Alina Schaffer

Alina Schaffer is a Researcher associated with the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology and the University of Leipzig's Faculty of Life Science, Institute of Biology, within the Behavioral Ecology Research Group. Her work focuses on understanding cognitive skills in ungulates and the evolutionary factors influencing these abilities.

Education includes a PhD from the University of Leipzig (2020–2024), a Master’s in Molecular Ecology from the University of Bayreuth (2015–2018), and a Bachelor’s in Biology (2011–2016). Her doctoral research explored factors affecting cognitive variation in ungulates, while her master’s thesis examined predator-induced defenses in Daphnia.

Her research interests center on comparative cognition, evolutionary biology, and behavioral ecology. She investigates how socio-ecological factors, such as predation, group size, and domestication, influence cognitive abilities in ungulates. By employing standardized cognitive tasks, she examines traits like quantity discrimination, object permanence, and innovation to uncover evolutionary drivers of cognitive complexity.

Publications highlight cognitive abilities in ungulates across tasks such as problem-solving, spatial memory, and optical illusion perception. This work emphasizes socio-ecological contexts’ role in shaping cognitive adaptations, contributing to broader understandings of animal cognition and its evolutionary origins.

Alina has received funding from the Cusanuswerk e.V. for her PhD and a Pre-Doc Award from the University of Leipzig’s Research Academy. She has supervised research projects on gaze following, innovation, and neophobia in ungulates, collaborating with institutions like the Max Planck Institute. She is part of the Behavioral Ecology Research Group and the Max Planck Institute’s Department of Primate Behavior and Evolution.