Abstract

Invasive pathogens can have major impacts on populations of native fauna and flora, even driving some to extinction. Pathogens are being moved around the World at far greater rates than ever before, putting more native species at risk from these novel threats. Efforts to identify, elucidate and mitigate such events are critical, including understanding the role of genetic variation in combating infection. Next generation sequencing methods can be useful to identify multiple pathogens and strains with greater ease. “Omics” methods such as GWAS and other association analyses, RNAseq to assess gene expression, and increased resolution of candidate genes, can help to determine genetic factors or changes that underlie host susceptibility or pathogen virulence. In this talk I illustrate application of genomic methods to ongoing studies by my lab on tick borne pathogens, Hawaiian honeycreepers parasitized by introduced avian malaria, and amphibians infected by the invasive chytrid fungus Bd.

Rob Fleischer is Senior Scientist and Head of the Center for Conservation and Evolutionary Genetics at Smithsonian’s Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI). His primary fields of interest are evolutionary and conservation biology. He conducts individual and collaborative research in population and evolutionary genetics, systematics, and molecular and behavioral ecology, mostly on free-ranging bird and mammal species, and their pathogens. Most of his more recent projects use genomic, transcriptomic and microbiome methods.

If you would like to speak with Rob, please contact Christian Rutz.

Rob Fleischer’s webpage

Abstract

The origins and consequences of lethal violence, ranging from homicide to warfare have been subject of long debate. Although recent studies on the evolution of violence have been based on various archaeological and ethnographic data, they have reported mixed results: it is unclear whether or not lethal violence among prehistoric hunter – gatherers was common enough to be a component of human nature and a selective pressure for the evolution of human behaviour. Based on exhaustive surveys of skeletal remains for prehistoric hunter-gatherers (the Jomon period; 13000 cal BC–800 cal BC) and agriculturists (the Yayoi period; 800 cal BC–AD 250) in Japan, the present study examines levels of inferred violence. Our results show that mortality attributable to violence in prehistoric Japan is much lower than those from previous studies, implying that lethal violence was not common in prehistoric Japan. We also found that mortality attributable to violence in the Yayoi period is higher than that in the Jomon period, which is consistent with a traditional archaeological view that large-scale intergroup violence is promoted by social changes induced by agriculture.

Kohei Tamura is an assistant professor at Tohoku University. He focuses on cultural evolution and evolutionary anthropology. He aims to understand various cultural phenomena. he approaches cultural inheritance as an analogy of biological genetics and analyze patterns of diffusion and transformation of culture using evolutionary biology methods. He looks at cultures as “information that is communicated socially” and pays attention to the nature of the information transmission systems. The root of biological evolution is that genetic information is transmitted from the parent to the child. The property “information inherited” common to these two systems can be handled in the same framework. Currently, by applying this “cultural evolution” method to the archeology data, while solving concrete archeological tasks, he aims to clarify the law in cultural phenomena and understand the creation mechanism of cultural diversity. In parallel, He is establishing a methodology for applying cultural evolution to archeology data, and is also working on improving the research environment.

If you would like to talk to Kohei, please contact Shoko Sugasawa.

Kohei Tamura’s website

Abstract

An ability to respond to the relations between objects or events is a fundamental component of complex cognition. It has been long argued that a mental spatial representation underlies at least some of the aspects of deductive reasoning (De Soto, London, & Handel, 1965; Eichenbaum, 1999; Goodwin & Johnson-Laird, 2008). However, there has been very little direct experimental evidence supporting this spatial representation hypothesis in human cognition; the involvement of spatial representation in relational learning in non-human animals is even less clear. I will review three lines of research suggesting that (1) spatial representation underlies the formation of an ordered series during transitive inference task in both humans and non-human
animals; (2) spatial representation is involved in learning a simple relational task, transposition, in both humans and non-human animals; and (3) non-human animals spatially organize numerosities even when the task does not require them to do so. Together, this evidence provides initial experimental support to the idea that the neural and cognitive mechanisms evolved for spatial cognition also provide the substrate for relational processing.

Olga is an associate professor of psychology at Drake University, USA. She focuses on early visual processes (e.g., perceptual grouping, figure-ground segregation), as well as mechanisms of relational learning.

If you like to meet with Olga please contact Lauren Guillette.

