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      • About me
      • Research
      • Approaches
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      • Resources
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      • Preregistrations
      • Publications
      • Impact
      • CBE
      • About me
      • Research
      • Approaches
      • Current Projects
      • Bandeds
      • Resources
      • Spider
      • Preregistrations
      • Publications
      • Impact
      • CBE
      • …  
        • About me
        • Research
        • Approaches
        • Current Projects
        • Bandeds
        • Resources
        • Spider
        • Preregistrations
        • Publications
        • Impact
        • CBE
      • About me
      • Research
      • Approaches
      • Current Projects
      • Bandeds
      • Resources
      • Spider
      • Preregistrations
      • Publications
      • Impact
      • CBE
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        • Dieter Lukas

          Causes and consequences of sociality

          I investigate why populations differ in their social behaviour. I classify the extent of cooperation and competition between individuals in a wide range of populations and identify which environmental conditions lead to certain behaviours. My current research focuses on identifying whether these conditions also shape human behaviour.

          I am a Senior Researcher in the Comparative Behavioral Ecology group of the Department of Human Behaviour, Ecology and Culture at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (see here for my full CV).

          Email: dieter_lukas [@] eva.mpg.de

          Twitter: @DieterLukas

        • Research

          My research reveals that where and with whom individuals live influences how they behave

          Sociality

          Populations do not consist of random collections of individuals, but of organised societies: individuals can live solitarily, in pairs, or in groups. I have shown that environmental conditions are a major explanation for why populations show different social organisations and behaviour.

          Behaviour

          Relationships among individuals vary widely: they might kill or help each other, with both sometimes occurring in the same species. I have shown how kinship among individuals shapes competition and cooperation. I am now determining how differences in behaviour link to reproductive success.

        • Approaches

          In my research, I primarily look at trees: family trees and phylogenetic trees

          Family trees

          Information on the parents of individuals can reveal their ancestry and who is related to whom. This information also provides the full reproductive histories of individuals, showing if, how often, and when individuals had their children. We determine how kinship shapes behaviour and how behaviour influences reproduction.

          Phylogenetic trees

          To determine how the environment shapes behaviour, we perform comparisons across individuals, populations, and species. We identify when changes in sociality and behaviour occurred, what the conditions were at the time of the change, and how sociality subsequently influences physiology, morphology, and other behaviours.

        • Current Projects

          Here are some of the projects I am currently involved in. Contact me in case you are interested in developing a project to apply for funding. For more on the vision and code of conduct of my research team please see the pages of the Comparative Behavioural Ecology group.

          Cousin marriage

          Marriages among cousins are common across human societies, despite the potential risk of inbreeding. Are these potential costs balanced by fitness benefits such that cousin marriages are an adaptive strategy in certain environments? With Arianna Dalzero

          Sharing and reproduction

          Across animals, risks and resource availabilities in the environment influence the timing and investment in reproduction. We are interested whether in humans transfer of resources might mean that reproduction is more shaped by the social than the ecological environment. With Pablo Jose Varas Enriquez

          Behaviour and expansion

          I am a collaborator on the great-tailed grackle project. This project investigates whether behaviour plays a role in their adaption to new environments. My particular focus is on understanding the mating and dispersal behaviour across their expansion range. With Corina Logan

          Global social variation

          Studies in mammals and birds have identified that species with certain social behaviour are predominantly found in certain environments. This project investigates whether humans living in these environments show similar behaviour. With Andreas Pondorfer and Toman Barsbai

          Kinship and behaviour

          Human and non-human societies differ in how closely individuals are related and whether families stay together. This project investigates whether kin composition influences interactions within groups. With Jeremy Koster and Tim Clutton-Brock

          Dominance interactions

          Competition between individuals is a fundamental aspect of the evolution of mammalian societies. Is it beneficial for individuals to rank above others of the same sex? And when would we expect that individuals of one sex have more power than individuals of the opposite sex. With Elise Huchard and Shivani

        • Resources

           

           

          Diversity in Academia: in a collaboration with Dr Carter, Dr Croft, and Dr Sandstrom, we have collected an overview of data, resources, and advice around the attrition of minorities in academia. This arose from our project to promote diversity in question asking at academic seminars.

           

           

          I am starting to turn information into blog posts:

          - information on how to think about academic life after the PhD

          - my experiences on outreach and interacting with the press

          - tools and strategies for how to find data for comparative analyses

          - links to information by other people with resources on academic career advice

          - why and how to submit your preregistrations for peer-review

          Job and grant information

          I compiled a list of 250 funding agencies for postdoctoral research fellowships in the biological sciences.

