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.