Olga’s Lab Website

Abstract

Classic models of social evolution in subdivided populations typically assume additive interactions, with the resulting conditions for the evolution of cooperation consisting of simple expressions depending on costs, benefits, and a single relatedness coefficient scaled to account for the effects of local competition. Here, I go beyond this assumption and explore the invasion fitness of cooperator mutants when social interactions are modeled as more general multiplayer games and population structure and regulation follows Wright’s island model under a Moran reproductive scheme. In particular, I show several instances of cooperative dilemmas for which greater (rather than smaller) dispersal rates promote the evolution of cooperation, even when this entails that pairwise relatedness (and higher order measures of genetic assortment) are systematically smaller.

Jorge is a postdoctoral researcher at the Evolutionary Ecology of Marine Fishes Research Unit of the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel and will be joining the Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse and the Université Toulouse 1 Capitole in September 2017.

His research focuses on evolutionary game theory, social evolution theory, and their applications to the private provision of collective goods and the evolution of cooperation (in both well-mixed and spatially-structured populations).

If you like to meet with Jorge please contact Mauricio Gonzalez.

Jorge Pena’s website

Abstract

Malaria is caused by member species of the genus Plasmodium. Plasmodium species are eukaryotic parasites that require two hosts to complete their complex lifecycle: A vertebrate host for asexual reproduction and amplification and a female Anopheline mosquito host for sexual reproduction. There are over 200 Plasmodium species that co-exist with and are restricted to various bird, rodent, non-human primate and reptile species and their Anopheline partners. A few Plasmodium species have adapted to the human host but infection most often results in the signs and symptoms of malaria. Malaria, per se, is the result of asexual reproduction and cycling in the red blood cells of infected individuals.  At the dawn of the new millennium a large entry of Plasmodium knowlesi, a parasite of old world monkeys, was discovered in the human population in Malaysian Borneo. Zoonotic malaria, caused by P. knowlesi, is currently responsible for most cases of malaria in Malaysia and is widespread in other human populations across Southeast Asia. What were the drivers for this cross host-species emergence?  Were we observing a single crossover event and clonal expansion? How do we control zoonotic malaria transmission? What are the clinical features of disease? The questions were many, difficult to prioritise and on-going – some of the answers will be presented.

Janet Cox-Singh is a research scientist in the School of Medicine here at the University of St Andrews. Here she has her own lab that focuses on using the zoonotic malaria parasite Plasmodium knowlesi to improve our understanding of malaria pathophysiology.

If you would like to talk to Janet, please contact V Anne Smith.

Janet Cox-Singh’s website

Abstract

Ecological neutral theory has been controversial because it assumes all individuals are ecologically equivalent regardless of their species identity.  This seminar will discuss the value of studying models that make such an assumption.  In particular, the potential of neutral theory to make predictions about both ecology and evolution simultaneously and the possible applications of neutral theory to conservation questions.

James Rosindell is a research Fellow in the Department of Life Sciences at Imperial College London. He is a biodiversity theorist with a particular interest in ecological neutral theory. His research focuses on questions such as: What factors influence the presence of endemic species on islands?  How many species will go extinct if an area of habitat is modified or destroyed?  His approach to modeling problems in ecology is to search for simple models for observed phenomena if possible; a model does not have to explicitly reproduce reality in order to be useful.  Most of his work uses simulation models and applies methods such as spatially explicit coalescence to maximise computational tractability.

If you would like to meet with James, please contact Maria Dornelas.

James Rosindell’ website

Eduardo Góes Neves is a Professor of Archaeology at the University of São Paulo, Brazil, and currently CAPES Distinguished Visiting Professor of Anthropology at Harvard University, USA. His current area of research is southwestern Amazonia, at the current border of Bolivia and Brazil, where he has been studying middle Holocene occupations on fluvial shell mounds, as well as the archaeology of late pre-colonial mound building societies.  Through his various collaborations, he is also deeply involved in work that addresses long-term human impacts on Amazonian biodiversity.

Eduardo Góes Neves’ website

Note: Due to personal commitments that have arisen, Professor Neves will be delivering his talk from Harvard via live video link.

Professor Elizabeth Thompson is in residence in the School of Biology as a Carnegie Centenary Professor from January through June, 2017.  Professor Thomson is a statistical geneticist from the University of Washington with a long-standing interest in ancestry-based inference of population structure, including applications to humans, plants, animals, and conservation of endangered species.

If you would like to meet with Elizabeth, please contact Tom Meagher.