           

          Various online boards collect job announcements, here is a list of some in biology and conservation.

           

          There are a number of searchable online databases with funding opportunities:

          • Research Professional for researchers based at UK universities with subscriptions
          • SPIN for US universities  with subscriptions; Instrumentl for individuals/institutions with subscriptions (mainly US)
          • ELFI for German universities with subscriptions
          • Information on funding for early career researchers (master's through to postdoc) from grad centers at UCLA, UChicago, and Harvard University 
          • Lists of private philanthropic foundations in the US, in the UK, in Switzerland, and in Germany.

          Academic culture

          I have been fortunate to experience very supportive mentors, peers, and colleagues, and I work to create positive academic environments.

          • Build networks: in addition to informal peer alliances, formal communities for students, postdocs, or researchers, are important to strengthen solidarity and address structural issues.  
          • Establish mentoring: the aim of such programs is to help mentees clarify their goals and gain tools to approach future situations; academic environments might also benefit from reverse mentoring to raise awareness.
          • Run workshops: the postdoc committee at the Department of Zoology invited experts to provide their views on various skills relevant for career progression.
          • Organise talks: seminar series (involving local or external speakers) help bring the department together and offer forums for exchange. Here are some ideas for what to consider when organising them. 

           

          Inclusivity

          Existing biases and skewed incentive structures mean that opportunities, pay, and career progression are not equally available to all. To promote inclusive environments, I aim to:

          • Provide fair employment conditions and support for all involved in research.
          • Be an active collaborator to create inclusive workspaces.
          • Support a scientific approach and process that is open to all 
          • Ensure equal representation among speakers at conferences and in seminar series.
          • Study the processes that limit equal participation and suggest actions to increase visibility of underrepresented groups.
          • Judge people based on what they achieved with the opportunities afforded to them, and not fall for the myth of meritocracy.
          • Provide a supportive and harassment-free environment for everyone.

           

          Tools for comparative analyses

          A number of researchers provide introductions and advice on how to perform comparative analyses in a phylogenetic framework:

          • AnthroTree website, which accompanies a book by Charles Nunn.
          • TreeThinkers blog of the Bodega Workshop. 
          • R Phylo Wiki, which grew out of a hackaton at NESCENT.
          • Ultimate overview of phylogenetic programs, curated by Joe Felsenstein.
          • Phylogenetic packages in R, maintained by Brian O'Meara.
          • PhyTools blog, written by Liam Revell.
          • Several lists of manuals, resources, overviews, and tutorials about the statistical software R.

           

          News coverage of my research

          I engage with people from diverse backgrounds who are fascinated by animal behaviour. These interactions inspire me to see new angles to my research. Here are some examples of my exchanges with science journalists:

          • CBC radio special on Love
          • ScienceVS True Love podcast
          • Breaking Bio podcast on parent of the year
          • BBC iWonder exploration of monogamy in animals
          • Carl Zimmer on the 'natural' of family life

           

          Food

          An alternative creative, explorative, fun, and hands-on activity: finding, making, tasting, and enjoying food:

          • You're Vegan? What do you Eat?! So many things! - with Corina Logan.
          • Great community based guide to restaurants all around the world.
          • Recipe collections at the BBC and the NY Times.

           

        • Preregistrations

          The following are preregistrations that have passed peer review for which we are currently collecting the data and completing the analyses. I provide links to the in-principle acceptance decisions, pdf of the preregistration, updated manuscript depending on status of the study, and where already available the data.

          Peer-Reviewed Preregistration: The effect of dominance rank on female reproductive success in social mammals.

          Shivani, Huchard E, Lukas D (2020) Recommendation doi: 10.24072/pci.ecology.100056

          publisher's website / accepted version / current version / data

          Peer-Reviewed Preregistration: Implementing a rapid geographic range expansion - the role of behavior and habitat changes.

          Logan C, McCune K, Breen A, Chen N, Lukas D (2020) Recommendation doi: 10.24072/pci.ecology.100062

          publisher's website / accepted version / current version

          Peer-Reviewed Preregistration: Investigating the rare behavior of male parental care in great-tailed grackles.

