Dr. Fumihiro Kano

Affiliated Scientist
IMPRS Faculty
Department of Collective Behavior
University of Konstanz

Main Focus

I am interested in the evolutionary origin of social intelligence, and particularly the study of animal social cognition in naturalistic situations. I study this mainly through observation of gaze, as the direction of attention reveals a great deal of mental process in both human and nonhuman animals. I am working with a range of phylogenetically closely and more distantly related species; all species of great apes (including humans), and recently monkeys (Japanese monkeys) and birds (pigeons and crows). In MPI-AB and CASCB, building on my experiences utilizing cutting-edge sensor technologies to study animal cognition, my group will develop new paradigms studying social interactions of both human and nonhuman animals using the newly built motion-capture systems in combination with gaze-tracking technologies.

Curriculum Vitae

I obtained my PhD at Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University, Japan. I did my post-doc at Max-Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany. I then became a project-specific assistant (later, associate) professor at Kumamoto Sanctuary, Wildlife Research Center, Kyoto University. During this period, I was also a visiting researcher at University of Oxford. From 2021, I am a junior group leader at the Center for the Advanced Study of Collective Behavior, University of Konstanz. 

Go to Editor View