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Langmore Group - Avian evolutionary and behavioural ecology
We study many aspects of evolutionary and behavioural ecology in birds, with particular emphasis on co-evolution between brood parasites and their hosts, signalling (songs, calls and displays), mimicry and crypsis, breeding systems, and evolutionary responses to climate change. Our main approach is to use field experiments and observations to test evolutionary theory.
Group Leader
PhD Students
Selected publications
- Langmore, NE, Hunt, S & Kilner, RM (2003) Escalation of a coevolutionary arms race through host rejection of brood parasitic young. Nature, 422, 157-160.
- Russell AF, Langmore NE, Cockburn A, Astheimer LB, Kilner RM. (2007). Reduced egg investment can conceal helper effects in cooperatively breeding birds. Science 317: 941-944.
- Langmore, N.E., Maurer, G., Adcock, G.J., Kilner, R.M. (2008). Socially acquired host-specific mimicry and the evolution of host races in Horsfield's bronze-cuckoo Chalcites basalis. Evolution 62: 1689-1699.
- Heinsohn, R., Langmore, N. E., Cockburn, A., Kokko, H. (2011) Adaptive sex ratio adjustments via sex-specific infanticide in a bird. Current Biology, 21: 1744-1747.
- Kilner R. M. and Langmore, N. E. (2011) Cuckoos versus hosts in insects and birds: adaptations, counter-adaptations and outcomes. Biological Reviews, 86: 836-852
- Langmore, N. E., Stevens, M., Maurer, G., Heinsohn, R., Hall, M. L., Peters, A., Kilner, R. M. (2011). Visual mimicry of host nestlings by cuckoos. Proceedings of the Royal Society: Biological Sciences 278: 2455-2463
- Feeney, W, Medina, I, Somveille, M, Heinsohn, R, Hall, ML, Mulder, RA, Stein, JA, Kilner, RM, Langmore, NE (2013) Brood parasitism and the evolution of cooperative breeding in birds. Science 342: 1506-1508
- Odom, KJ, Hall, ML, Riebel, K, Omland, KE, Langmore, NE (2014) Female song is common and ancestral in songbirds. Nature Communications, Published online 2014/03/04/online, Vol 5 article 3379.
- Heinsohn, R., Zdenek, C. N., Cunningham, R. B., Endler, J., Langmore, N. E. (2017) Tool-assisted drumming in a wild bird population. Science Advances, 3 (6): e1602399
- Riebel, K, Odom, KJ, Langmore, NE, Hall, ML. (2019) New insights from female bird song: towards an integrated approach to studying male and female communication roles. Biology Letters, 20190059
All publications
RSB Director's Seminar: Does coevolution drive speciation in brood parasitic cuckoos?
Event | Mon 4 April 2022
Professor Naomi Langmore
E&E PhD Exit Webinar: Conservation and management of the forty-spotted pardalote
Event | Thu 6 May 2021
Despite conservation efforts, the number of species that have recovered after management remain small. Low success rate in species management can be attributed to severe lack of funding for conservation and ‘evidence complacency’ (i.e. use of anecdotes rather than evidence) by many conservation practitioners.
E&E PhD Exit Seminar: Cracking egg investment: maternal investment strategies in cuckoos and their hosts
Event | Fri 4 December 2020
Individuals can benefit by varying their investment in offspring. The optimal amount of investment may vary in relation to both climatic conditions and social conditions (such as the number of carers for the offspring).
E&E PhD Exit Seminar: An imposter in the nest: rejection of cuckoo chicks by a host using true recognition
Event | Fri 9 August 2019
Interactions between avian brood parasites and their hosts are one of the most suitable model systems for studying coevolution.
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