Animal Behaviour and Cognition

Programme Head: Sindhu Radhakrishna
The Animal Behaviour and Cognition Programme has, over the last nineteen years, specialised in investigating the biology of a wide range of nonhuman species, including fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals, particularly primates and elephants, as well as different aspects of human-wildlife interactions and animal studies. Our research encompasses a variety of perspectives including ecology, behaviour, cognition, genetics, and conservation, which we explore through the use of a variety of observational, experimental, mathematical, computational and philosophical methods. The Programme currently consists of four research scholars, several short-term research associates and a number of collaborators from the Schools of Social Sciences and of Humanities in NIAS and from more than fifteen institutions across India, Japan, UK, USA and Australia. It is one of the few groups in the world working on the behavioural ecology and conservation of nocturnal primates in the wild, the only research group in the country working in the areas of social cognition, communication and culture in any animal species, including cognition, personality and decision-making in fish, and the only research team in India that has been monitoring a primate population and tracking the life-history strategies of more than 1,500 individually identified animals continuously over fifteen years, as well as credited with the discovery of a new primate species, the Arunachal macaque, over the last sixty years.
Anindya Sinha Professor |
Binoy V.V Assistant Professor |
Sindhu Radhakrishna Professor |
Book Chapters
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Sinha, A. & Vijayakrishnan, S., 2017. Primates in Urban Settings. In The International Encyclopedia of Primatology. The International Encyclopedia of Primatology. Wiley and Sons Inc, pp. 1-8.
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Huffman, M.A. & Sinha, A., 2011. Nature and culture in the wild: Biological foundations of behavioural traditions in non-human primates. In R. Narasimha & Menon, S. , eds. Nature and Culture. Nature and Culture. New Delhi: PHISPC and CSC, pp. 367–389. Available at: http://eprints.nias.res.in/265/.
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Sinha, A., 2010. Playing God or Being Human? Scientific and Ethical Perspectives in the Cloning of Human Beings. In P. Kumar Sengupta, ed. History of Science and Philosophy of Science: A Historical Perspective of the Evolution of Ideas in Science. History of Science and Philosophy of Science: A Historical Perspective of the Evolution of Ideas in Science. New Delhi: Pearson Longman, pp. 473–480. Available at: http://eprints.nias.res.in/281/.
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Mishra, C. & Sinha, A., 2010. Munzalas in the mist: The discovery of the Arunachal macaque. In P. Singh Bindra, ed. Voices in the wilderness: Contemporary wildlife writings. Voices in the wilderness: Contemporary wildlife writings. New Delhi: Rupa and Company, pp. 75–82. Available at: http://eprints.nias.res.in/272/.
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Mallapur, A., Sinha, A. & Waran, N., 2007. A world survey of husbandry practices for Lion-tailed macaques Macaca silenus in captivity. In International Zoo Yearbook. International Zoo Yearbook. July. Blackwell Synergy, pp. 166–175. Available at: http://eprints.nias.res.in/82/.
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Sinha, A., 2005. Of mice and men: Ethical issues in animal exploitation. In D. P. Chattopadhyay, ed. Self, Society and Science: Theoretical and Historical Perspectives. Self, Society and Science: Theoretical and Historical Perspectives. New Delhi: Centre for Studies in Civilizations. Available at: http://eprints.nias.res.in/64/.
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Singh, M. & Sinha, A., 2004. Life-history traits: ecological adaptations or phylogenetic relics?. In B. Thierry, Singh, M. , & Kaumanns, W. , eds. Macaque Societies: A Model for the Study of Social Organization. Macaque Societies: A Model for the Study of Social Organization. September. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 80–83. Available at: http://eprints.nias.res.in/59/.
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Radhakrishna, S. & Sinha, A., 2003. Other Societies: Social Organisation and Behaviour in Primates. In J. K Thomas, ed. Lectures on Recent Trends in Ethology and Behavioural Sciences. Lectures on Recent Trends in Ethology and Behavioural Sciences. Irinjalakuda: Department of Zoology, Christ College, pp. 104–117. Available at: http://eprints.nias.res.in/62/.
