Annual Report 2009 - Department of Zoology - University of ...

Department of Zoology 

Annual Report 2009

Contents 

Malcolm Burrows’ retirement 2 

Balfour & Newton Library 4 

Museum of Zoology 4 

Undergraduate Teaching 7 

First year: Part 1A Natural Sciences Tripos 7 

Second Year: Part IB Natural Sciences Tripos 8 

Third year: Part II Natural Science Tripos 8 

Papers from Part II student projects 9 

Graduate Teaching 10 

Research in the Department 11 

Animal Physiology 11 

Behaviour and Behavioural Neuroscience 12 

Behavioural Ecology 13 

Cell Biology 15 

Developmental Biology 17 

Neurobiology 19 

Population and Community Ecology 20 

Evolution and Diversity 22 

Awards and Prizes 24 

People 24 

Events of the Year 25 

Members of the Department 27 

Grants 29 

Publications 31 

1

Malcolm Burrows 

FRS, Professor of Zoology and Head of 

Department, 1996 – 2010 

Professor Malcolm Burrows, Head of Department since 

1996, retired in September 2010. A one-day symposium 

honouring his scientific achievements and his leadership 

of the Department of Zoology was held on 13 September 

2010. The day was chaired by Professor Simon Laughlin. 

Present and past colleagues gave short presentations 

on Malcolm’s scientific career and the keynote lecture 

was delivered by Professor Gilles Laurent (Max Planck 

Institute for Brain Research, Frankfurt), on the subject, 

“Self-regulation of activity in an olfactory system: 

mechanisms and consequences.” Speeches were also 

given by Professors Michael Akam (relating to Malcolm’s 

support for the Museum’s activities) and Bill Sutherland 

(focussing on Malcolm’s championing of conservation 

science). 

Dr. William Foster described the combination of tenacity 

and openness that had characterized Malcolm’s 

Headship, making it a well-resourced, happy, innovative 

and achieving Department. He concluded in the following 

way: 

“What makes Malcolm stand out, is that he combines 

his enthusiasm for zoology, which one might properly 

describe as childlike, with being – in most other respects 

regarding administration and management – entirely 

grown-up…. Thomas Carlyle famously defined genius 

as ‘an infinite capacity for taking pains’. On this basis, 

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Malcolm has been for us, as our leader, a genius.” 

Finally, the Department was honoured that the Vice- 

Chancellor, Professor Dame Alison Richard, wished to 

attend the event in person and her speech celebrating 

Malcolm’s Headship was as follows. 

“I am delighted to be asked to participate in this 

celebration of Malcolm Burrows. He is an exemplary and 

extraordinary citizen of the University, and the University 

is fortunate beyond measure to have such people. 

In what ways is he exemplary? 

First and foremost, Malcolm is a top-flight academic who 

is prepared to put his shoulder to the wheel of institutional 

leadership. 

Second, he holds the doors and windows of the 

Department open to partner institutions. In particular, 

researchers from the conservation NGO community: 

Birdlife International, the WWF, RSPB, WCN, and the 

Zoological Society of London have found support and 

deskspace in the Department, and a welcome from 

Malcolm. The Tropical Biology Association has its 

Headquarters in the Department as a welcome tenant. 

Malcolm shapes strategy and initiatives in a serious but 

very understated way – no grandstanding, no claiming 

of credit regardless of whether it is due. He has led and 

developed a Department of Zoology which is outstanding 

in its excellence, and outstanding too in its breadth – 

from animal behaviour, through physiology, evolution, 

palaeontology, neurophysiology, ecology, infectious 

disease epidemiology, mathematical modelling…. plus 

a museum with part of Darwin’s legacy in it. It is a 

The Vice-Chancellor unveils a portrait of Malcolm Burrows by 

Tom Wood, 13 September 2010

department which in any other university would be a 

School of Biology! But under Malcolm’s leadership it all 

holds together, and more than just holds together – it 

is a happy ship, and recognised as the best zoology 

department in the country. 

I would like to highlight one aspect only of Malcolm’s 

institutional leadership in a wider context, and that is 

his role in encouraging the Cambridge Conservation 

Initiative. I know that Bill Sutherland will speak after me 

and I shall not steal his thunder, but Malcolm’s importance 

to that important endeavour bears repeating. CCI aims 

to bring together the Cambridge ecosystem of NGOs 

with the University and government agencies. At times 

that ecosystem has looked less like a diversity of species 

all quenching their thirst at the same waterhole, than a 

competition of big beasts ready to tear lumps from each 

others’ hide. But through his integrative, open approach, 

Malcolm made the concept of CCI look like something 

achievable – and so it is, gloriously so. For that reason 

among very very many, Cambridge owes you its thanks, 

Malcolm”. 

Retiring (but not withdrawing) gracefully 

by Professor John Naughton (from http://memex. 

naughtons.org/archives/2010/09/13/11791) 

My friend and Wolfson colleague Malcolm Burrows is 

retiring from his position as Head of the Department of 

Zoology in Cambridge, and his colleagues put on a whole 

day of talks to mark the occasion. Even the Vice Chancellor 

showed up — to explain how, shortly after her arrival in 

Cambridge, Malcolm had managed to persuade her to do 

something she hadn’t wanted to do “without ever raising 

his voice”. (The visit that resulted from that conversation, 

incidentally, led to an endowed Chair in his Department.) 

At the end of her speech, she unveiled the portrait by Tom 

Wood (who did the National Portrait Gallery’s portrait of 

David Hockney) which has been commissioned to honour 

him. 

Malcolm is one of the cleverest, nicest and sanest people 

I know. Unlike many high-profile academics, he doesn’t do 

histrionics. Yet during his tenure, the Cambridge department 

became the best Zoology department in the country, 

and one of the best in the world. Unusually for such a 

large, high-octane outfit it also seems remarkably friendly. 

Certainly there was a lovely, affectionate tone to the day’s 

proceedings. 

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Malcolm’s speciality is neurophysiology — more specifically 

the neuronal mechanisms by which a nervous system 

generates and controls natural movements (top right 

in the portrait). His chosen animals are insects, including 

some (locusts) that you wouldn’t want to meet on a dark 

night (bottom right in the portrait). One of his colleagues 

captured his character neatly when he said that he combined 

a childlike delight in insects with a very grown-up 

style of administration. During his tenure, for example, the 

University’s central authority (the General Board) agreed 

to write off a huge ancient debt which had for decades 

“squatted like a huge black toad” on the Department’s 

back. And, believe me, the General Board didn’t get 

where it is today by writing off departmental ‘debts’. 

It was a really nice occasion which reminded one firstly, of 

how important people are, even in prestigious institutions, 

and secondly, what a difference good leadership makes. 

Most of all, it was reassuring to know that, tomorrow, 

Malcolm will be back in his lab. He may be technically 

‘retired’, but most people wouldn’t guess that.

Balfour & Newton Library 

The Balfour & Newton Library is a vital resource for 

teaching and research in the Department, widely used 

by academic staff and students in all three years of the 

Natural Sciences Tripos. It houses special collections of 

approximately 6,000 volumes which date from the 15th to 

the mid-20th century, as well as over 100,000 reprints and 

over 450 theses, manuscripts, photographs and several 

paintings. 

In 2009, the Museum of Zoology’s exhibition ‘Darwin: 

Beetles, Finches, Barnacles’ celebrated the bicentenary 

of the birth of Charles Darwin and featured the Library’s 

first edition copy of his book, ‘On the origin of species’. 

This copy was originally owned by Professor Alfred 

Newton, a contemporary and correspondent of Darwin, 

after whom the Library is named. As only 1,250 copies 

of the first edition were ever published, this book is quite 

rare and precious. Advised by the Librarian, TV presenter 

John Craven was filmed handling the book for an episode 

of ‘Countryfile’’, which also celebrated the bicentenary. 

For more details on the exhibition see www.museum.zoo. 

cam.ac.uk/exhibitions.displays/. 

The Library also lent a copy of Gerald H. Thayer’s 

‘Concealing-Coloration in the Animal Kingdom’ (1909) 

to the Cambridge Fitzwilliam Museum for its exhibition 

‘Endless Forms: Charles Darwin, Natural Science and the 

Visual Arts’. An illustration from the book was published in 

the exhibition catalogue: a stencilled card showing dried 

leaves covers plate XI of Thayer’s work and reveals the 

shape of a copperhead snake when you lift it up. The 

overall effect demonstrates the camouflage of the snake. 

The exhibition explores the impact of Darwin’s theories on 

late 19th century artists. More information can be found at 

www.darwinendlessforms.org/ 

A colour CCTV monitoring system was purchased to 

replace the old black-and-white one. The new set-up 

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allows Library staff to easily interrogate data online. The 

system protects the collections by not only acting as a 

deterrent to thieves but also by preventing the absentminded 

removal of items from the Library. 

