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Matthias Laska

Professor

Why do species differ in their sensory capabilities? Which role do genes, anatomy, behavior, and ecology play in this context?

Media

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Animals and sense of smell

Matthias Laska joins Radio Sweden on the show Doft. Here he discusses animals sense of smell and how they compare to humans.

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Publications

2026

Clara Ondina Ferreira da Silva Teixeira, Erica van de Waal, Matthias Laska, Alba Motes-Rodrigo (2026) Which senses do wild vervet monkeys (Chlorocebus pygerythrus) use to evaluate potential food? International journal of primatology (Article in journal) https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10764-026-00584-9
Astree Calloch, Yann Henaut, Matthias Laska (2026) Can't taste, or don't care? Greater Caribbean manatees (Trichechus manatus manatus) fail to display preferences for or aversions to the five basic taste qualities Physiology and Behavior, Vol. 310, Article 115312 (Article in journal) https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.physbeh.2026.115312
Carlos E. Ramirez-Torres, J. Eduardo Reynoso-Cruz, Karem G. Sanchez-Solano, Matthias Laska, Laura T. Hernandez-Salazar (2026) Fruit and leaf selection based on plant species and maturity in black-handed spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi) Primates, Vol. 67, p. 65-75 (Article in journal) https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10329-025-01225-0

2025

Anne-Sophie van Herwijnen, Laura Teresa Hernandez Salazar, Matthias Laska (2025) The ability of captive spider monkeys, Ateles geoffroyi, to visually discriminate between different sizes of food and of non-edible objects Scientific Reports, Vol. 15, Article 20211 (Article in journal) https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-06479-8
Carlos Eduardo Ramirez-Torres, Fabiola Carolina Espinosa Gomez, Jorge E. Morales-Mavil, Maria Remedios Mendoza-Lopez, Matthias Laska, Laura Teresa Hernandez-Salazar (2025) Salivary response of Geoffroy's spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi) to consumption of plant secondary metabolites PeerJ, Vol. 13, Article e19354 (Article in journal) https://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.19354

Research

teaser image Laska Group

The sensory world of mammals - Laska Group

We study the mechanisms underlying between-species differences in sensory capabilities. Which roles do genes, anatomy, ecology, and behavior play in this context? Further, we study lateralized behavior, e.g. limb preferences, in mammals.

Organisation

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Department of Physics, Chemistry and Biology (IFM)

Excellent undergraduate teaching and research in the areas of biology, chemistry, materials and applied physics and theory and modelling are conducted at this department.
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Biology (BIOLO)

Research at the division of biology covers all aspects of life science, from subcellular molecular processes, via organisms to whole ecosystems.

News

spidermonkey in a tree

25 September 2019

Monkeys like alcohol at low concentrations

Fruit-eating monkeys show a preference for concentrations of alcohol found in fermenting fruit, but they do not seem to use alcohol as a source of supplementary calories, according to a new study.