Our research explores the evolutionary causes and ecological consequences of animal societies and breeding systems and the mechanisms underlying contrasts in reproduction and behaviour.  We work principally with long-term, individual-based studies of mammals, including meerkats and mole-rats in the southern Kalahari.  In addition, we maintain a breeding facility with fifty-plus captive colonies of mole-rats at the same site which is used to investigate the mechanisms controlling reproductive suppression and cooperative behaviour.

Current research topics include:

• The extent, patterning and causes of individual variation in cooperative behaviour.
• The determinants of fitness in breeding females in cooperative breeders.
• The endocrinological basis of variation in reproduction and cooperative behaviour in cooperative breeders.
• Changes in gene function during the transition of individuals from juveniles to helpers and breeding adult.
• The measurement of selection operating between individuals and between groups in cooperative societies.
• The reasons for the association between cooperative breeding and unpredictability of climatic factors.
• The dynamics of social groups and their effects on individual fitness.
• The effects of variation in rainfall and temperature on population dynamics in cooperative breeders and their interaction with Allee effects.

Key Publications 

Clutton-Brock, T. (2016) Mammal Societies.  Wiley Blackwell.

Bateman A, Ozgul A, Nielsen J, Coulson T, Clutton-Brock T (2013) Social structure mediates environmental effects on group size in an obligate cooperative breeder, Suricata suricatta. Ecology 94: 587-597/doi: 10.1890/11-2122.1

Clutton-Brock, T. and Manser, M. (2016) Meerkats: cooperative breeding in the Kalahari. In Cooperative Breeding in Vertebrates (eds W.D. Koenig and J.L. Dickinson) Cambridge University Press pp. 294-317.

Huchard, E., English, S., Bell, M.B.V., Thavarajah, N. and Clutton-Brock, T.H. (2016) Competitive growth in a cooperative mammal.  Nature 533: 532-534/doi: 10.1038/nature17986

Dantzer, B. Bennett, N.C. and Clutton-Brock, T.H. (2017) Social conflict and costs of cooperation in meerkats are reflected in measures of stress hormones. Behavioral Ecology 28: 1131-1141/doi: 10.1093/beheco/arx077

Lukas, D. and Clutton-Brock, T.H. (2018) Social complexity and kinship in animal societies.  Ecology Letters/doi: 10.1111/ele.13079.