The Library purchased a three-year subscription to 

the ‘Birds of North America (BNA) Online’, published 

by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the American 

Ornithologists’ Union. This resource provides 

comprehensive life histories for each of the 716+ species 

of birds breeding in the USA (including Hawaii) and 

Canada. It contains image and video galleries showing 

habitats, behaviors, nests, plumage, and eggs, as well as 

recordings of bird songs. There is much demand for this 

resource from research groups within the Department, 

and it has been well used so far. ‘BNA Online’ can be 

accessed from throughout the University at http://bna. 

birds.cornell.edu/bna/ (off-campus access is via Raven 

password). 

For more information on the Library, please visit www. 

zoo.cam.ac.uk/library/index.html and the Balfour Library 

News Blog at www.balfourlibrary.blogspot.com/, to which 

readers can subscribe for the latest information on library 

services. 

Museum of Zoology 

The University Museum of Zoology holds collections 

designated as being of outstanding national and 

international significance. The collections are particularly 

strong in fossil vertebrates, birds, molluscs and insects. 

They contain material of historic significance associated 

with great collectors of the past, and many ‘type 

specimens’ that define species. 

The Museum is an integral part of the Department, and is 

used extensively for teaching not only by this Department, 

but also by other departments within the University, 

and by other local Universities and Colleges. The 

‘Demonstration Room’ continues to be used for practical 

teaching for much of the year, allowing final year students 

to examine in detail hundreds of specimens from the 

reserve collection. 

The Museum also serves as the major natural history 

museum for Cambridge and the local area, and is open 

to the general public six days a week. It attracted over 

60,000 visitors in 2009, including over 200 visits by school 

groups. From June 2009 the Museum has been open 

on Saturdays throughout the year, and not just in the 

summer, as previously. 

Six members of the academic staff work within the

Museum, combining an active involvement in teaching 

and research with their role as curators. Together with 

graduate students and research fellows, they form a 

research community that encourages inter-disciplinary 

discussion and encompasses developmental genetics 

and comparative genomics, as well as taxonomy, 

comparative anatomy and palaeontology. Details of 

research within the Museum are provided under the 

heading ‘Evolution and Diversity’ later in this report. 

The Museum also receives many external research 

visitors, and makes loans of specimens to researchers 

and museums across the world. 

The Museum website has been greatly improved, with 

funding from the Museums Libraries and Archives council. 

The address is now www.museum.zoo.cam.ac.uk/. 

Staff Developments 

Our Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology, Professor 

Jenny Clack, has been elected a Fellow of the Royal 

Society and a Foreign Honorary Member of the American 

Academy of Arts and Sciences. Dr. Richard Preece is 

now a formal associate of the ‘Ancient Human Occupation 

of Britain’ project. 

Three new research associates joined the Museum in 

2009 - Stephanie Pierce, working with Jenny Clack, 

Lionel Hautier, working with Rob Asher, and Daniele 

Gianolla, working with Richard Preece 

Collections and Archives 

Ray Symonds, our long-standing collections manager, 

retired in March 2009 after 40 years service to the 

Department and Museum. Thanks to funding from the 

Pilgrim Trust, he was able to dedicate his last 18 months 

to the completion of a ten-year project to create an 

online database from our catalogues. We are immensely 

grateful for all that he has done for the Museum. Care 

and control of the Museum’s catalogues has now passed 

to Mathew Lowe, our new collections manager, who 

continues to be assisted in the care of the collections by 

Ann Charlton, Russell Stebbings and Stuart Turner. 

Our archivist Kees Rookmaaker completed work on a 

calendar of the scientific correspondence of Hugh Edwin 

Strickland (1811–1853), geologist and ornithologist, 

whose collections formed a major bequest to the 

Museum. 

A project to re-house the exotic (i.e. non-European) insect 

collections continues. The first phase, funded by the 

Designation Challenge Fund, is now complete, with 770 

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drawers of insects transferred to new pest-proof metal 

cabinets 

Collection security has been improved, with CCTV 

cameras installed in the galleries, and case alarms in 

some key areas. 

Volunteers continue to make a major contribution. 

Four volunteers are assisting Museum staff to create 

a specimen-level catalogue of the mollusc collection. 

Liz Wetton is seven years into a major project, sorting, 

re-boxing and cataloguing some 10,000 clutches of 

bird eggs with curator Michael Brooke. Ken Rolfe and 

Christine Stafford are curating and relocating some of 

the fossil fish collections. 

Outreach, Exhibitions and Events in 2009 

2009 marked the bicentenary of Charles Darwin’s birth, 

and the 150 th anniversary of the publication of ‘The 

Origin of Species’. To celebrate, the Museum launched 

a new permanent display of material collected by 

Darwin, and hosted events for the Darwin Festival, 

including Museum tours and a site-specific dance 

performance from local hip-hop dance collective Sin 

Cru. 

Darwin was also the inspiration for an exhibition of 

sculpture by artist Tolly Nason, presenting scaled 

reconstructions of the beaks of Galapagos finches in 

cast glass. Other exhibitions in the Museum included 

‘A.R Wallace: the forgotten evolutionist’, an exhibition 

of photographs and installations by Fred Langford 

Edwards; and ‘Birds Bugs, Beasts’, an exhibition 

by students and staff from Supportive Education at 

Cambridge Regional College. The ‘Fens through 

a Lens’ photography exhibition developed by the 

Museum continued to tour around the region, showing 

at the Haddenham Gallery, Fenland Arts at March Town 

Hall, Swavesey Church, Ely Museum; the RSPB at 

Ouse Washes, Peterborough Museum and Stamford 

Museum. 

‘Twilight in the Museum’ attracted over 1,000 visitors 

during February half term to explore the Museum 

with the lights down low. For the Cambridge Science 

Festival, the local Wildlife Trust and the National Trust 

at Wicken Fen provided displays and activities in 

the Museum. For the Cambridge Festival of Ideas, 

artist Alex Hirtzel built ‘The Critter Tree’, a tree of life 

in the Museum galleries. Celebrations for the 800th 

Anniversary of the University included the Museum 

Fair in May, the Cambridge Collectors Cards project

(a set of cards highlighting objects from the collections of 

the University of Cambridge for children and families to 

collect), and activities inspired by the finback whale for 

the grand University Summer Garden Party in the Botanic 

Garden in July. 

Beyond the University, we ran a session for the City 

Council’s ChYPPS (Children and Young Peoples 

Participatory Scheme) programme, and participated 

in the Vital Communities project, taking a collection of 

material from the Museum to communities throughout 

Cambridgeshire to engage young people with animals 

and evolution. 

Museum Big Draw event, October 2009 

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Our Young Zoologists Club has grown throughout 2009, 

reaching over 500 members by year’s end. The Club’s 

activities included workshops on ‘Winter Wonders’ led 

by Jake Snaddon, on cuckoos led by Nick Davies, and 

on meerkats led by Alex Thornton and other members 

of the Meerkat Research Group. The year finished 

with the first Young Zoologists Club Christmas Party in 

December. 

Our thanks to Roz Wade, outreach officer of the 

Museum who coordinated this whole programme, and 

to continued funding from the AHRC, HEFCE, and 

the Renaissance programme of the Eastern Regional 

Museums hub, which made the work possible.

Teaching 

(Academic Year 2008/2009) 

Undergraduate Teaching 

The Department contributes to eleven courses within the 

Natural Sciences Tripos: Animal Biology in the second 

year and Zoology in the third year are organised within 

the Department, as is the third year Part II Biological & 

Biomedical Sciences (Zoology). The other eight courses 

are inter-departmental and the Zoology Department 

makes a major contribution to each of these. 

First year: Part 1A Natural Sciences Tripos 

Biology of Cells (347students) 

The course introduces biology at the molecular and 

cellular level and considers what cells are, what they 

look like, and how they work. The course provides an 

introduction to further studies in biology, biochemistry 

and genetics, for both biologists and non-biologists. It 

is organised jointly by the Departments of Biochemistry, 

Plant Sciences, Genetics, and Zoology. 

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Evolution and Behaviour (157 students) 

This course is an introduction to the major principles 

of evolutionary theory, and ranges from the origins of 

life, through the evolution of plants and animals, to the 

evolution of behaviour. The course aims to prepare 

students for subsequent biology courses that require an 

understanding of evolution and behaviour. Students are 

offered the opportunity to go on one of two field courses 

during the Easter vacation in either South Devon or 

Pembrokeshire. 

Physiology of Organisms (248 students) 

This course provides a wider context for the material 

provided in the Biology of Cells course and gives 

a contemporary understanding of how organisms 

function. It also underpins the broader issues covered 

in the Evolution and Behaviour course. It is a highly 

recommended introduction to all IB biological courses, 

as well as providing general interest to anyone curious to 

know how complex biological ‘machines’ work.

Mathematical Biology (192 students) 

The course is designed for students who have studied 

mathematics to A level or equivalent. It intends to 

show how mathematical techniques can help biologists. 

Examples of mathematical modelling are organised by 

biological topics drawn from biochemistry, animal and 

plant physiology, ecology and genetics. 

Second Year: Part IB Natural Sciences Tripos 

Animal Biology (105 students) 

This course considers how the form, function and 

behaviour of animals have adapted to the environment 

through evolution. It aims to elucidate general biological 

principles through studying specialised or experimentally 

tractable systems. 

