Jean-Baptiste Leca

Jean-Baptiste Leca serves as an Associate Professor and Board of Governors Research Chair (Tier II) in the Department of Psychology at the University of Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada. His research program investigates non-human primate behavioral innovations and traditions through Tinbergian frameworks, with field sites in Japan and Bali.

He holds a M.Sc. in Neuroscience (1998) and Ph.D. in Ethology (2002) from University Louis Pasteur, Strasbourg, supervised by Drs. Bernard Thierry and Odile Petit. His academic journey includes postdoctoral fellowships at Kyoto University Primate Research Institute (2003-2005, 2007-2009) and University of Lethbridge (2011-2014), plus ongoing collaborations with Udayana University in Bali since 2010.

Research focuses on cultural transmission mechanisms in macaques, analyzing stone handling/play, eye covering, object robbing, food bartering, and tool-assisted foraging in Balinese long-tailed macaques. His parallel work with Dr. Paul Vasey examines non-conceptive sexual behaviors across Japanese macaque populations, including mounting dynamics and all-male group structures. These projects integrate proximate and ultimate perspectives to model evolutionary foundations of human culture.

His scientific recognition includes:

• Board of Governors Research Chair (Tier II)

Dr. Leca leads international field teams studying primate behavior across Indonesia and Japan, with longitudinal data collection on behavioral traditions. His research program bridges ethology, evolutionary theory, and cognitive science through comparative analyses of non-adaptive cultural patterns. Current collaborations span Kyoto University, Udayana University, and University of Lethbridge.

He maintains active field laboratories in Bali and Japan, directing research on cultural transmission in free-ranging macaque populations while developing comparative frameworks for understanding human cultural evolution.