          Folsom MA, MacPherson M, Lukas D, McCune KB, Bergeron L, Bond A, Blackwell A, Rowney C, Logan CJ (2020) Recommendation doi: 10.24072/pci.ecology.100054

          publisher's website / accepted version / current version

          Peer-Reviewed Preregistration: Is behavioral flexibility related to foraging and social behavior in a rapidly expanding species?

          Logan C, Lukas D, Bergeron L, Folsom M, McCune K. (2019) Recommendation doi: 10.24072/pci.ecology.100026

          publisher's website / accepted version / current version

        • Publications

          I provide links to the final versions on the publisher's websites, the deposited open pdfs, and data. For articles that were preregistered, I also provide links to the preregistrations and the in-principle acceptance.

          Local convergence of behavior across species.

          Barsbai T, Lukas D, Pondorfer A (2021) doi: 10.1126/science.abb7481

          publisher's website / pdf / data+code / press release

          Investigating sex differences in genetic relatedness in great-tailed grackles in Tempe, Arizona to infer potential sex biases in dispersal.

          Sevchik A, Logan CJ, Bergeron L, McClune K, Blackwell A, Rowney C, Lukas D. (2021) doi: 10.32942/osf.io/t6beh; Version 5 of this preprint has been peer-reviewed and recommended by Peer Community In Ecology: doi: 10.24072/pci.ecology.10007

          Article: publisher's website / pdf / data / code

          Preregistration: in-principle acceptance preregistration / accepted version preregistration

          The Potential to Infer the Historical Pattern of Cultural Macroevolution.

          Lukas D, Towner M, Borgerhoff Mulder M (2021) doi: 10.1098/rstb.2020.0057

          publisher's website / pdf / data+code

          Monotocy and the evolution of plural breeding in mammals.

          Lukas D, Clutton-Brock T (2020) doi:10.1093/beheco/araa039

          publisher's website / pdf / data

          Kinship across the lifespan in human communities.

          Koster J, Lukas D, Nolin D, Power EA, Alvergne A, Mace R, Ross C, Kramer K, Greaves R, Caudell M, MacFarlan S, Schniter E, Quinlan R, Mattison S, Reynolds A, Yi-Sum C, Massengill E (2019) doi: 10.1098/rstb.2018.0069

          publisher's website / pdf / data

          The evolution of infanticide by females in mammals.

          Lukas D & Huchard E (2019) doi: 10.1098/rstb.2018.0075

          publisher's website / pdf / data / press release

          Social complexity: patterns, processes, and evolution.

          Kappeler PM, Clutton-Brock T, Shultz S, Lukas D (2019) doi: 10.1007/s0026

          publisher's website / pdf

          Women's visibility in academic seminars: women ask fewer questions than men.

          Carter A, Croft A, Lukas D & Sandstrom G (2018) doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0202743

          publisher's website / pdf of preprint / data / press release

          Social complexity and kinship in animal societies

          Lukas D & Clutton-Brock TH (2018) doi: 10.1111/ele.13079

          publisher's website / pdf / data / press release​

          Ingredients for Understanding Brain and Behavioral Evolution: Ecology, Phylogeny, and Mechanism

          Montgomery SH, Currie A, Lukas D, Boogert N, Buskell A, Cross FR, Jelbert S, Avin S, Mares R, Navarrete AF, Shigeno S & Logan C (2018) doi: 10.3819/CCBR.2018.130011

          publisher's website / pdf

          Beyond brain size: uncovering the neural correlates of behavioral and cognitive specialization

          Logan CJ, Avin S, Boogert N, Buskell A, Cross FR, Currie A, Jelbert S, Lukas D, Mares R, Navarette AF, Shigeno S & Montgomtery SH (2018) doi: 10.3819/CCBR.2018.130008

          publisher's website / pdf

          The relationship between egg size and helper number in cooperative breeders: a meta-analysis across species.

          Dixit T, English S & Lukas D (2017) doi: 10.7717/peerj.4028

          publisher's website / pdf / data

          Reply: Comparative studies need to rely both on sound natural history data and on excellent statistical analysis.

          Lukas D & Clutton-Brock (2017) doi: 10.1098/rsos.171211

          publisher's website / pdf

          Climate and the distribution of cooperative breeding in mammals.

          Lukas D & Clutton-Brock T (2017) doi: 10.1098/rsos.160897

          publisher's website / pdf / data / press release

          The evolution of infanticide by males in mammalian societies.

          Lukas D & Huchard E (2014) doi: 10.1126/science.1257226

          publisher's website / pdf / data / press release

          Revisiting non-offspring nursing: allonursing evolves when the costs are low.

