenka

AU - Janzen, Gabriele

AU - Kaminski, Juliane

AU - Kanngiesser, Patricia

AU - Kano, Fumihiro

AU - Kirchhofer, Katharina C.

AU - Knofe, Hagen

AU - Kopp, Kathrin S.

AU - Krupenye, Christopher

AU - Laumer, Isabelle Barbara

AU - Levinson, Stephen C.

AU - Liszkowski, Ulf

AU - Manrique, Héctor M.

AU - Martin-Ordas, Gema

AU - McEwen, Emma Suvi

AU - Moore, Richard T.

AU - Munar, Enric

AU - Nadal, Marcos

AU - Nawroth, Christian

AU - Nolte, Suska

AU - Pelé, Marie

AU - Potì, Patrizia

AU - Rakoczy, Hannes

AU - Riedel, Julia

AU - Romain, Amélie

AU - Rossano, Federico

AU - Russell, Yvan I.

AU - Sabbatini, Gloria

AU - Schäfer, Marie

AU - Scheumann, Marina

AU - Schmelz, Martin

AU - Schmid, Benjamin

AU - Schmitt, Vanesa

AU - Sebastián-Enesco, Carla

AU - Seed, Amanda Madeleine

AU - Suda-King, Chikako

AU - Tauzin, Tibor

AU - Tempelmann, Sebastian

AU - Tennie, Claudio

AU - Truppa, Valentina

AU - Uher, Jana

AU - Vaish, Amrisha

AU - J.C. van Leeuwen, Edwin

AU - Visalberghi, Elisabetta M.

AU - Völter, Christoph J.

AU - Vonau, Victoria

AU - Wascher, Claudia A. F.

AU - Wittig, Roman M.

AU - Wolf, Wouter

AU - Tomasello, Michael

AU - Liebal, Katja

AU - Call, Josep

AU - Haun, Daniel B. M.

PY - 2026/4/9

Y1 - 2026/4/9

N2 - 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.

AB - 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.

U2 - 10.1038/s41597-026-07191-6

DO - 10.1038/s41597-026-07191-6

M3 - Article

SN - 2052-4463

JO - Scientific Data

JF - Scientific Data

ER -

EVApeCognition: an 18-year dataset of great ape cognition

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