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Sinha, A., Mukhopadhyay, K. & Roy, A.Datta, 2003. Eka adwitiya: Evolution of unimale social organisation in bonnet macaques. In J. Vanitharani, Annamalai, R. , & Narayanan, M. , eds. Proceedings of the Twenty-eighth Conference of the Ethological Society of India. Proceedings of the Twenty-eighth Conference of the Ethological Society of India. Mundanthurai: Department of Zoology, Sarah Tucker College and Tamil Nadu Forest Department, Kalakad-Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve, pp. 110–115. Available at: http://eprints.nias.res.in/60/.
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Sinha, A., 2003. Cognitive Ethology: A Behavioural Lens into the Primate Mind. In J. K Thomas, ed. Lectures on Recent Trends in Ethology and Behavioural Sciences. Lectures on Recent Trends in Ethology and Behavioural Sciences. Irinjalakuda: Department of Zoology, Christ College, pp. 18–28. Available at: http://eprints.nias.res.in/61/.
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Radhakrishna, S. & Singh, M., 2002. Conserving the Slender Loris (Loris lydekkerianus lydekkerianus). In Proceedings of the National Seminar on Conservation of Eastern Ghats. Proceedings of the National Seminar on Conservation of Eastern Ghats. Hyderabad: Environment Protection Training Research Institute, pp. 227–231. Available at: http://eprints.nias.res.in/68/.
Books
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Menon, S., Sinha, A. & Sreekantan, B.V. eds., 2014. Interdisciplinary perspectives on consciousness and the self, New Delhi: Springer. Available at: http://eprints.nias.res.in/652/.
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Radhakrishna, S., Huffman, M.A. & Sinha, A. eds., 2013. The macaque connection: Cooperation and conflict between humans and macaques, New York: Springer Verlag. Available at: http://eprints.nias.res.in/337/.
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Pani, N., Radhakrishna, S. & Bhat, K.G. eds., 2010. Bengaluru, Bangalore, Bengaluru: Imaginations and their times, New Delhi: Sage Publications. Available at: http://eprints.nias.res.in/170/.
Journal Articles
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Nautiyal, H. et al., 2020. The Banj oak Quercus leucotrichophora as a potential mitigating factor for human-langur interactions in the Garhwal Himalayas, India: People’s perceptions and ecological importance. Global Ecology and Conservation, 22(e00985). Available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2351989419308625.
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Pebsworth, P. & Radhakrishna, S., 2020. Using Conditioned Taste Aversion to Reduce Human-nonhuman Primate Conflict: A Comparison of Four Potentially Illness-inducing Drugs. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 225. Available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S016815912030023X.
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Sheth, C. & al, et, 2020. The Devil is in the Detail: Peer-review of the Wildlife Conservation Plan by the Wildlife Institute of India for the Etalin Hydropower Project, Dibang Valley. Zoo’s Print, 35(5). Available at: https://zoosprint.zooreach.org/index.php/zp/article/view/5686.
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Anand, S. & Radhakrishna, S., 2020. Is Human–Rhesus Macaque (Macaca mulatta) Conflict in India a Case of Human–Human Conflict?. Ambio. Available at: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13280-020-01324-w?fbclid=IwAR21ietIkNqeW9DvFgScaK7kki8jDJReIefU8vQk2nOj5HdEkl0piYaXdo8.
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Varma, V. et al., 2020. Social Decision Making is influenced by size of shoal but not boldness, sociability or familiarity in Deccan Mahseer (Tor Khudree). Marine and Freshwater Behaviour and Physiology,, 53(5-6), pp.231-250. Available at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10236244.2020.1838244.
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Sengupta, A. et al., 2020. Reliability of Macaques as Seed Dispersers. American Journal of Primatology, 82(5). Available at: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ajp.23115.
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Vijayakrishnan, S., Mavatur, A.Kumar & Sinha, A., 2020. The Elephant in the Room: Methods, Challenges and Concerns in the Monitoring of Asian Elephant Populations. Gajah, 52, pp.39-47.
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Sengupta, A., Binoy, V.V. & Radhakrishna, S., 2020. Human-Elephant Conflict in Kerala, India: a Rapid Appraisal Using Compensation Records. Human Ecology, 48, pp.101-109. Available at: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10745-020-00128-6.
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Vijayakrishnan, S. & Kumar, M.Ananda, 2019. An Elephantine Conundrum. Hornbill, April-June , pp.38-45.