          MacLeod KJ & Lukas D (2014) doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2014.0378

          publisher's website / pdf / data

          Costs of mating competition limit male lifetime breeding success in polygynous mammals.

          Lukas D & Clutton-Brock TH (2014) doi: 10.1098/rspb.2014.0418

          publisher's website / pdf / data

          Junior scientists are sceptical of sceptics of open access: a reply to Agrawal.

          Carter AJ, Horrocks NP, Huchard E, Logan CJ, Lukas D, MacLeod KJ, Marshall HM, Peck HL, Sanderson JL & Sorensen MC. (2014) doi: 10.1016/j.tplants.2014.04.005

          publisher's website / pdf

          Evolution of social monogamy in primates is not consistently associated with male infanticide

          Lukas D & Clutton-Brock TH (2014) doi: 10.1073/pnas.1401012111

          publisher's website / pdf / data

          The evolution of social monogamy in mammals.

          Lukas D & Clutton-Brock TH (2013) doi: 10.1126/science.1238677

          publisher's website / pdf / data / press release

          Caring for offspring in a world of cheats.

          Lukas D (2013) doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.1001519

          publisher's website / pdf

          Individual variation in cognitive performance: developmental and evolutionary perspectives.

          Thornton A & Lukas D (2012) doi: 10.1098/rstb.2012.0214

          publisher's website / pdf /data

          Life histories and the evolution of cooperative breeding in mammals.

          Lukas D & Clutton-Brock TH (2012) doi: 10.1098/rspb.2012.1433

          publisher's website / pdf

          Cooperative breeding and monogamy in mammalian societies.

          Lukas D & Clutton-Brock TH (2012) doi: 10.1098/rspb.2011.2468

          publisher's website / pdf / data

          The evolution of social philopatry and dispersal in female mammals.

          Clutton-Brock TH & Lukas D (2012) doi: 10.1111/j.1365-294X.2011.05232.x

          publisher's website / pdf

          Group structure, kinship, inbreeding risk and habitual female dispersal in plural-breeding mammals.

          Lukas D & Clutton-Brock TH (2011) doi: 10.1111/j.1420-9101.2011.02385.x

          publisher's website / pdf / data

          Male-mediated gene flow in patrilocal primates.

          Schubert G, Stoneking CJ, Arandjelovic M, Boesch C, Eckhard N, Hohmann G, Langergraber K, Lukas D, Vigilant L (2011). doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0021514

          publisher's website / pdf

          Comparative study of genetic variation in relation to social structures of animals.

          Lukas D (2008). PhD Thesis. Universitaet Leipzig.

          pdf

          Y-chromosome analysis confirms highly sex-biased dispersal and suggests a low male effective population size in bonobos (Pan paniscus).

          Eriksson J, Siedel H, Lukas D, Kayser M, Erler A, Hashimoto C, Hohmann G, Boesch C & Vigilant L (2006) doi: 10.1111/j.1365-294X.2006.02845.x

          publisher's website / pdf

          To what extent does living in a group mean living with kin?

          Lukas D, Reynolds V, Boesch C & Vigilant L (2005) doi: 10.1111/j.1365-294X.2005.02560.x

          publisher's website / pdf

          Nuclear insertions help and hinder inference of the evolutionary history of gorilla mtDNA.

          Thalmann O, Serre D, Hofreiter M, Lukas D, Eriksson J & Vigilant L (2005) doi: 10.1111/j.1365-294X.2004.02382.x

          publisher's website / pdf

          Major histocompatibility complex and microsatellite variation in two populations of wild gorillas.

          Lukas D, Bradley BJ, Nsubuga AM, Doran-Sheehy D, Robbins M & Vigilant L (2004) doi: 10.1111/j.1365-294X.2004.02353.x

          publisher's website / pdf / data

          Commentary on previous paper: Facts, faeces and setting standards for the study of MHC genes using noninvasive samples.

          Lukas D & Vigilant L (2005) doi: 10.1111/j.1365-294X.2005.02459.x

          publisher's website / pdf

          Dispersed male networks in western gorillas.

          Bradley BJ, Doran-Sheehy DM, Lukas D, Boesch C & Vigilant L (2004) doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2004.02.062

          publisher's website / pdf

        • Impact

          Research output

          ORCID

          Research impact

          ImpactStory

          Citations to my work

          Google Scholar

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