Alternative Reproductive Strategies in Animal Societies

Event description

Animal societies have evolved many ingenious ways to pass their genes on to the next generation, aside from simple male-female pair-bonding. Understanding the evolution and maintenance of these strategies provides fascinating insights into animal behaviour, and provides information on breeding and mating systems that is crucial for species conservation.

Alternative reproductive strategies can result in intriguing levels of organisation, such as individuals waiting their turn in a queue to become a breeder, or clever methods of avoiding detection by a host in order to parasitise another individual's nesting resources.

This meeting explores alternative reproductive strategies across the taxonomic spectrum (from insects and birds to large mammals) illustrating how 'unusual' strategies of gene propagation are in fact wide spread in the animal kingdom.

The talks will be given by Professor Jeremy Field, Sussex University; Dr Rebecca Kilner, University of Cambridge; Dr Loeske Kruuk, University of Edinburgh; and Dr David Richardson, University of East Anglia. Professor Tim Coulson (Imperial College London) will be our Chair for the evening.

Entry to the talks is free and there is no need to book in advance.