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Krishnan, V. et al., 2019. Distribution and Habitat Use by Asian Elephants (Elephas maximus) in a Coffee-Dominated Landscape of Southern India . Tropical Conservation Science, 12, pp.1-12. Available at: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1940082918822599.
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Radhakrishna, S., 2019. Janus-Faced Interactions: The Nature of Human-Macaque Conflicts in India. Hornbill, April-June, pp.107-111.
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Vijayakrishnan, S. & Sinha, A., 2019. Human-Captive elephant relationships in Kerala: Historical perspectives and current scenarios. Gajah, 50, pp.29-35. Available at: http://eprints.nias.res.in/1829/.
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Srinivasaiah, N.M., 2019. Millennial Male Elephants of the Eastern Ghats. Hornbill, 2, pp.30-37. Available at: http://eprints.nias.res.in/1826/.
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Barua, M. & Sinha, A., 2017. Animating the urban: an ethological and geographical conversation. Social & Cultural Geography . Available at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14649365.2017.1409908.
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Sinha, A., 2017. Scio Ergo Sum: Knowledge of the Self in a Nonhuman Primate. Journal of the Indian Institute of Science, 97(4), pp. 567–582. Available at: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s41745-017-0043-3.
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Gupta, S. & Sinha, A., 2016. Not here, there! Possible referential gesturing during allogrooming by wild bonnet macaques, Macaca radiata. Animal Cognition. Available at: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10071-016-1012-3.
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Sharma, N. et al., 2016. Watering holes: The use of arboreal sources of drinking water by Old World monkeys and apes. Behavioural Processes, 129, pp.18-26. Available at: http://eprints.nias.res.in/1146/.
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Binoy, V.V., R, K. & A., S., 2015. Sensory cues employed for the acquisition of familiarity-dependent recognition of a shoal of conspecifics by climbing perch (Anabas testudineus Bloch). Journal of Biosciences, 40, pp.225-232.
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V, B.V., R, K. & A., S., 2015. Sensory cues employed for the acquisition of familiarity-dependent recognition of a shoal of conspecifics by climbing perch (Anabas testudineus Bloch). Journal of Biosciences, 40, pp.225-232.
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Radhakrishna, S., Binoy, V.V. & Kurup, A., 2014. The culture of environmental education: insights from a citizen science experiment in India. Current Science, 107, pp.176–178. Available at: http://eprints.nias.res.in/622/.
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Kumara, H.N. & Radhakrishna, S., 2013. Evaluation of census techniques to estimate the density of slender Loris (Loris lydekkerianus) in Southern India. Current Science, 104, pp.1083–1086. Available at: http://eprints.nias.res.in/629/.
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Kumara, H.N. & Radhakrishna, S., 2013. Evaluation of census techniques to estimate the density of slender Loris (Loris lydekkerianus) in Southern India. Current Science, 104, pp.1083–1086. Available at: http://eprints.nias.res.in/623/.
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Binoy, V.V., Roshan, K.S. & Rakesh, V.B., 2012. Occurrence of Kryptoglanis shajii, an enigmatic subterranean-spring catfish (Siluriformes, Incertae sedis) in the channels of paddy fields. Current Science, 102, p.161. Available at: http://eprints.nias.res.in/292/.
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Sharma, N., Madhusudan, M.D. & Sinha, A., 2012. Socio-economic drivers of forest cover change in Assam: A historical perspective. Economic and Political Weekly, XLVII, pp.64–72. Available at: http://eprints.nias.res.in/352/.
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Srinivasaiah, N.M. et al., 2012. Usual populations, unusual individuals: Insights into the behaviour and management of Asian elephants in fragmented landscapes. PLoS One, 7, p.e42571. Available at: http://eprints.nias.res.in/353/.
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Sharma, N. et al., 2012. Trends in extinction and persistence of diurnal primates in the fragmented lowland rainforests of the Upper Brahmaputra Valley, Northeastern India. Oryx, 46, pp.308–311. Available at: http://eprints.nias.res.in/546/.
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Karmakar, S. & Binoy, V.V., 2012. Tools as non-elaborated aesthetic form. Science and Culture, 78, pp.347–350. Available at: http://eprints.nias.res.in/481/.