Elizabeth Thompson’s website

Abstract

Studying adaptive evolution in natural conditions is very complicated task. One possible approach involves assessing biogeographical variation. In the case of highly mobile organisms, population differentiation in confined areas could be often ascribed to isolation by environment or/and isolation by adaptation, rather than to physical barriers to gene flow. Novel tools, which efficiently provide a realistic assessment of relationships between population structure and environmental qualities, arose within the field of landscape genetics. An especially useful approach is derived from the circuit theory.  Here I will discuss the application of these tools to diverse mammalian groups with different body plans enabling efficient dispersal, with examples that encompasses transition zones between ecotypes, and the potential of the circuit theory framework in cetacean research.

Pavel Hulva is a researcher in the Department of Zoology at Charles University in Prague. His main research interests are molecular evolution (phylogenetics, phylogeography, landscape genetics, population genetics), bats (Chiroptera) and mammals (Mammalia).

If you would like to meet with Pavel, please contact Emma Carroll.

Pavel Huvla’s website

Abstract

The five major groups of deuterostomes offer stark contrasts in rates of evolution. While echinoderms, hemichordates and vertebrates are evolving relatively slowly, tunicates are evolving exceptionally fast and cephalochordates (aka amphioxus or lancelets) are evolving exceptionally slowly. Species of amphioxus are quite similar morphologically and live in similar habitats. Indeed, intergenus crosses of amphioxus can produce viable offspring.  In contrast, tunicates are highly diverse morphologically and occupy a wide range of marine environments. Even congeneric species occupying the same habitat rarely interbreed. The present talk asks “Why are levels of diversity and rates of evolution so vastly different in tunicates and amphioxus? Are these differences related to different modes of development with cell fates being determined very early in tunicate development but only gradually in amphioxus? Which came first, a switch in evolutionary rate from slow to fast or a switch from late determination of cell fate to early determination of cell fate?”

Linda Holland is a researcher at the Marine Biology Research Division at Scripps Institution of Oceanography in UC San Diego. She is broadly interested in Chordate evolutionary relationships, developmental genetics of amphioxus, and evolution and development.

If you would like to meet with Linda, please contact Ildiko Somorjai

Linda Holland’s website

Abstract

We all modify our behaviour in different social situations to adapt, fit in or to become more competitive. Fruit flies also have complex social lives, aggregating independently of any resources, engaging in social learning, forming social networks and having a genetic propensity for different types of social environments. Using Drosophila melanogaster fruit flies as a model, we can investigate both the fitness consequences of changes of social environment and the mechanisms by which individuals can respond to such changes. One aspect of the social environment that has a particular impact on males is how much mating competition (both before and after mating) they encounter. Theory predicts that if males can mate more than once they need to trade-off current and future mating opportunities, hence they should modify their mating effort at a particular mating depending on the amount of competition they face. Males of many species use plastic strategies to cope with this uncertainty, taking cues from the presence of other males or the mating status of females, and making adjustments to behaviour and ejaculate content accordingly. In D. melanogaster, after being exposed to a potential competitor, males mate for longer and transfer a higher quality ejaculate. This has fitness benefits, at least in the short term, but is costly. By combining behavioural and life history data with transgenics and transcriptomics, we can investigate how such responses are coordinated and regulated, an important step in understanding how sophisticated, flexible social behaviours evolve. We are also starting to use this paradigm to investigate other consequences of social contact on traits such as ageing, immunity and cognition.

Amanda Bretman is an Academic Fellow in the School of Biology at the University of Leeds. She is an evolutionary ecologist, working mainly in the field of sexual selection and behavioural ecology using insect model systems. She works in three primary areas: behavioural plasticity and the socio-sexual environment, polyandry and inbreeding avoidance, and natural and sexual selection in field crickets.

If you would like to meet with Amanda, please contact Nathan Bailey.

Amanda Bretman’s website

Abstract

Butterfly wing patterns are a striking example of biological diversity. The neotropical Heliconius butterflies in particular have extensive within and between species diversity in their wing colour patterns. Some of this diversity is due to variation at the gene cortex, which has repeatedly been targeted by natural selection, both to produce mimetic colour pattern resemblances within Heliconius and remarkably to shift camouflage in the peppered moth. I will also talk about ongoing work in my lab to identify genes controlling iridescent structural colour.