Cell and Developmental Biology (122 

students) 

This course describes major ideas and current 

experimental approaches to cell and developmental 

biology, and in the process illustrates how molecular 

approaches complement classical cell biology in 

elucidating the details of how cells carry out their basic 

processes. It provides a framework for further specialised 

study of molecular, cellular and developmental biology 

in the third year. The course is interdepartmental and 

is taught by Plant Sciences, Genetics, Zoology and 

Biochemistry. 

Ecology (44 students) 

This course develops key ecological concepts and 

approaches and introduces major ecosystems. This is 

another 

course that offers students the opportunity to get out 

into the field. Students spend 12 days in June at a Field 

Studies Council Centre in the Surrey Downs at Juniper 

Hall. 

The Departments of Genetics, Plant Sciences and 

Zoology jointly teach the course. 

Neurobiology (72 students) 

This course introduces students to scientific concepts 

underlying the study of neural phenomena and provides 

an understanding of the principles underlying cellular, 

molecular, developmental, sensory, motor and cognitive 

neurobiology.. 

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Third year: Part II Natural Science Tripos 

Zoology (61 students) 

The Department provides a broad multidisciplinary 

course in zoology. It trains students in a range of sciencebased 

skills that provide the learning foundation for future 

careers in disciplines such as health sciences, 

agriculture, environmental management, the emerging 

biotechnologies, publishing, teaching, research and 

management. Approximately one third of the students 

spend ten days at a field centre in Wells-next-the-Sea 

investigating a wide variety of habitats. 

Neuroscience (36 students) 

This multidisciplinary course provides a comprehensive 

knowledge of the brain at all levels of complexity and 

trains students in a wide range of skills that are needed 

for future careers in medicine, veterinary medicine and 

neuroscience-based disciplines in research and industry. 

The Departments of Experimental Psychology, 

Pharmacology, Physiology, Development and 

Neuroscience (PDN) and Zoology jointly run the course. 

Biological and Biomedical Sciences Zoology 

(15 students) 

The Department offers major subjects from Part II Zooogy 

for this course, which is taken with a minor subject from 

another department. This course allows students to 

maintain some breadth rather than specialising in a single 

subject. It is suited to students who wish to pursue career 

paths in, for example, teaching, publishing, management 

or consultancy.

Papers from Part II student projects 

Most of the Part II students in the Department carry 

out original research projects as part of their course. 

Remarkably, these quite often lead to peer-reviewed 

papers. There have been at least 27 such publications 

over the past decade, with eight papers appearing in 

2009 alone. We think this is an important indicator of the 

quality of our students and the work they do. 

Publications since 2000 based wholly or partly on Part 2 

projects (with student names in bold): 

Balmford, A, J Beresford, J Green, R Naidoo, M 

Walpole & A Manica 2009. A global perspective 

on trends in nature-based tourism. PLoS Biol. 

7: e1000144 

Graham-Taylor LG, AE Stubbs & M de L Brooke 2009. 

Changes in phenology of hoverflies in a central 

England garden. Insect Conserv. Diver.2: 

29-35. 

Harcourt, JL, TZ Ang, G Sweetman, RA Johnstone & A 

Manica 2009. Leadership, personality and social 

feedback. Commun. Integr. Biol. 2: 335-336 

Harcourt, JL, TZ Ang, G Sweetman, RA Johnstone 

& A Manica 2009. Social feedback and the 

emergence of leaders and followers. Curr. Biol. 

19: 248-252 

Stevens, M, IS Winney, A Cantor & J Graham 2009. 

Outline and surface disruption in animal 

camouflage. Proc. R. Soc. B 276: 781-786. 

Turner, EC, HMV Granroth, HR Johnson, CBH 

Lucas, AM Thompson, H Froy, RN German 

and R Holdgate 2009. Habitat preference and 

dispersal of the Duke of Burgundy butterfly 

(Hamearis lucina) on an abandoned chalk 

quarry in Bedfordshire, UK. J. Insect Conserv. 

13: 475-486. 

Walker, DS, RP Vazquez-Manrique, NJD Gower, E 

Gregory, WR Schafer & HA Baylis 2009. 

Inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate signalling regulates 

the avoidance response to nose touch in 

Caenorhabditis elegans. PLoS Genet. 5(9): 

e1000636. 

Weavers, H, S Prieto-Sanchez, F Grawe, A Garcia- 

Lopez, R Artero, M Wilsch-Brauninger, M 

Ruiz-Gomez, H Skaer & B Denholm 2009. The 

insect nephrocyte in a podocyte-like cell with a 

filtration slit diaphragm. Nature 457: 322-327. 

Darlington, JPEC, RB Benson, CE Cook & G Walker. 

2008. Resolving relationships in some 

African fungus-growing termites (Termitidae, 

Macrotermitinae) using molecular phylogeny, 

morphology, and field parameters. Insectes Soc. 

55: 256-265. 

9 

Stevens, M, SA Castor-Perry & JRF Price. 2008. The 

protective value of conspicuous signals is not 

impaired by shape, size, or position asymmetry. 

Behav. Ecol. 20: 96-102. 

Stevens, M, DH Yule & GD Ruxton. 2008. Dazzle 

coloration and prey movement. Proc. R. Soc. B 

275: 2639-2643. 

Aldridge, DC, TM Fayle & N Jackson. 2007. 

Freshwater mussel abundance predicts 

biodiversity in UK lowland rivers. Aquat. 

Conserv. 17: 554-564. 

Evans, SR, M Finnie & A Manica. 2007. Shoaling 

preferences in decapod crustacea. Anim. 

Behav. 74: 1691-1696. 

Martins, TLF, M de L Brooke, G Hilton, S Farnsworth, J 

Gould & D Pain. 2006. Costing eradications of 

alien mammals from islands. Anim. Conserv. 9: 

439-444. 

Katugampola, N, ECR Pinfield, RJ Reeve, M 

Ridgway & BJ McCabe. 2005. Imprinting: 

modification by novel stimuli. Brit. Neurosci. 

Assoc. Abstr. 18: P104. 

Keane, A, M de L Brooke & PJK McGowan. 2005. 

Correlates of extinction risk and hunting 

pressure in gamebirds (Galliformes). Biol. 

Conserv. 126: 216-233. 

Brooke, M de L, V Copas, R Gylee & O Kruger. 2004. 

Long-lived fellows. Trends Ecol. Evol. 19: 8. 

Gage, G, M de L Brooke, MRE Symonds & D Wege. 

2004. Ecological correlates of the threat of 

extinction in Neotropical bird species. Anim. 

Conserv. 7: 161-168. 

Hallett, TB, T Coulson, JG Pilkington, TH Clutton- 

Brock, JM Pemberton & BT Grenfell. 2004. 

Why large-scale climate indices seem to 

predict ecological processes better than 

weather. Nature 430: 71-75. 

Burg, TM, R Almond, J Lomax, M de L Brooke & W 

Amos. 2003. Unravelling dispersal patterns 

in an expanding population of a highly mobile 

seabird, the northern fulmar. Proc. R. Soc. B 

270: 979-984. 

Almond, EJ. 2002. Revision of Plastophorides Beyer 

(Diptera: Phoridae), with two new species from 

Sulawesi and Palawan. Fragm. Faunist. 45: 

147-153. 

Balmford, A, L Clegg, T Coulson & J Taylor. 2002. 

Why conservationists should heed Pokémon. 

Science 295: 2367. 

Hall, JR, RW Woods, M de L Brooke & GM Hilton. 

2002. Factors affecting the distribution of 

landbirds on the Falklands Islands. Bird 

Conserv. Int. 12: 151-167. 

Walker, DS, S Ly, KC Lockwood & HA Baylis. 2002. 

A direct interaction between IP 3 receptors and 

Myosin II regulates IP 3 signaling in C. elegans. 

Curr. Biol. 12: 951-956.

Manica, A, FK McMeechan & WA Foster. 2001. 

An aggregation pheromone in the intertidal 

collembolan Anurida maritima. Entomol. Exp. 

Appl. 99: 393-395. 

Manica, A, FK McMeechan & WA Foster. 2000. 

Orientation in the intertidal saltmarsh collembolan 

Anurida maritima. Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 47: 

371-375. 

McMeechan, FK, A Manica & WA Foster. 2000. Rhythms 

of activity and foraging in the intertidal insect 

Anurida maritima: coping with the tide. J. Mar. 

Biol. Assoc. UK 80: 189-190. 

Graduate Teaching 

The Department has 92 graduate students researching 

for the degree of PhD who have been attracted to the 

Department from Universities worldwide, plus five MPhil 

students. 

38 are UK students, 27 from member states of the European 

Union and 32 from overseas countries. 

Eight studentships were awarded to the Department from 

the British Research Councils (BBSRC, EPSRC and 

NERC). 

In 2008/09, 29 new graduate students, from the UK, 

Germany, Portugal, The Netherlands, Belgium, Canada, 

Australia, South Africa, India, Jordan, Ecuador, Uzbekistan 

and the USA joined the Department. 

