The Centre for Biological Diversity addresses the consequences of biodiversity at the interface between ecology and evolution. The ecological consequences of biodiversity are considered in terms of processes such as pollination biology, niche construction, and invasion biology.
Find Out More: Research Groups
Prof. Kevin Laland
Dr. Susan Healy
Prof. Pat Willmer
Associated Degree Programmes
Undergraduate Degree Programmes
Undergraduate Field Courses
Masters Programmes
Key Publications
Recent publications listed in research@st-andrews
Templeton, CN, Philp, K, Guillette, LM, Laland, KN & Benson-Amram, S 2017, 'Sex and pairing status impact how zebra finches use social information in foraging' Behavioural Processes, vol 139, pp. 38-42. DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2016.12.010
Japyassú, HF & Laland, KN 2017, 'Extended spider cognition' Animal Cognition, vol 20, no. 3, pp. 375-395. DOI: 10.1007/s10071-017-1069-7
Laland, KN 2017, 'Schism and Synthesis at the Royal Society' Trends in Ecology and Evolution, vol 32, no. 5, pp. 316-317. DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2017.02.015
Webster, MM, Whalen, ACZ & Laland, KN 2017, 'Fish pool their experience to solve problems collectively' Nature Ecology and Evolution, vol 1, 0135. DOI: 10.1038/s41559-017-0135
van der Post, DJ, Franz, M & Laland, KN 2017, 'The evolution of social learning mechanisms and cultural phenomena in group foragers' BMC Evolutionary Biology, vol 17, 49. DOI: 10.1186/s12862-017-0889-z
Arbilly, M & Laland, KN 2017, 'The magnitude of innovation and its evolution in social animals' Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, vol 284, no. 1848, 20162385. DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2016.2385
Laland, KN 2017, 'The origins of language in teaching' Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, vol 24, no. 1, pp. 225-231. DOI: 10.3758/s13423-016-1077-7
Laland, KN 2017, 'The foundations of human cooperation in teaching and imitation' The Spanish Journal of Psychology, vol 19, e100, pp. 1-10. DOI: 10.1017/sjp.2016.101
Brown, GR, Cross, CP & Laland, KN 2017, Evolutionary approaches to human behaviour. in The Behaviour of Animals: Mechanisms, Function and Evolution; 2nd Edition; Ed. J. Bolhuis and L.-A. Giraldeau.
Laland, KN & Brown, GR 2017, The social construction of human nature. in T Lewens & B Hannon (eds), Why We Disagree About Human Nature. Oxford University Press.