Nicola Nadeau is a NERC Independent Research Fellow in the Department of Animal and Plant Sciences in the University of Sheffield. Her lab group tries to understand evolutionary processes such as adaptation, divergence and speciation. In particular, they want to understand what the genetic changes are that bring about evolutionary change and the interplay between genetics, ecology and evolution. They focus on the evolution of structural colour, convergent evolution and its genetic underpinnings, and genomic approaches to divergence, speciation and adaptation.

If you would like to meet with Nicola please contact Nathan Bailey.

Nicola Nadeau’s website

Abstract

Sexual selection is the prime evolutionary force that makes males and females different. Sexual selection theory has recently expanded to include mate competition between females and mate choice by males, but empirical studies addressing these themes are still scarce. My research explores the evolution of sex role reversed mating systems using honey locust beetles (Megabruchidius sp.). I will present experimental evidence showing that (i) multiple mating can be costly for males and beneficial for females, (ii) males are choosy and (iii) female‑biased sex ratios accelerated the evolution of female courtship, which even led to stronger sex role reversal (experimental evolution over 20 generations). I highlight the essential role that females play in mating system evolution and that their contribution cannot simply be reduced to mate choice.

If you would like to meet with Karoline please contact Mike Ritchie.

Karoline Fritzsche’s website

Abstract

Conflicts between human livelihoods and biodiversity conservation are increasing in scale and intensity and have been shown to be damaging for both biodiversity and humans. Managing a specific natural resource often results in conflict between those stakeholders focussing on improving livelihoods and food security and those focussed on biodiversity conversation. Uncertainty, for example from climate change, decreases food security, puts further pressure on biodiversity and exacerbates conflicts. I will present first results towards developing a novel model that integrates game theory and social-ecological modelling to develop new approaches to manage conservation conflicts. The project has importance for society at large because ecosystems and their services are central to human wellbeing and unlocking these conflicts will provide great potential for a more sustainable future.

Nils Bunnefeld is an associate professor at the University of Stirling. His main research interests encompass the conservation and management of social-ecological systems using the combination of empirical data collection and modelling to investigate the interaction between human decision-making and the dynamics of ecological processes. In order to do this, he focusses on developing models and approaches to integrate ecological, social and economic data and theory to assist conservation and management decision making.

If anyone would like to meet with Nils please contact Jeroen Minderman.

Nils Bunnefeld’s website

Abstract

Dietary restriction is renowned as the most consistent environmental intervention to extend lifespan and delay ageing. Typically this effect is thought to result from a reduction in the availability of calories and a subsequent switch from investment in reproduction to investment in survival under conditions of poor resource availability. However, recent work has questioned the generality of the effect of DR, demonstrating a stronger effect in laboratory adapted than non-adapted populations and a stronger effect in females than males. In addition the role of calories has been questioned, with experiments using a broader range of diets suggesting variation in the ratio of macronutrients is more important in determining lifespan, with high protein diets resulting in lower lifespan. I will present early results from an investigation of the role of calories and macronutrient ratio in determining survival and reproduction in a wild derived population of freshwater fish, the stickleback Gasterosteus aculeatus. In this study, we reared fish on one of 15 diet treatments varying in both protein to lipid ratio (P:L) and availability to allow separation of the effects of macronutrients and calories. Results suggest that P:L is more important in determining survival and reproduction than calories. In general males and females invested more in reproduction with increasing protein ingestion, but there was variation between traits and the amount of lipid ingested was also important for female reproduction.  In addition, there appears to be a sex difference in the effect of diet on lifespan. Males reared on high P:L diets suffered higher mortality than those reared on lower P:L, but this does not appear to be true for females. I will discuss these results in the light of recent work assessing the importance of calories and macronutrients in determining survival and reproduction and the evolutionary explanation for the existence of sex differences in the effect of DR.

Craig Walling is an evolutionary ecologist working in the Institute of Evolutionary Biology at the University of Edinburgh. His research group focuses on understanding the evolution of, and maintenance of variation in, life history traits. Strong selection is predicted to reduce levels of genetic variation in such traits, yet genetic variation is often observed. My research aims to try and understand the causes and consequences of this variation. To address these aims I use techniques from both quantitative genetics and behavioural ecology in order to improve our understanding of both the genetic and environmental causes of variation in life history traits.

If anyone would like to meet with Craig please contact Nathan Bailey.