PhDs awarded in Academic Year 2008/09 

Auguste, Prinzessin von Bayern BBSRC 

Cognitive foundations of Jackdaw social intelligence 

Dingle, Caroline GATES TRUST 

Function and evolution of song in a duetting Neotropical 

Passerine, the Gray-Breasted Wood-Wren (Henicorhina 

leucophrys) 

Garcia Solache, Monica CONAYCT 

Analysis of the gap gene network in Clogmia albipunctata 

(Diptera: Psychodidae) 

Gardiner,Tim MRC 

Functional characterisation of an evolutionary 

conserved domain of non-coding Y RNA in human 

chromosomal DNA replication 

Gilbey, Tom MRC 

Investigations into synaptic modulation in the lamprey 

spinal cord 

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Helme, Anne BBSRC 

Convergent evolution of intelligence in corvids and apes: 

implications for animal welfare 

Johnston, Alison RSPB 

Demographic analysis of the impact of conservation 

action on Stone Curlew populations 

Jordan, Neil BBSRC 

Scent communication in wild Banded Mongooses 

(Mungos mungo) 

Klinge, Sebastian MRC/GATES 

Structural and mechanistic studies of the yeast 

primosome 

Mauss, Alex MRC/GATES 

Development and patterning of motorneuron dendrites in 

the Drosophila embryo 

Murata, Kazutaka COT 

Histone modifications and transcriptional reprogramming 

in mouse somatic cell nuclei transplanted to Xenopus 

laevis Oocytes 

Parsons, Matthew BBSRC 

Multisensory integration of self-motion information in the 

fly 

Peterkin, Helen BBSRC 

Studies of the modulation of inositol 1,4,5-triphosphate 

signalling by presenilins in Caenorhabditis elegans 

Snaddon, Jake NERC 

Biodiversity and ecosystem function within leaf-litter 

accumulations in Sabah, Malaysia. 

Tripodi, Marco WELLCOME TRUST 

Structural homeostasis during dendritic arbor 

development 

Withers, Helen NERC 

Parental food calling at passerine nests

Research in the Department 

The Department’s research activities are organised into eight research groups, including Department members of the 

Wellcome Trust/Cancer Research UK Gurdon Institute of Cancer and Developmental Biology. The following pages briefly 

summarise each group’s research interests and members, and highlight a piece of research carried out in 2009. 

Animal Physiology 

The Animal Physiology Group’s greatest strength is 

in comparative animal physiology, offering a breadth 

of expertise and graduate training for a wide range of 

techniques, focusing on the model systems provided by 

arthropods and vertebrates. Research is conducted at a 

number of different levels of biological organisation, from 

biochemical and tissue to organismal and ecological, and 

includes a mixture of laboratory and field-based studies. We 

aim to understand the structural and functional capacities 

of organisms, their abilities to respond to environmental 

extremes, and how physiological adaptations to locomotion, 

activity metabolism and ion transport have arisen through evolutionary time. Charlie Ellington studies the aerodynamics, 

mechanics and physiology of insect flight, within the broader field of biomechanics. Simon Maddrell studies epithelial 

transport of insect Malpighian tubules and its control by peptides and other blood-borne agents. Walter Federle 

investigates the physical ecology of insect-plant interactions and the mechanisms of surface adhesion in animals. 

Ulrike Bauer: Plant-animal interactions in Nepenthes 

pitcher plants 

James Bullock: Design and function of fibrillar adhesive 

systems in insects 

Christofer Clemente: Evolution of lizard locomotion, insect 

biomechanics 

Kristin De-Clercq: Fluid membrane-interaction in flapping 

flight 

Jan-Henning Dirks: Fluid-based adhesion in insects 

Thomas Endlein: Locomotion and adhesion in ants 

Insect adhesive pads are self-cleaning 

Walter Federle 

Many insects, spiders, frogs and lizards have special organs on their legs that 

allow them to cling to smooth vertical or inverted surfaces as found on plants. 

A major problem for everyday adhesives such as sticky post-it notes is that 

they accumulate dust and lose adhesion when used more than a few times. 

However, animals must keep their pads sticky over millions of steps in a lifetime. 

They could achieve this either by diligent cleaning with their mouthparts or more 

elegantly by self-cleaning properties of the pads themselves. 

Chris Clemente, Part II student Andrew Beale, James Bullock and Walter 

Federle studied how smooth pads of stick insects (Carausius morosus) and hairy 

pads of beetles (Gastrophysa viridula) are affected by contamination. Using 

microspheres of different diameters, we found that both types of pads exhibit 

self-cleaning. Even when fully contaminated, pads recovered high levels of 

adhesion over only eight simulated steps. Self-cleaning was strongly enhanced 

by shear movements, and only the beetles’ hairy pads were able to selfclean 

during purely perpendicular pull-offs. Hairy pads also self-cleaned more 

efficiently than smooth pads for large (45 µm) and small (1 µm) particle sizes. However, the beetles’ self-cleaning was 

much slower when contaminated with intermediate-sized (10 µm) beads. This limitation of self-cleaning was explained 

by the coincidence of bead diameter and inter-seta distance, which caused the beads to remain trapped between setae. 

Further work will now address the underlying mechanisms of self-cleaning. 

11 

Yanjia Gao: The control algorithm and stability of flight in 

insects and MAVs 

Jamie Gundry: Aerodynamics of hoverfly flight 

Karin Moll: Biomechanics of the foraging behaviour in 

grass-cutting ants 

Sean Ng: Laminar-turbulent transition in animal flight 

Anne Peattie: Fibrillar adhesion in spiders 

Jay Riegel: Fluid transport across tissues 

Dan Thornham: Nepenthes pitcher traps and 

counteradaptations of specialised ants 

Hairy adhesive pads of dock beetle 

(Gastrophysa viridula) contaminated by 

45-µm latex beads

Behaviour and Behavioural Neuroscience 

A full understanding of behaviour necessitates a 

multi-level approach in which molecular, cellular 

and physiological data are considered in the 

evolutionary context of the behaviour of whole 

organisms. The Sub-Department of Animal 

Behaviour at Madingley has pioneered and 

continues to exploit this approach. Barry Keverne 

works on two aspects of epigenetic gene regulation 

important for mammalian evolution. These include 

genomic imprinting and its significance in the coadaptive 

evolution of the brain and placenta. The 

second area of interest is epigenetic modification 

of regenerating vomeronasal precursor neurons 

in establishing adaptable functional changes in 

response to social environmental changes. Brian McCabe and Gabriel Horn study the neural mechanisms of learning 

and memory, mainly using filial imprinting in the domestic chick as a model system. Current research is focused on 

biochemical and electrophysiological changes associated with imprinting and the role of sleep in memory consolidation. 

A further interest is young animals’ predispositions to direct their attention to certain biologically relevant stimuli, thereby 

influencing the course of subsequent learning. Pat Bateson models these processes and investigates the environmental 

epigenetic effects of stress on behaviour. Nick Mundy’s principal interest is in the molecular genetic basis of evolutionary 

change, particularly in signaling and sensory systems in primates. 

Chris Bird: The use of video playback techniques in corvid 

behavioural research 

Kevin Broad: Co-adaptive evolution of brain and placenta 

– a template for foetal programming and adult phenotypes 

Why is there variation in colour vision ability among marmosets? 

Nick Mundy 

12 

Ira Federspiel: Social learning and personality in rooks, 

jackdaws and Eurasian jays 

Joan Stevenson-Hinde: Maternal anxiety, behavioural 

inhibition, and patterns of attachment 

Stephen Town: The role of context in filial imprinting 

Primates are well-known for having superior colour vision to other 

eutherian mammals but there is actually a large amount of diversity 

of colour vision among primates. In most species of New World 

monkeys there is even variation within species: a proportion of the 

females have full trichromatic colour vision as found in most humans, 

whereas the remaining females and all males are dichromatic, 

roughly equivalent to red-green colourblindness. This variation 

has a simple genetic basis. We have been studying the selective 

forces acting on this extraordinary polymorphism in Geoffroy’s 

marmoset (Callithrix geoffroyi) in collaboration with Nancy Caine at 

the University of San Marcos, California, and Daniel Osorio at the 

University of Sussex. In earlier work we demonstrated the expected Cottontop tamarin 

advantage of trichromatic females in foraging for red food against 

a green background. If this was the only factor, however, we would 

expect all individuals to be trichromatic, leading to the suggestion 

that there are likely to be situations in which dichromatic monkeys outperform trichromats on visual tasks. In new 

work we have now shown that dichromats are better at finding food items in lower light intensity conditions (shade) 

than trichromats. This result is interesting because it cannot easily be explained by the physiology of colour vision, 

suggesting that there is a strong learnt component to this ability, which could arise from competition between dichromats 

and trichromats as they are growing up together. However, whatever the mechanism, it suggests that dichromats and 

trichromats reduce competition by foraging in different niches and provides a potential evolutionary explanation for the 

maintenance of variable colour vision in populations of marmosets and other New World monkeys.

Behavioural Ecology 

The Behavioural Ecology Group focuses 

on the study of behavioural adaptations 

in relation to ecological and social 

conditions. Bill Amos studies the role 

of genetic differences in generating 

variation in survival and reproductive 

success and in developing DNA-based 

techniques for measuring relatedness and 

maternity. Michael Brooke is interested 

in conservation biology, particulaly the 

protection of island birds, the taxonomy 

of seabirds as well as plumage colours. 

