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Department of Zoology

 
Read more at: The Persistence of Polymorphisms across Species Radiations
Examples of phenotypic trans-species polymorphisms

The Persistence of Polymorphisms across Species Radiations

12 May 2020

In a recent paper published in Trends in Ecology and Evolution, Dr Gabriel Jamie and Dr Joana Meier explore the phenomenon that the same polymorphisms often recur in many members of a species radiation (e.g. colour/pattern morphs, heterostyly, mating types, shell chirality). This phenomenon is puzzling because speciation...


Read more at: A review of northern Mozambique’s Afromontane birdlife
Mountains in Northern Mozambique by Gabriel Jamie

A review of northern Mozambique’s Afromontane birdlife

20 April 2020

The birdlife of northern Mozambique is very poorly known. Much of the area was inaccessible during the country’s civil war, before which few expeditions studying the region’s avifauna had been undertaken. In recent years, however, northern Mozambique’s mountains, a series of isolated granitic inselbergs, have received...


Read more at: Tropical Ecosystems in the 21st Century

Tropical Ecosystems in the 21st Century

6 April 2020

logging_truck.jpg Tropical ecosystems are highly diverse and provide myriad ecosystem services to humanity. However, these habitats are increasingly threatened by human activities. A special issue of Advances in Ecological Research, brings together papers describing these anthropogenic threats, including the impacts of...


Read more at: Professor Jenny Clack, FRS, 1947-2020

Professor Jenny Clack, FRS, 1947-2020

26 March 2020

clack_prof_jenny_hres.jpg Professor Jenny Clack, F.R.S., F.L.S. 1947-2020. Jenny was a palaeontologist. Why restate what everyone who knew Jenny already knows? Well, the fact that they already know it, without having to think, is the point: Jenny was resolute in her dedication to her chosen field of study. Her ability to...


Read more at: Alarm! Quick, move! And stay hidden.
New Holland honeyeater in flight (c) Jessica McLachlan

Alarm! Quick, move! And stay hidden.

20 February 2020

In the struggle between predators and prey, a split-second can separate the quick from the dead. Alarm calls warning of immediate danger must, therefore, send rapid messages, yet animals often signal more urgent danger using repeated notes. This is paradoxical because more notes take more time to deliver. New Holland...


Read more at: New Lecturer in Animal Ecology

New Lecturer in Animal Ecology

29 November 2019

We are delighted to welcome Dr Lynn Dicks as the new departmental lecturer in Animal Ecology. lynn_dicks_july_2019_resized.jpg Lynn re-joins us from the University of East Anglia where she was a Reader in the School of Biological Sciences. Lynn is an applied ecologist with a particular focus on sustainable management of...


Read more at: Consumer markets, companies linked to habitat loss for rare species in Brazil’s savannah

Consumer markets, companies linked to habitat loss for rare species in Brazil’s savannah

31 October 2019

Overseas consumer markets could be responsible for more than half of the impact of expanding soy production on rare species in one of the world’s most biodiverse regions, the Cerrado savannah in Brazil, according to a new article in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). The paper, “ Linking global...


Read more at: John Johnson, 1945-2019

John Johnson, 1945-2019

16 October 2019

john_johnson_christmas_party.jpg The Department is sorry to announce the death of John Johnson on 26th September 2019. John joined the Department at the age of 16 in 1961 as a junior technician. The knowledge he gained from his time as a technician allowed him to move into purchasing and procurement. By the time he left...


Read more at: New University Lecturer

New University Lecturer

4 October 2019

james_herbert-read.jpg We are delighted to welcome Dr James Herbert-Read as the new departmental lecturer in Marine Biology. Dr Herbert-Read joins us from the University of Bristol where he was a Research Associate in the School of Biological Sciences. James has a broad interest in behavioural ecology and marine biology...


Read more at: New NERC Independent Research Fellow

New NERC Independent Research Fellow

4 October 2019

mitchell_profile2.jpg We are excited to welcome Dr Emily Mitchell to the Department. Dr Mitchell won her NERC Fellowship to work on a project to assessing the consequences of Ediacaran ecology on early animal evolution. For the uninitiated, the Ediacaran time period is 631-541 million years ago and it is at this time that...