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Robin, V.V. et al., 2011. Singing in the sky: song variation in an endemic bird on the sky islands of southern India. Animal Behaviour, 82, pp.513–520. Available at: http://eprints.nias.res.in/392/.
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Radhakrishna, S. & Kumara, H.N., 2010. Behavioural variation in the Mysore slender loris Loris lydekkerianus lydekkerianus. Current Science, 99, pp.1226–1232. Available at: http://eprints.nias.res.in/156/.
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Radhakrishna, S. et al., 2010. Population survey of the Bengal slow loris, Nycticebus bengalensis in Meghalaya, northeast India. Primate Conservation, 25, pp.105–110. Available at: http://eprints.nias.res.in/269/.
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Binoy, V.V., 2010. Catfish Clarias is vanishing from the waters of Kerala. Current Science, 90, p.714.
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Chakraborty, S. et al., 2010. Genetic Polymorphism in the Serotonin Transporter Promoter Region and Ecological Success in Macaques. Behavior Genetics, 40, pp.672–679. Available at: http://eprints.nias.res.in/219/.
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Robin, V.V., Sinha, A. & Ramakrishnan, U., 2010. Ancient geographical gaps and paleo-climate shape the Phylogeography of an endemic bird in the sky islands of Southern India. PLoS One, 5, p.e13321. Available at: http://eprints.nias.res.in/270/.
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Kumara, H.N. et al., 2010. Distribution, abundance, group size and demography of dark-bellied bonnet macaque Macaca radiata radiata in Karnataka, South India. Current Science, 99, pp.663–667. Available at: http://eprints.nias.res.in/233/.
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Mendiratta, U. et al., 2009. Winter ecology of the Arunachal macaque Macaca munzala in Pangchen Valley, western Arunachal Pradesh, northeastern India. American Journal of Primatology, 71, pp.939–947. Available at: http://eprints.nias.res.in/152/.
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Kumara, H.N. & Sinha, A., 2009. Decline of the Endangered lion-tailed macaque Macaca silenus in the Western Ghats, India. Oryx, 43, pp.292–298. Available at: http://eprints.nias.res.in/128/.
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Binoy, V.V. & J, T.K., 2008. Influence of hunger on the food stocking behavior of climbing perch. Journal of Fish Biology, 73, pp.1053-1057.
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Chakraborty, D. et al., 2007. Phylogenetic relationships and morphometric affinities of the Arunachal macaque Macaca munzala, a newly described primate from Arunachal Pradesh, northeastern India. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 44, pp.838–849. Available at: http://eprints.nias.res.in/85/.
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Mallapur, A., Warana, N. & Sinha, A., 2007. A note on enrichment for captive lion-tailed macaques (Macaca silenus). Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 108, pp.191–195. Available at: http://eprints.nias.res.in/84/.
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Binoy, V.V. & J, T.K., 2006. Climbing perch (Anabas testudineus) can recognize members of a familiar shoal. Current Science, 90, pp.288-289.
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Kumar, S.R., Mishra, C. & Sinha, A., 2005. Discovery of the Tibetan macaque Macaca thibetana in Arunachal Pradesh, India. Current Science, 88, pp.1387–1388. Available at: http://eprints.nias.res.in/19/.
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Sinha, A. et al., 2005. Macaca munzala: a new species from Western Arunachal Pradesh, Northeastern India. International Journal of Primatology, 26, pp.977–989. Available at: http://eprints.nias.res.in/406/.
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Krishna, C.Y. & Sinha, A., 2005. Book Review: Losing a Lost Tribe: Native Americans, DNA, and the Mormon Church. Simon G. Southerton. Current Science, 89, pp.567–568. Available at: http://eprints.nias.res.in/51/.
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Radhakrishna, S., 2005. Midnight's children?: Solitary primates and gregarious chiropterans. Current Science, 89, pp.1208–1213. Available at: http://eprints.nias.res.in/17/.
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J, T.K., Binoy, V.V. & G, B., 2005. Male Siamese fighting fish prefers larger females with distended belly. Journal of Ecobiology, 17, pp.537-544.
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Binoy, V.V., S, M. & J, T.K., 2005. The influence of methyl parathion on the behaviour of the climbing perch (Anabas testudineus). Pollution Research, 24, pp.253-259.