Tim Clutton-Brock studies the role 

of ecological differences in generating 

variation in survival and reproductive 

success in naturally regulated populations 

and the evolution of mating strategies and cooperative breeding in animals. Nick Davies studies how social organisation 

within a population reflects conflicts within and between the sexes, and coevolution of brood parasitic birds and their 

hosts. Rufus Johnstone uses game theoretical and genetic models to investigate evolutionary conflicts of interest and 

their resolution in contexts including communication, mate choice and parental care. Rebecca Kilner uses avian family 

life as a model system for investigating the evolution of communication, the resolution of social conflicts and co-evolution 

between brood parasites and their hosts. 

Matt Bell: Conflicts of interest within social systems. 

Lizzie Boakes: Modelling the impact of inbreeding 

depression on captive zoo populations 

Martina Boerner: Jacobin cuckoos and hosts. Common 

buzzard plumage polymorphism 

Lucy Browning: Individual variation in coopertive 

behaviour in babblers 

Savrina Carrizo: Modelling extinction risk. 

Sheena Cotter: Life history evolution in burying beetles 

Caroline Dingle: Duetting in neotropical wrens 

Julian Drewe: Role of social interaction and social 

networks in the transmission of infectious disease: 

epidemiology of tuberculosis in wild meerkats of the 

Kalahari, South Africa 

Sinead English: Individual variation in helping behaviour 

in meerkats: development of individual differences 

Andrers Eriksson: Effects of selection, mutation and 

recombination on the patterns of genetic variation in 

animal and human populations. 

Alvaro Ferreira: Dissecting the mechanisms by which 

heterozygosity impacts in fitness in fruit flies 

Mike Finnie: The unique breeding biology of hornbills 

(Bucerotiformes). 

Tom Flower: Deceptive signalling in Drongos 

James Gilbert: Evolution of parental care 

Camilla Hinde: Parent-offspring interactions in great tits 

13 

Joe Hoffman: Marine mammal population structure and 

breeding behaviour 

Neil Jordan: Scent communication in mammals 

Karita Lindstedt: The evolutionary ecology of predatorprey 

interaction 

Dieter Lukas: Population genetics in social species. 

Stephen Montgomery: Evolution of brain genes in New 

World primates 

Helen Markland: Family conflicts in blackbirds 

Rafael Mares: Variation in extra-territorial prospecting 

behaviour in meerkats 

Bonnie Metherell: Helping effort and offspring behaviour 

in the Banded Mongoose (Mungos mungo) 

Dan Morrish: The impact of genetic heterozygosity on the 

fitness of birds 

Kelly Moyes: Ageing in a polygynous mammal 

Hazel Nichols: The genetic structure and breeding 

behaviour of banded mongooses 

Marie Pointer: Evolutionary genetics of carotenoid 

coloration in birds 

Nouar Qutob: Worlwide patterns of diversity in human 

genes 

Stuart Sharp: Investment in cooperative societies 

Claire Spottiswoode: Brood parasitism. Life history 

evolution 

Martin Stevens: Avian vision, adaptive and protective 

colouration

Mary Caswell Stoddard: Avian colour perception and 

evolution of eggshell colour and pattern 

Mico Tatalovic: Evolution of sentinel behaviour in 

meerkats 

Alex Thornton: Investigating the role of social influences 

in development, evolution and the roots of culture 

Adaptive strategies in deceptive communication: vocal mimicry by the fork-tailed drongo 

Tom Flower 

Despite the prevalence of vocal mimicry in animals, few functions for 

this behaviour have been shown. My research considered a novel 

possibility, that false mimicked alarm calls could be used deceptively 

to scare other species and steal their food. Studies have previously 

suggested that animals use their own species-specific alarm calls to 

steal food. However none have shown that these false alarms are 

deceptive, or that mimicked alarm calls are used in this manner. Vocal 

mimicry could be particularly advantageous in a false alarm calling 

system, since deceptive signals become ineffective when made too 

frequently relative to honest signals and by changing their false alarm 

calls, a species could maintain deception. 

I investigated the behaviour of a small African bird, the fork-tailed 

drongo, at a field site in the Kalahari Desert. Using observational and 

experimental data I demonstrated that drongos use both deceptive Fork-tailed drongo 

drongo-specific and mimicked false alarm calls to scare other species 

and steal their food. These results provided the first conclusive 

evidence that false alarm calls are deceptive and demonstrated a novel function for vocal mimicry. Early results from my 

current research indicate that there may be substantial benefits to employing vocal mimicry in this deceptive system. 

Mimicked false alarm calls are more likely to deceive target species than drongo-specific false alarm calls. Furthermore, 

deception quickly brakes down when the same type of false alarm call is made frequently since target species quickly 

learn to ignore the call, but when a new mimicked false alarm call is subsequently made, the target species is once more 

deceived. This work highlights the benefits available to signallers from varying their strategy depending upon a receiver’s 

response. 

14 

Rose Thorogood: Begging and parental care in the 

Hihi 

Justin Welbergen: Australian flying fox social 

behaviour. Brood parasitism 

Helen Withers: Parental food calls and chick 

behaviour

Cell Biology 

The Cell Biology group aims to dissect 

the cellular and molecular networks that 

regulate animal biology. It focuses on 

fundamental research in two areas. The 

first is the mechanisms that regulate 

cell proliferation and the function of 

the nucleus. The second is intra- and 

intercellular signalling. We use a wide 

range of techniques including molecular, 

biochemical and genetic approaches, in 

vivo imaging and the analysis of whole 

animal function and behaviour. 

a) DNA Damage and Repair 

Steve Jackson’s research aims to understand how cells detect DNA damage and signal its presence to DNA repair and 

cell cycle machineries. Working with both yeast and human cells, his group is identifying new DNA damage response 

(DDR) factors, defining the functions of known DDR components, assessing how the DDR is affected by chromatin 

structure, and learning how DDR events are regulated. 

Rimma Belotserkovskaya: DNA repair and chromatin Jeanine Harrigan: Cell cycle regulation of the DDR 

Melanie Blasius: DNA damage signalling 

Pablo Huertas: Double-strand break repair in yeast and 

Sebastian Britton: DNA damage signalling and repair in 

humans 

human cells 

Abderrahmane Kaidi: The effect of chromatin structure on 

Ross Chapman: DNA damage signalling and cell cycle 

the DDR 

checkpoints 

Natalia Lukashchuk: Post-translational modifications and 

Josep Forment: Checkpoint signalling and the DDR 

DNA damage 

Yaron Galanty: Post-translational modification of DNA 

Kyle Miller: Role of chromatin in DNA integrity 

damage response proteins 

Tobias Oelschlaegel: Homologous recombination in 

Simona Giunta: Cell cycle regulation of the DDR 

mitosis and meiosis 

Ilaria Guerini: DNA damage response in model organisms 

Serge Gravel: DNA damage response in yeast 

b) Regulation of Mitosis 

Sophie Polo: Chromatin alterations at sites of DNA 

double-strand breaks 

Jorrit Tjeertes: Chromatin dynamics in response to DNA 

damage 

Jon Pines’ group studies how cells regulate entry to mitosis, and how cells coordinate chromosome alignment and 

segregation with cell division itself to ensure that the two daughter cells receive an equal and identical copy of the 

genome. The research focuses on the interplay between protein kinases, phosphatases, and ubiquitin-mediated 

proteolysis. Because mitosis is a highly dynamic process, the activity, behaviour and proteolysis of proteins in living cells 

are studied by time-lapse fluorescence microscopy, complemented with biochemical analyses. 

Philippe Collin: Conditional knockout of APC/C regulators 

by recombination 

Barbara Di Fiore: Cyclin A destruction 

Anja Hagting: Spatial control of APC/C activity 

Daisuke Izawa: APC/C substrate specificity 

Mark Jackman: Cyclin B1 and the spindle assembly 

checkpoint 

Agata Lichawska: Regulation of mitotic entry 

Jörg Mansfeld: APC/C through mitosis 

15 

Paola Marco: Cdk1 and Aurora A regulation of mitosis 

Takahiro Matsusaka: APC/C substrate selection 

Oxana Nashchekina: Recombination to tag proteins at 

their endogenous locus 

Bernhard Strauss: The role of cyclin B1 in early 

embryogenesis 

Felicia Walton: Role of cyclin A in the cell cycle

c) Control of DNA Replication 

The initiation of DNA replication is a crucial point of regulation in the cell cycle. Errors at this control point or in the 

processes of replication itself can lead to mutations and other genetic instabilities. Such genetic changes are the driving 

force behind the development of cancers and the production of genetic diversity, required for evolution. The groups of 

Torsten Krude, Cath Green and Ron Laskey use molecular and cell biology approaches to study DNA replication and 

its control in mammalian and amphibian systems. 

