Behavioural Ecology
Martin Stevens 
BBSRC David Phillips Fellow
Email:ms726@cam.ac.uk
Tel.: +44 (0)1223 768946
I am interested in animal vision, adaptive coloration and behaviour. Broadly, I aim to understand how variation in animal coloration and behaviour results from biological arms races and coevolution, and how receiver sensory systems and characteristics of the environment drive the evolution of specific signal forms. By doing so, I aim to explain the form, function, and diversity of different signals in nature, and their evolution. My work covers evolutionary, behavioural, and sensory ecology across a range of animal groups, including insects, birds, and primates. It combines behavioural experiments in the field, using real animals and artificial stimuli, with modelling animal vision and techniques from computer science and experimental psychology. I have largely focused on anti-predator strategies (eyespots, camouflage, and startle displays) and avian brood parasitism, predominantly in the context of bird colour and spatial (pattern) vision. However, I am also interested in a range of other subjects. I also develop methods to study animal coloration and vision.
Selected publications
- Spottiswoode, C.N. & Stevens, M. 2011. How to evade a coevolving brood parasite: egg discrimination versus egg variability as host defences. Proceedings of the Royal Society, Series B. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2011.0401
- Higham, J.P., Hughes, K.D., Brent, L.J.N., Dubuc, C., Engelhardt, A., Heistermann, M., Maestriperi, D., Santos, L.R. & Stevens, M. 2011. Familiarity affects the assessment of female facial signals of fertility by free-ranging male rhesus macaques. Proceedings of the Royal Society, Series B. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2011.0052
- Stoddard, M.C. & Stevens, M. 2011. Avian vision and the evolution of egg color mimicry in the common cuckoo. Evolution. 65: 2004-2013.
- Langmore, N.E., Stevens, M., Maurer, G., Heinsohn, R., Hall, M.L., Peters, A., & Kilner, R.M. 2011. Visual mimicry of host nestlings by cuckoos. Proceedings of the Royal Society, Series B. 278: 2455-2463
- Spottiswoode, C.N. & Stevens, M. 2010. Visual modeling shows that avian host parents use multiple visual cues in rejecting parasitic eggs. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 107: 8672-8676.
- Stoddard, M.C. & Stevens, M. 2010. Pattern mimicry of host eggs by the common cuckoo, as seen through a bird's eye. Proceedings of the Royal Society, Series B. 277: 1387–1393.
- 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.
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