Dieter Lukas
I am a Post-Doctoral Researcher at the University of Cambridge, working with Prof. Clutton-Brock on reconstructing the evolution of the diversity of mammalian social systems
Life does not occur in isolation, organisms constantly have to interact with each other. My interest is to understand the rules that guide how animals interact with other individuals of the same species. Individuals of the same species do not randomly encounter each other, their set of interactions can be summarized by describing the social structure of the species. This ranges from species where individuals are primarily solitary and where interactions are rare and mainly among territory neighbors and between mating partners, to species where individuals live in stable social groups, constantly having to negotiate with the same individuals. Behavioural ecologists have documented large differences in group size, group composition, mating behaviour and social behaviour across species. In my current research I reconstruct transitions between social structures in the phylogenetic past to identify the ecological and demographic factors that might have shaped these differences.