Christo Christov: Regulation of chromosomal DNA 

replication and cell proliferation 

Simon Cooper: Screening for novel replication factors 

Denis Finn: Biochemical analysis of replication protein 

interactions 

Timothy Gardiner: Characterisation of Y RNA function in 

vertebrate DNA replication 

d) Cell Signalling in Animal Behaviour and Development 

16 

Sebastian Klinge: Structural and functional analysis of 

human DNA polymerase/primase 

Alexander Langley: Characterisation of Y RNA-protein 

interactions during chromosomal DNA replication 

Shiphali Shetty: Real time protein-protein interactions at 

replication forks in vivo 

Alice Zhang: Characterisation of Y RNA localisation 

during chromosomal DNA replication 

We use C. elegans to investigate the molecular networks which underpin the behaviour and development of animals. The 

group of Howard Baylis focuses on how intracellular calcium signalling networks, regulate the animal’s physiology and 

development. A recent focus is on the interactions between these pathways and the pathways which cause Alzheimer’s 

disease. Birgitta Olofsson’s group is investigating how animals evaluate their food and how they use this information to 

make appropriate modifications to their feeding behaviour. Both groups use a combination of transgenic, molecular and 

genetic techniques together with quantitative analysis of whole animal phenotypes. 

Roxani Gatsi: Signalling networks controlling growth 

Kerrie Ford: IP3 receptor function in C. elegans 

Progressive activation of CyclinB1-Cdk1 coordinates entry to mitosis 

Jonathon Pines 

The Cyclin B1-Cdk1 kinase is the catalytic activity at the heart of Mitosis 

Promoting Factor (MPF), yet fundamental questions concerning its role in 

mitosis have remained unresolved. Cyclin B1-Cdk1 has been shown to be the 

key mitotic kinase from yeast, through starfish to frog cells but until now it was 

not known when and how rapidly Cyclin B1-Cdk1 is activated in mammalian 

cells, nor how its activation coordinates the substantial changes in the cell at 

mitosis. This is in part because it has so far proved impossible to synchronise 

mammalian cells to assay Cyclin B1-Cdk1 biochemically with sufficient temporal 

specificity. To overcome this limitation we have developed a FRET biosensor 

specific for Cyclin B1-Cdk1 that enables us to measure its activity with very high 

temporal precision in individual, living human cells as they divide. This has given 

is unprecedented insight into how Cyclin B1-Cdk1 controls entry to mitosis. 

We have found that Cyclin B1-Cdk1 is inactive in G2 phase and activated at 

a set time before nuclear envelope breakdown. Once activated Cyclin B1- 

Cdk1 initiates the events of prophase including cell rounding, chromosome 

condensation, spindle assembly and finally nuclear envelope breakdown. 

Unexpectedly, we find that Cyclin B1-Cdk1 levels rise to their maximum extent 

over the course of approximately 30 min and that different levels of CyclinB1- 

Cdk1 kinase activity trigger different mitotic events. This has revealed how the 

remarkable reorganisation of the cell is coordinated at mitotic entry by rising 

levels of Cyclin B1-Cdk1 activity. 

Reference: 

Gavet, O. and Pines, J. (2010) Progressive activation of Cyclin B1-Cdk1 

coordinates entry to mitosis’. Dev. Cell 18, 533-543. 

Amandine Molliex : Presenilin function in the nervous 

system 

Aniko Nagy: IP3 signalling in development 

Cyclin B1-Cdk1 activity measured 

in a human cell progressing through 

mitosis. High activity correlates with a 

high FRET ratio. The measured values 

are plotted below the images over 

time. The stages of mitosis shown are: 

prophase; prometaphase (prometa); 

metaphase (meta); anaphase (ana. 

onset). NEBD = nuclear envelope 

breakdown.

Developmental Biology 

Our developmental biology focuses on 

Drosophila and Xenopus. The Drosophila work 

is carried out in the main Department, where five 

research groups cooperate and share recently 

refurbished facilities. The Xenopus work is based 

in the Wellcome/CR UK Gurdon Institute. 

a) Neural Development 

We seek to understand the development, genetic specification, evolution and function of neural circuits and their ele- 

ments using Drosophila as a model. Pat Simpson’s group investigates how evolution of gene cis-regulatory sequences 

can drive phenotypic change with a focus on the achaete-scute genes, and their transcriptional regulators. Irene Miguel 

Aliaga’s group studies the development of visceral neurons and how they regulate the functions of internal organs such 

as the digestive tract. The groups of Matthias Landgraf and Michael Bate work on the embryonic development and 

specification of motor circuitry with a special emphasis on the formation of synaptic connections and the patterning of 

axonal and dendritic processes. 

Louise Brochet-Couton: Identification and study of 

locomotor circuitry neurons 

Barbara Chwalla: Regulation of dendritic growth, 

branching and targeting 

Paola Cognigni: Formation and function of visceral 

neurons in Drosophila embryonic development 

Marta Costa: Evolution of a redundant mechanism for 

bristle patterning in Calliphora 

Sarah Crisp: Embryonic origins of coordinated movement 

Soeren Diegelmann: Molecular and cellular analysis of 

cholinergic interneurons and their role in motor circuitry 

Jan-Felix Evers: Live imaging and experimental analysis 

of synaptogenesis and dendritic growth 

Emma Hatton-Ellis: Evolution of the function of the 

wingless gene in the development of sensory bristles and 

tendons 

Zhihua Jin: Generation of an anti-Pannier antibody in 

Drosophila 

Feng Li: Development and diversification of the larval 

neuromuscular system 

Alex Mauss: Dendritic targeting and specificity of 

17 

connections in the locomotor system 

Carol McKimmie: Achaete-scute regulation and bristle 

patterning in Megaselia 

Annemarie North: Genetic specification of central neuron 

dendrites 

Lucia Prieto: Embryonic development and function of 

larval olfactory circuitry 

Stefan Pulver: Functional analysis of larval motor circuitry 

and behaviour 

Valia Stamataki: Evolution of an enhancer of achaetescute 

in drosophilids 

Marco Tripodi: Development and homeostatic regulation 

of dendrites in the central nervous system 

Jean-Valery Turatsinze: functional evolution of the SOPenhancer 

in asense orthologs and in SOP cell specific 

genes 

Richard Wallbank: Structure and evolution of the cisregulatory 

sequences of the pannier gene in drosophilids 

Mingyao Yang: Evolution of the cis-regulatory sequences 

of the pannier gene in Megaselia and Calliphora 

Temur Yunusov: Identification and study of locomotor 

circuitry neurons 

b) Polarity and Patterning 

The interests of our group concern the molecular mechanisms that underlie the origin of cell diversity and animal patterning. 

In particular we are interested in how patterns are established within and between cells, using Drosophila as a model 

system. Three groups (Peter Lawrence, Isabel Palacios, Helen Skaer) aim to understand subcellular organization in 

terms of the differential distribution of molecules in oocytes (Palacios) and in tissues (planar polarity; Lawrence, apicobasal 

polarity, Skaer) and the consequences of cell diversity and patterning in terms of tissue morphogenesis and animal 

development.

Tulay Atamert: Fly stocks maintenance 

Paul Avery: RNA stability in Drosophila 

Marcus Bischoff: Morphogenesis and pattern formation of 

the abdomen of Drosophila 

Jose Casal: Planar polarity in Drosophila 

Bhavna Chanana: The function of tumour suppressor 

pathways in early development 

Barry Denholm: Cell patterning and morphogenesis in 

renal tissues 

Nan Hu: Cell specification in renal tubules 

Joanna Krzemień: Development of adult muscles in the 

abdomen of Drosophila 

Philippe Loiseau: Intracellular transport cargo recognition 

by conventional kinesin 

18 

Isabel Peset-Martin: The function of motors in 

establishing cell polarities 

Pedro Saavedra: Planar polarity in Drosophila 

Ada Repiso: Molecular analysis of planar polarity 

molecules 

Aditya Saxena: Regulation of tubule morphogenesis 

Catherine Scahill: Cell specification and tissue 

morphogenesis 

Susan Wan: Intercellular signaling and branching 

morphogenesis 

Lucy Williams: The function of Kinesin-1 

Helen Weavers: Cell interactions underlying tissue 

pathfinding 

c) Xenopus Development 

The research group of John Gurdon concentrates on mechanisms of nuclear reprogramming as a route towards personspecific 

cell replacement. This group is analyzes the molecular mechanisms by which eggs and oocytes re-set the gene 

expression pattern of the somatic cell nucleus to that of an embryo cell, including the transcriptional activation of pluripotency 

genes. Methods include nuclear transplantation to eggs and oocytes, mutant mouse cell lines, as well as imaging 

and FRAP analyses. 

