Dr Martin Stevens

Tel: +44 (0 )1223 331 759
Fax: +44 (0) 1223 336 676
Email: ms726 at cam.ac.uk

Position held: Tucker-Price Research Fellow, Girton College
(from October 1st 2009: BBSRC David Phillips Fellow, and Fellow of
Churchill College)

Key Research Interests
 
Sensory ecology and behaviour, especially vision and adaptive coloration. My work combines empirical and theoretical work in the lab and field.
 
Opportunities
 
Potential PhD students and post-docs are welcome to contact me, and suggestions regarding areas of work or projects are encouraged. These should normally be related to my key interests, but other ideas are welcome. Undergraduates looking for summer project work can contact me about possibilities.
 
Research
 
I am interested in a range of subjects, but most notably adaptive coloration and vision. This work encompasses areas of animal behaviour, including anti-predator coloration, mate choice, brood parasitism, and methods to study vision and visual signals. My work makes links with aspects of experimental psychology and computer vision.

1. Anti-predator coloration: This work focuses on how an animal may optimise its camouflage in various habitats, how eyespots, startle, and warning displays can prevent attack, and the visual mechanisms involved in these defensive strategies. Research involves fieldwork, comparative analyses and computer modelling and simulations. I collaborate with various researchers, including: Graeme Ruxton (Glasgow; anti-predator coloration and behaviour), Sami Merilaita (Åbo Akademi; optimal camouflage), Johanna Mappes (Jyväskylä; warning coloration and polymorphism).
 

 
2. Brood parasitism: I am interested in the visual signals involved in avian brood parasitism. I am investigating (with Nick Davies, Cassie Stoddard) exactly what visual attributes are most important in successful egg mimicry by common cuckoos (Cuculus canorus) to prevent rejection by hosts. With Claire Spottiswoode, I am studying brood parasitism in cuckoo finches (Anomalospiza imberbis) and their hosts, which have remarkably polymorphic eggs within species (see photo at right).
 
3. Bird vision & methods to study visual signals: My work on adaptive coloration is underpinned by trying to understand the visual mechanisms involved. The model receivers I am most interested in are birds, and I use and produce models analysing visual signals from a bird’s visual perspective. I am also interested in developing techniques, including digital image analysis, to analyse complex, two dimensional signals, both in terms of pattern and colour.
 
 
Editing
 
With Sami Merilaita, I Guest Edited an issue of Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, Series B, on 'Animal Camouflage: Current Issues and New Perspectives' (February 2009). Currently, we are working with Cambridge University Press to produce an Edited book on animal camouflage. I am also an Editorial Member of Current Zoology, and am at present guest editing a special issue of Current Zoology on 'Sensory Ecology, Evolution, and Behaviour' (due Spring 2010).
 
Funding
 
My work has been/is funded by the BBSRC, the Royal Society, Girton College, and for undergraduate projects by the Nuffield Foundation, British Ecological Society, Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour, and the Department of Zoology.
 
Research History
 
I did both my BSc (Zoology) and PhD at the University of Bristol, before moving to Cambridge as a Research Fellow at Girton College.
 
Miscellaneous
 
I regularly referee manuscripts from over 15 different international journals, have given a range of seminars in Europe and North America, and my work has received a range of media coverage (see publications). I also recently organised (with David Tolhurst; Physiology) an Applied Vision Association conference on Animal Camouflage.
 
Selected Publications (click here for a complete list)
 
  • Stevens, M., Stoddard, M.C. & Higham, J.P. 2009. Studying primate color: towards visual system dependent methods. International Journal of Primatology. DOI 10.1007/s10764-009-9356-z.
  • Stevens, M., Winney, I.S., Cantor, A. & Graham, J. 2009. Object outline and surface disruption in animal camouflage. Proceedings of the Royal Society, Series B. 276: 781-786.
  • Stevens, M. & Merilaita, S. 2009. Animal camouflage: current issues and new perspectives. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, Series B. 364: 423-427.
  • Stevens, M., Yule, D. H. & Ruxton, G. D. 2008. Dazzle coloration and prey movement. Proceedings of the Royal Society, Series B. 275: 2639–2643.
  • Stevens, M., Hardman, C. J., & Stubbins, C. L. 2008. Conspicuousness, not eye mimicry, makes ‘eyespots’ effective anti-predator signals. Behavioral Ecology. 19: 525–531.
  • Stevens, M. & Cuthill, I. C. 2007. Hidden Messages: Are Ultraviolet Signals a Special Channel in Avian Communication? BioScience. 57: 501-507.
  • Stevens, M., Párraga, C. A., Cuthill, I.C., Partridge, J. C. & Troscianko, T. 2007. Using digital photography to study animal coloration. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. 90: 211-237.
  • Stevens, M. & Cuthill, I. C. 2006. Disruptive coloration, crypsis and edge detection in early visual processing. Proceedings of the Royal Society, Series B. 273: 2141-2147.
  • Cuthill, I. C., Stevens, M., Sheppard, J, Maddocks, T, Párraga, C. A. & Troscianko, T. 2005. Disruptive coloration and background pattern matching. Nature. 434: 72-74.

 
Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EJ, U. K.