Craig Walling’s website

Abstract

The capacity for speech and language is a fundamental trait of humankind, and is of intense interest across diverse fields including linguistics, anthropology, neuroscience and molecular and evolutionary biology. I will present recent work from my research program using diverse, complementary approaches to study the genetic underpinnings of speech and language including; clinical studies that investigate the genetic causes of speech and language disorders; molecular studies that demonstrate how genes influence neuronal development and function; and work in animal models linking gene function to behaviours relevant for spoken language.

Sonja Vernes is the head of the Neurogenetics of Vocal Communication Group at the Max Plank Institute for Psycholinguistics. Her research studies the genetics of vocal communication in mammals, as a way to understand the evolution and biological basis of human speech and language.

If anyone would like to meet with Sonja or join her for dinner on Tuesday night, please contact B. Pralle Kriengwatana.

Sonja Vernes’ website

Abstract

What academic would be happy to think of their research as having little impact? The scoring of impact outside of academia in the REF adds even more impetus to this topic. Impact has such a broad definition in the REF – ‘an effect on, change or benefit to the economy, society, culture, public policy or services, health, the environment or quality of life, beyond academia’ – that nearly everyone’s research should have a pathway to impact. But we are not always trained how to find and develop this path. I will start the seminar by describing how my curiosity-driven research on acoustic communication in marine mammals led to impact for understanding the effects of anthropogenic noise. The critical pathway to impact was a willingness (I felt it an obligation) to get involved where one’s science is relevant for political issues, legal disputes, or conflicts between regulators and stakeholder, even if these are controversial. Interacting with the critical players in the decision-making process was essential for obtaining convincing evidence of impact from convincing sources. Committing to this process can take a lot of time, but is necessary for creating the link between our research and decision-making outside of academia. I would like for most of the seminar to involve a brainstorming discussion about pathways to impact for some of the varied CBD research areas.

Peter Tyack is a Professor in the School of Biology and at the Scottish Oceans Institute here at the University of St Andrews. His research focuses on the evolution of vocal learning in mammals and what effects this has on social behavior, especially mediating indvidual-specific relationships. My lab primarily studies cetaceans in the field, and we have developed new methods to sample behavior continuously from individuals. I am also concerned about the effects of anthropogenic sound on wildlife, and have studied effects of sounds such as naval sonar and airguns used for seismic survey on cetaceans.

Peter Tyack’s website

Abstract

Elaborate cognitive abilities and relatively large brains are distributed across a variety of taxa, and there is a large number of primarily verbal hypotheses to explain such diversity. Yet, mathematical models formalizing verbal arguments and helping deepen our understanding of brain and cognition evolution remain scarce. To address this issue, I will present a mathematical model that combines life history and metabolic theories to yield quantitative predictions for brain life history evolution given a chosen set of hypotheses. The model assumes that some of the brain’s energetic expense is due to learning and memory of skills. I will show predictions arising from the model applied to humans under a baseline setting (“me-vs-nature”), namely when the individual uses her skills to extract energy from the environment without social interactions except with her mother. The model shows that this baseline setting is enough to generate major human life stages (childhood, adolescence, and adulthood) with proper timing while producing adult body and brain mass of ancient human scale. The model also finds that adult skill number is proportional to adult brain mass if memory is sufficiently costly, essentially regardless of learning costs. Finally, the model shows that large brains are favored by intermediately challenging environments, moderately effective skills, and metabolically expensive memory. To close, I will talk about the applications of the model that I plan to do here to address sociality.

Mauricio González-Forero is a Marie Curie Fellow here at St Andrews in the School of Biology. His research interests are in evolutionary biology, and use mathematical approaches to address questions related to brain evolution, the evolution of social behavior, and the species problem.

Mauricio González-Forero’s website

Abstract

Social network analysis’ ability to measure individual connectedness in both the dyadic and polyadic (or ‘indirect’) sense is one of the main features that sets it apart from more traditional approaches to the study of behaviour. Indirect connections influence the health, well-being, and financial success of humans. But whether indirect connections are important to other animals, and by consequence critical to biologists’ understanding of the causes and consequences of sociality in those animals, remains unclear. Here, I aim to demonstrate that there is mounting evidence that indirect connections are important to our understanding of animal behaviour. I focus on studies that have explored the fitness consequences of indirect connections, highlighting those that have uncovered new and important information that would not have been revealed had the focus been solely at the level of dyadic associations. Based on this overview, I conclude that although the number of studies that demonstrate that indirect connections may be an important component of animal sociality has become too great to ignore, many questions remain open and additional research is required.