Carolina Astrand: Histone mobility 

Nigel Garrett: Genetic manipulation 

Richard Halley-Stott: Chromatin decondensation 

Jerome Jullien: Linker histone exchange 

Vincent Pasque: X-chromosomal inactivation 

Ilenia Simeoni: Gene transcription in oocytes 

Four-jointed can modify the activity of both Dachsous and Fat in vivo 

Jose Casal 

These images provide evidence that a Golgi protein kinase, Fourjointed, 

interacts with both Dachsous and Fat — these are large cadherin 

molecules. Fat and Dachsous link together as heterodimers, with Fat in 

one cell contacting Dachsous in a neighbouring cell. We believe that the 

asymmetric distribution of these heterodimers within a cell is read out as the 

planar polarity of that cell. What we see here are clones of cells that lack 

all endogenous Fat and Dachsous, but have one of these proteins added 

back. If the clone contains only Dachsous, then Fat is drawn to the apposing 

membranes of the adjacent wildtype cells and, consequently those cells 

are repolarised (posterior to the clone). If the clone contains only Fat, then 

Dachsous is drawn to the apposing membranes of the adjacent wildtype cells and this also causes repolarisation (but 

now anterior to the clone). Repolarisation can propagate beyond the neighbouring wildtype cells because, if Dachsous is 

drawn to one side of a cell it becomes depleted from the other side, and this will affect the distribution of heterodimers in 

the next, more outlying, wildtype cells. 

When Four-jointed is over-expressed in the clone expressing Dachsous, then the affinity of Dachsous for Fat is 

diminished, less Fat is attracted to the adjacent membrane and repolarisation of the wildtype cells is reduced. 

When Four-jointed is over-expressed in the clone expressing Fat, then the affinity of Fat for Dachsous is increased, 

more Dachsous is attracted to the adjacent membrane and repolarisation of the wildtype cells is extended. Four-jointed 

molecules with a change in the kinase domain of the protein have much reduced effects, arguing that Four-jointed acts 

as a kinase to phosphorylate both Dachsous and Fat. We have provided additional in vitro evidence is provided for these 

conclusions. 

The clones of cells are genetically marked with a mutation that makes each cell produce an increased number of very 

small hairs. The cells surrounding the clones and their changed polarities can be seen in the orientation of the wildtype 

hairs. 

Reference: 

Brittle, A.L., Repiso, A. Casal, J., Lawrence, P.A. and Strutt, D. (2010). Four-jointed modulates growth and planar polarity 

by reducing the affinity of Dachsous for Fat. Curr. Biol. 20, 803-810.

Neurobiology 

The group aims to understand neural mechanisms 

that relate directly to the behaviour of an animal. 

We focus on sensory processing (visual, auditory, 

proprioceptive), motor control and plasticity in 

the accessible nervous systems of insects and 

lampreys. Our approach crosses the boundaries 

from neurochemistry to from the function of neural 

circuits and theoretical modelling and ethology. 

Malcolm Burrows analyses neural processing in 

local circuits of sensory, motor and interneurons that 

control natural limb movements and the mechanisms 

of jumping in insects. Berthold Hedwig studies 

acoustic communication in insects: auditory pattern recognition, the motor control of singing behaviour, the mechanisms 

that modify audition during the songs and the Calcium dynamics in single neurons. Simon Laughlin combines 

experiment and theory to analyse the molecular and cellular factors that determine the abilities of synapses, neurons and 

circuits to code, transmit and process information. 

Jeremy Niven: Biophysical constraints on eye evolution 

Swidbert Ott: Mechanisms of neural plasticity during 

swarm-formation in the locust 

Nicon Rasumov: The energy efficient brain 

Stephen Rogers: Neuronal correlates of phase change in 

locusts 

Locusts use vision to target forelimb placement during walking 

Jeremy Niven 

19 

Biswa Sengupta: Information theory in neural cocking 

Patricio Simoes: The effect of phase change in memory 

and learning in desert locusts 

Gregory Sutton: Biomechanics and neural control of 

jumping 

Accurate limb placement helps animals and robots to walk on substrates that are uneven or contain 

gaps. Visual information is important in controlling limb placement in walking mammals, including 

humans, but has received little attention in insects. We investigated whether desert locusts 

(Schistocerca gregaria) walking along a horizontal ladder use vision to control limb placement. 

Analysis of high-speed video footage showed that ladder-walking locusts targeted their front legs 

to specific rungs in the absence of any previous contact, suggesting that visual information alone 

is sufficient for targeting single steps. Comparison between the proportions of missed steps before 

and after monocular occlusion showed that monocular visual information was used to place the 

ipsilateral but not the contralateral front leg. Accurate forelimb placement also depended upon 

mechanosensory inputs from the antennae as well as proprioceptive feedback from the ipsilateral 

but not the contralateral forelimb. Locusts with monocular occlusion compensated for the loss 

of inputs to one eye by immediately altering their stepping pattern to favour the forelimb nearest 

the eye through which they could still see, emphasising the importance of vision in the control of 

forelimb placement. Changing the rung position after the initiation of a step showed that targeting 

of the front leg depends on visual information acquired before but not during a step. The trajectory 

of the forelimb was modified only after missing the rung. This is in contrast to humans, which can 

modify their leg trajectories during a step. Taken together, our data show that locusts walking in 

environments where footholds are limited use visual and mechanosensory information to place their 

front legs. 

References 

Niven, J.E. et al. (2010). Visual targeting of forelimbs in ladder-walking 

locusts. Current Biology, 20, 86-91. 

High-speed video footage of an adult desert 

locust walking on a horizontal ladder. The 

forelimbs are targeted to each subsequent 

rung without having previous contact, showing 

that vision is used for targeting limb placement.

Population and Community Ecology 

Our group investigates how and why the size and 

composition of populations and communities changes 

over time and space, and why these changes matter. 

The bulk of our research focuses on applied questions in 

conservation, epidemiology and resource management. 

Approaches adopted include empirical observations, 

experiments, and theoretical modelling. 

a) Conservation and Ecology 

David Aldridge studies freshwater mussels, biofoulers 

and invasive species. Andrew Balmford works on 

identifying priority areas for conservation action, the 

costs and benefits of effective conservation, and how 

conservation efforts might best be reconciled with other forms of land use, especially in developing countries. Rhys 

Green looks at the effects of human land use and conservation management on populations of birds, and the effects of 

climate change on bird distributions. William Sutherland works on the causes of bird population declines, on predicting 

environmental change, horizon scanning and on evidence-based conservation. 

Tatsuya Amano: Modelling the spatial population 

dynamics of bird species 

Holly Barclay: Propagation of freshwater mussels 

Tiffany Bogich: Modelling the global impacts of the pattern 

and intensity of land use on species’ extinction rates and 

threat status 

Neil Burgess: Biodiversity research and conservation 

management projects in Africa 

Katie Carr: Impacts of river management on 

macroinvertebrate biodiversity 

Ines Catry: Conservation of the Lesser Kestrel 

Matt Child: The effectiveness of private conservation 

areas in South Africa 

Gawsia Choudhury: Development of a Biotic Index for the 

conservation and monitoring of lakes in Bangladesh 

Tom Clements: Analysis of governance structures for 

payments for environmental services 

Ira Cooke: Models of farmland ecosystems integrating 

ecology and farmer behaviour. 

Ian Craigie: Assessing the effectiveness of protected 

areas in biodiversity conservation 

Heide Eager: Linking patterns of biodiversity and cultural 

diversity 

Philine zu Ermgassen: Interactions between invasive 

species in British freshwaters 

Toby Gardner: Biodiversity and economic development 

in multiple-use forest landscapes across the Brazilian 

Amazon 

Jonathan Green: Integrating costs and processes into 

priorities for conservation planning 

Tom Gunnarsson: Migratory decisions of the black-tailed 

godwit 

Alison Johnston: Effects of intensive management 

techniques on stone curlew populations in the UK 

20 

Val Kapos: Identifying and testing biodiversity indicators 

Omaliss Keo: Ecology and conservation of the Giant Ibis 

in Cambodia 

Reuben Keller: Risk assessment for non-native species 

Aaron Lobo: Spatial and temporal trends in bycatch from 

shrimp trawling 

Kathy Mackinnon: Conservation and development 

Sarah Moon: Cambridge Conservation Initiative 

Rebecca Mant: Control of encrusting organisms in water 

treatment works 

Malvika Onial: Relationships between wildlife 

conservation and human development 

Matthew Oreska: Aquatic invasive species ecological and 

economic impacts 

Ben Phalan: Maintaining healthy ecosystems and 

protecting biodiversity 

Rob Pople: Effectiveness of bird conservation 

management interventions 

Stephanie Prior: Miriam Rothschild Conservation 

Coordinator 

Ana Rodrigues: Understanding the interface and potential 

trade-offs between conservation biology and economical 

development 

Dave Showler: Evidence-based conservation 

Nicola Spann: Mussels as biomonitors of freshwater 

pollution 

Ruth Swetnam: Spatial modelling to environmental 

processes 

Claire Tancell: Southern Ocean seabird distribution; 

modelling and conservation implications 

Rosie Trevelyan: Tropical biology, education 

Alexandra Zieritz: Variability and function of unionoidean 

shell shape and sculpture

) Pathogen and Host Evolution 

Derek Smith’s group studies the evolution of antigenically variable pathogens, particularly influenza viruses. The team 

investigates how genetic changes relate to changes in virus phenotype, how structural constraints at the protein level 

limit virus evolution, how vaccination and human immune response affect viral evolution, how the pathogen and immunity 

coevolve, how viruses migrate around the world, and how spatio-temporal heterogeneities affect the evolution and 

epidemiology of the virus. Andrea Manica’s group works on a broad range of evolutionary and ecological questions. A 

central theme is the explicit modelling of spatial phenomena, from individual movement to metapopulation dynamics. The 

group investigates how conflicts are solved in groups facing coordination problems, and how territoriality mediates social 

conflict. A further focus is reconstructing the spread of anatomically modern humans out of Africa over the last 50k years, 

and clarifying how selection by pathogens has affected this structured metapopulation. 