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Binoy, V.V. & J, T.K., 2004. The climbing perch (Anabas testudineus Bloch), a freshwater fish prefers larger unfamiliar shoals to smaller familiar shoals. Current Science, 86, pp.207-211.
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Radhakrishna, S., 2004. Sociality in a Solitary Primate: How Gregarious is the Slender Loris?. Resonance, 9, pp.64–81. Available at: http://eprints.nias.res.in/18/.
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Radhakrishna, S. & Singh, M., 2004. Infant development in the slender loris (Loris lydekkerianus lydekkerianus). Current Science, 86, pp.1121–1127. Available at: http://eprints.nias.res.in/15/.
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Ram, S., Venkatachalam, S. & Sinha, A., 2003. Changing social strategies of wild female bonnet macaques during natural foraging and on provisioning. Current Science, 84, pp.780–790. Available at: http://eprints.nias.res.in/1/.
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Sinha, A., 2003. Book Review: Imitation in animals and artifacts by K Dautenhahn and C L Nehaniv. Current Science, 85, pp.523–525. Available at: http://eprints.nias.res.in/50/.
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Sinha, A., 2003. A beautiful mind: Attribution and intentionality in wild bonnet macaques. Current Science, 85, pp.1021–1030. Available at: http://eprints.nias.res.in/3/.
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Radhakrishna, S. & Singh, M., 2002. Social Behaviour of the Slender Loris (Loris tardigradus lydekkerianus). Folia Primatologica, 73, pp.181–196. Available at: http://eprints.nias.res.in/69/.
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Sinha, A., 2002. Reflective consciousness and the emergence of memes: Serial evolutionary pathways?. Journal of Biosciences, 27, pp.637–643. Available at: http://eprints.nias.res.in/66/.
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Sinha, A., 1998. Knowledge acquired and decisions made: triadic interactions during allogrooming in wild bonnet macaques, Macaca radiata. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 353, pp.619–631. Available at: http://eprints.nias.res.in/67/.
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Sinha, A., 1997. Complex tool manufacture by a wild bonnet macaque, Macaca radiata. Folia Primatologica, 68, pp.23–25. Available at: http://eprints.nias.res.in/63/.
- 7 Oct 2020 NIAS Wednesday Discussion - Dr. Malini Shankar will speak on "Wildlife Journalism – A Relatively New Field of Specialisation in Journalism in the Age of Liberalised Media”
- 16 Sep 2020 NIAS Wednesday Discussion-Dr. Narayan Sharma will speak on "Primates, Forests, People and Economy of the Upper Brahmaputra Valley: Is Long-term Coexistence Possible?"
- 24 Jul 2020 NIAS-CSP Friday Online Lecture on "Are Bonnet Monkeys Conscious? The Search for an Animal Mind" by Prof Anindya Sinha, 4.00 PM
- 19 Jun 2020 Final Colloquium by Mr. Sreedhar Vijayakrishnan on 'Seeing the Elephant: Socioecology and Physiology of the Female Asian Elephant Elephas maximus in an Anthropogenic Landscape'
- 10 Jun 2020 to 25 Jun 2020 Back & Forth in Time: Lectures on the South Indian Past (NIAS-INTACH Series)
- 3 Jul 2019 NIAS Wednesday Discussion: Exploring Twentieth Century History of Science and Technology in India by Jahnavi Phalkey, NIAS Lecture Hall, 4.00 PM
- 20 Sep 2018 NIAS Public Lecture: "Understanding the impact of forest management on the landscape change and tree diversity in Central Indian dry deciduous forest landscapes" by Dr. Shivani Agarwal, Lecture Hall, NIAS, 1030hrs
- 14 Feb 2018 NIAS Public Lecture: “Macaques as seed dispersal agents in Asian forests” by Dr. Yamato Tsuji, Lecture Hall, NIAS, 1545hrs
- 6 Sep 2017 NIAS Wednesday Discussion: "Lights, Camera, Action! Behind the Scenes of a Study of Asian Elephants in a Human-Dominated Landscape" by Nishant Srinivasaiah, Lecture Hall, NIAS, 0930 hrs
- 26 Apr 2017 NIAS Wednesday Discussion: "Reaching Out: Intentional and Referential Multimodal Communication between Wild Bonnet Macaques and Humans" by Anindya Sinha, Lecture Hall, NIAS, 0930 hrs