Coordination of care by breeders and helpers in the cooperatively breeding long-tailed tit (2022)
Journal Article
Halliwell, C., Beckerman, A., Germain, M., Patrick, S., Leedale, A., & Hatchwell, B. (2022). Coordination of care by breeders and helpers in the cooperatively breeding long-tailed tit. Behavioral Ecology, 33(4), 844-858. https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/arac048

In species with biparental and cooperative brood care, multiple carers cooperate by contributing costly investments to raise a shared brood. However, shared benefits and individual costs also give rise to conflict among carers conflict among carers o... Read More about Coordination of care by breeders and helpers in the cooperatively breeding long-tailed tit.

Odour-based social recognition in Damaraland mole-rats, Fukomys damarensis (2021)
Journal Article
Leedale, A., Thorley, J., & Clutton-Brock, T. (2021). Odour-based social recognition in Damaraland mole-rats, Fukomys damarensis. Animal Behaviour, 179, 83-96. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2021.06.019

The ability to discriminate between conspecifics functions in mate choice, kin-selected cooperation and territory defence. In mammals, olfaction plays a key role in such social interactions. Olfactory cues may be particularly important for subterrane... Read More about Odour-based social recognition in Damaraland mole-rats, Fukomys damarensis.

Cost, risk, and avoidance of inbreeding in a cooperatively breeding bird (2020)
Journal Article
Leedale, A., Simeoni, M., Sharp, S., Green, J., Slate, J., Lachlan, R., …Hatchwell, B. (2020). Cost, risk, and avoidance of inbreeding in a cooperatively breeding bird. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 117(27), 15724-15730. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1918726117

Inbreeding is often avoided in natural populations by passive processes such as sex-biased dispersal. But, in many social animals, opposite-sexed adult relatives are spatially clustered, generating a risk of incest and hence selection for active inbr... Read More about Cost, risk, and avoidance of inbreeding in a cooperatively breeding bird.

Helping decisions and kin recognition in long-tailed tits: is call similarity used to direct help towards kin? (2020)
Journal Article
Leedale, A., Lachlan, R., Robinson, E., & Hatchwell, B. (2020). Helping decisions and kin recognition in long-tailed tits: is call similarity used to direct help towards kin?. Philosophical Transactions B: Biological Sciences, 375(1802), https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2019.0565

Most cooperative breeders live in discrete family groups, but in a minority, breeding populations comprise extended social networks of conspecifics that vary in relatedness. Selection for effective kin recognition may be expected for more related ind... Read More about Helping decisions and kin recognition in long-tailed tits: is call similarity used to direct help towards kin?.

Kith or kin? Familiarity as a cue to kinship in social birds (2020)
Journal Article
Leedale, A., Li, J., & Hatchwell, B. (2020). Kith or kin? Familiarity as a cue to kinship in social birds. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 8(77), https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2020.00077

Interacting with relatives provides opportunities for fitness benefits via kin-selected cooperation, but also creates potential costs through kin competition and inbreeding. Therefore, a mechanism for the discrimination of kin from non-kin is likely... Read More about Kith or kin? Familiarity as a cue to kinship in social birds.

Fine-scale genetic structure and helping decisions in a cooperatively breeding bird (2018)
Journal Article
Leedale, A., Sharp, S., Simeoni, M., Robinson, E., & Hatchwell, B. (2018). Fine-scale genetic structure and helping decisions in a cooperatively breeding bird. Molecular Ecology, 27(7), 1714-1726. https://doi.org/10.1111/mec.14553

In animal societies, characteristic demographic and dispersal patterns may lead to genetic structuring of populations, generating the potential for kin selection to operate. However, even in genetically structured populations, social interactions may... Read More about Fine-scale genetic structure and helping decisions in a cooperatively breeding bird.

Blackcaps (Sylvia atricapilla) increase the whistle part of their song in response to simulated territorial intrusion (2015)
Journal Article
Leedale, A., Collins, S., & de Kort, S. (2015). Blackcaps (Sylvia atricapilla) increase the whistle part of their song in response to simulated territorial intrusion. Ethology, 121(4), 403-409. https://doi.org/10.1111/eth.12349

Bird song is a sexually selected signal that serves two main functions, attracting a mate and deterring rivals. Different signal parameters may be important in advertising to females compared to advertising to rival males. Species solve the problem o... Read More about Blackcaps (Sylvia atricapilla) increase the whistle part of their song in response to simulated territorial intrusion.

Drosophila male sex peptide inhibits siesta sleep and promotes locomotor activity in the post-mated female (2009)
Journal Article
Isaac, R., Li, C., Leedale, A., & Shirras, A. (2009). Drosophila male sex peptide inhibits siesta sleep and promotes locomotor activity in the post-mated female. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 277(1678), 65-70. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2009.1236

Quiescence, or a sleep-like state, is a common and important feature of the daily lives of animals from both invertebrate and vertebrate taxa, suggesting that sleep appeared early in animal evolution. Recently, Drosophila melanogaster has been shown... Read More about Drosophila male sex peptide inhibits siesta sleep and promotes locomotor activity in the post-mated female.