Lauren Brent is a Leverhulme Early Career Fellow and Lecturer in the Psychology department at the University of Exeter. Her research focuses on the evolution of sociality and ask why social relationships are formed and how they are maintained. The bulk of her research is focused on a highly gregarious primate, the rhesus macaque (Macaca mulatta), where I have provided some of the first evidence of the fitness benefits of sociality, showing that the infants of individuals who are more deeply embedded in their social network are more likely to survive, and females with larger families live longer. I have also shown that an individual’s position in their social network is heritable, confirming that sociality is under genetic control and is a trait on which selection may act. I am also currently (or have recently been) involved in projects on other social mammals, including vampire bats, elephants, dairy cows, and killer whales.

If anyone would like to meet with Lauren please contact Sue Healy.

Lauren Brent’s website

Abstract

Population assessments are an important, integrated means of establishing baselines, recovery status and resilience for conservation management of vulnerable species. For cetacean populations, such assessments require good estimates of past catch history and current population connectivity, abundance and trend. In this talk I will discuss developments in the use of these data as well as emerging results from population assessments of humpback and southern right whales in the Southern Hemisphere. Pre-exploitation “carrying capacity” baselines can provide a useful means of gauging population recovery levels, but how accurate are they? Can we do better?

Jennifer Jackson is a Whale Ecologist/Geneticist for the British antarctic Survey. She is interested in evolutionary genetics, evolutionary rates and the use of fossils to calibrate evolutionary trees and describe the tempo and pattern of the evolutionary history of species. Population genetics, the use of rapidly evolving DNA markers to measure population sizes, migration rates and past demography and dynamics. Particularly interested in using new genomic technologies such as ‘ddRAD’ for characterising population structure. And population dynamic modelling to understand the population history of exploited whales- an integration of data on population trend, abundance, exploitation history with logistic models to look at past bottlenecks, pre-exploitation abundance and current recovery levels. And mark recapture models to estimate animal abundance and trend.

If anyone would like to meet with Jen please contact Ellen Garland.

Jennifer Jackson’s website

Abstract

I will present experimental findings in zebra finches and humans that make use of abnormal song and atypical linguistic input to study processes shaping communication systems: individual learning, social interaction, and cultural transmission. Atypical input places increased learning and communicative pressure on learners, so exploring how they respond to this type of input provides a particularly clear picture of the biases and constraints at work during learning and use. Furthermore, simulating the cultural transmission of these unnatural communication systems in the laboratory informs us about how learning and social biases influence the structure of communication systems in the long run. Findings based on these methods suggest fundamental similarities in the basic social–cognitive mechanisms underlying vocal learning in birds and humans.

Olga is a research assistant in the School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences at the University of Edinburgh. Her research focuses on the cultural evolution of birdsong and language, with a particular interest in social influences on the learning of song and language.

If anyone would like to meet with Olga or join us for lunch after the seminar please contact Ellen Garland.

Olga Feher’s website

Abstract

Many mammal and bird species produce long, complex sequences of vocalisations, made up of a combination of multiple discrete sound types. Much has been written about the complexity of these sequences and what they might tell us about the evolution of human language. Recently, non-trivial statistical dependencies have been found in the vocalisations of many species, from humpback whales to Titi monkeys. Such statistical dependencies are often called “syntactic structure”. What is the relationship – if any – of animal syntax to the evolution of human language? Indeed, do these syntactic structure even have any relevance to animal communication? Authors have variously postulated that complex vocal sequences could encode individual information (i.e. act as honest index signals), encode more general environmental information (i.e. act as an intentional information channel), or perhaps be no more than arbitrary artefacts of the sound production mechanism. Answering these questions without being privy to the actual semantic content of the messages seems like an impossible task. However, I will present some statistical techniques that attempt to distinguish between complexity for its own sake, and complexity for the sake of communicative power. Furthermore, there may be models of sequence complexity that help to explain why human language appears to be unique, without the presence of any evolutionarily intermediate steps.

Arik Kershenbaum is a Herchel Smith Research Fellow in the Department of Zoology at the University of Cambridge, UK. He focuses on the evolution of acoustic communication systems in different animals, and particularly the role that communication plays in the evolution of cooperation.

If anyone would like to meet with Arik please contact Ellen Garland.

Arik Kershenbaum’s website