Tzo Zen Ang: Territoriality and the stability of social 

groups of dwarf angelfish 

Lia Betti: Worldwide patterns of phenotypic and genotypic 

variability in humans 

David Burke: Structural bioinformatics algorithms, structure 

and function prediction of individual protein families 

Miranda De Graaf: Glycan cartography, evolution of influenza 

viruses 

Jennifer Harcourt: Conflicts in group movement coordination 

in sticklebacks 

Dan Horton: Antigenic relationships among the lyssaviruses 

Terry Jones: Antigenic cartography, antibody landscapes, 

computational biology 

Björn Koel: Molecular determinants of influenza A virus 

antigenic evolution 

Nicola Lewis: Equine influenza antigenic cartography 

Aaron Lobo: Spatial and temporal trends in bycatch from 

shrimp trawling 

2009’s Swine Flu Pandemic 

Colin Russell 

21 

Anna Ludi: Antigenic cartography to quantify the antigenic 

relationship of type A foot-and-mouth disease variants 

Ana Mosterin: Vaccine efficacy evaluation 

Jennifer Oates: Territory size and the maintanance of 

honesty in cleaner-client interactions 

Nouar Qutob: Worlwide patterns of diversity in human 

disease resistance genes 

Colin Russell: Evolution and epidemiology of antigenically 

variable pathogens 

Kyle Sutherland-Cash: Modelling protein-glycan interactions 

of influenza viruses and computational chemistry 

Elizabeth Tyler: Neutral theory applied to coral reefs 

Mario Ventresca: Computationally intelligent, machine 

learning and statistical techniques for understanding 

adaptive processes 

Chris Whittleston: Development of molecular simulation 

methods, the relationship between viral fitness and antigenic 

evolution of influenza 

The 2009 H1N1 pandemic was both a major public health crisis and a rare opportunity to watch as a “new” virus spreads 

through the human population around the world. The situation was akin to getting to observe the introduction of a new 

invasive species into a virgin island population. These were frantic times with everyone in the influenza public health 

and scientific communities doing everything possible to understand the new virus and all the members of the Pathogen 

Evolution group were on the front lines. 

Each year, our group is involved in the World Health Organization’s selection of strains for the flu vaccine--as the virus 

evolves, the strains of flu in the vaccine need to be updated. Given our strong links with the WHO, as soon as the first 

cases of swine flu were detected in the US, we were called on to work closely with colleagues at the US CDC to analyze 

the phenotypic and genetic characteristics of the viruses. The first investigations were to analyze the origins of the virus, 

the phenotypic variation of the then current isolates, and whether a single virus vaccine would be likely to protect against 

the emerging strains. The results of these investigations were immediately disseminated for public health purposes and 

were also published in the scientific literature within one month of the emergence of the virus. We were further involved 

in emergency research relating to the pandemic including multiple meetings at WHO, direct consultations with the WHO 

Director General, and Derek Smith’s briefing of US President Barack Obama‘s scientific advisors. Though the pandemic 

is thankfully over from a public health perspective, the exciting scientific opportunities to understand this development 

remain: As the first influenza pandemic in a generation, this is will be our closest look to date at influenza virus evolution 

as the virus transitions from infecting an almost entirely susceptible population to one that is increasingly immune and 

from which the virus must evolve to escape. 

Reference 

Garten RJ, et al (2009). Antigenic and genetic characteristics of swine-origin 2009 A(H1N1) influenza viruses circulating 

in humans, Science 325(5937): 197-201

Evolution and Diversity 

Much of the research in this group is built 

around the collections of the Museum of 

Zoology and the interests of its curators. 

Major themes are the origin and radiation 

of tetrapods, the ecology and evolutionary 

genetics of invertebrates as well as 

‘Evo-Devo’, the relationship between the 

processes of development and evolution. 

a) Vertebrate Evolution and Morphology 

The groups of Jenny Clack and Rob Asher focus on the phylogeny and adaptations of living and extinct species, 

including (for example) endemic African mammals, insectivoran-grade mammals, ruminants, and equids. Projects 

now underway by group members pertain to several subjects, including the evolution of ruminant artiodactyls in the 

Spanish Miocene, the history of horse domestication, the timing of dental eruption in endemic African mammals, and the 

distribution of vertebral anomalies in southern placental mammals. 

Jenny works on the origin and early evolution of tetrapods, and Late Palaeozoic faunas in general. Her work has 

concentrated on Late Devonian and Early Carboniferous tetrapods, looking at the evolution of terrestrial adaptations. She 

and her students and collaborators have also worked on Devonian and Carboniferous fish faunas. Currently her group 

members are working on the evolution of terrestrial locomotion using computer modeling and biomechanical simulation 

software, and the evolution of chondrichthyans in the Carboniferous. 

Eva Bärmann: Ruminant evolution and morphology 

Nick Crumpton: Osteological correlates of sensation in 

mammals 

Lionel Hautier: Axial skeletal development; evolution of 

rodents 

22 

Stephanie Pierce: Evolution of terrestrial locomotion in 

vertebrates 

Kelly Richards: Carboniferous chondrichthyan faunas of 

the UK, especially Derbyshir 

Vera Warmuth: Evolutionary history of modern horses 

b) Invertebrate Ecology and Evolutionary Genetics 

To understand the origins of biodiversity, research in this group focuses on the invertebrates in order to analyse evolution 

at the population and species level. Chris Jiggins studies the evolution of wing patterns among tropical butterflies. 

Convergent evolution, such as mimicry, offers the opportunity to ask whether the same genes, or the same kinds of 

genetic changes are involved repeatedly when different populations undergo similar evolutionary changes. William 

Foster studies the ecology and evolution of aphids, and the diversity of invertebrates living in the tropical forests. Richard 

Preece studies land snail diversity, both in the present and in the context of climate change over the last million years. 

Simon Baxter: Genetic basis of adaptation in Lepidoptera Tom Fayle: Species interactions in tropical ant 

communities 

Tim Cockerill: The influence of landscape complexity on 

parasitoid communities in oil palm plantations 

Richard Merrill: Genetic basis of butterfly patterning and 

mate preference 

Johanna Darlington: Ecology and phylogeny of African 

fungus-growing termites 

Kalsum binti Mohd Yusah : The structure of tropical highcanopy 

ant communities 

Henry Disney: Systematics and evolutionary relationships 

of the Diptera, particularly Phoridae 

Nicola Nadeau: Evolutionary genetics of wing colour 

polymorphism in Heliconius melpomene 

Farnon Ellwood: The structure of tropical arthropod 

communities 

Carolina Pardo: Developmental genetics of mimicry

Camilo Salazar: Establishing the speciation mechanism 

in cases where recent adaptive radiation occurs 

Patricio Salazar: Genetic basis of colour pattern 

divergence between races of heliconus butterflies 

Jake Snaddon: Diversity and ecosystem function in 

c) Evolution and Development 

The group of Michael Akam focuses on the diversity of developmental mechanisms in arthropods. They study in detail 

the molecular mechanisms of Hox gene function in Drosophila, and compare the gene networks controlling segmentation 

in Drosophila with those in more basal dipteran lineages. To understand how arthropod segmentation works in a cellular 

environment, the group studies the embryos of bugs, crickets and centipedes, and has been collaborating with groups in 

Uppsala and Sydney to study development in the sister group to the arthropods - the onychophorans, or velvet worms. 

The Akam group interacts closely with Evo-Devo groups across Europe through its membership of the Marie Curie training 

networks Zoonet and Evonet. 

Zivkos Apostolou: Mesoderm development in Centipedes 

Matt Benton: Early embryonic patterning in arthropods 

Carlo Brena: Early development and segmentation in 

centipedes 

Monica Garcia-Solache: The segmentation gene network 

in lower dipterans 

Billy Hinchin: Cell lineage and cell migration during 

amphipod gastrulation 

Vera Hunnekuhl: Head patterning in basal arthropods 

Johannes Jaeger: Gene circuit analysis of segmentation 

in insects 

Genetic basis of insecticide resistance 

Chris Jiggins 

Evolving resistance to control agents, such as antibiotics or insecticides, can 

have major costs to human health or agricultural food production. Once a genetic 

mechanism for resistance to a particular compound has been identified, other 

resistant species can be rapidly assessed to search for a parallel mechanism. 

Insecticides often target the insect nervous system as they can be toxic at low 

concentration and act rapidly. Here we report a genetic mutation in a global 

agricultural pest, diamondback moth, that is associated with resistance to 

the bioinsecticide spinosad. A mutation in an intron splice junction of nicotinic 

acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) alpha 6 causes mis-spliced mRNA transcripts 

that are predicted to produce truncated proteins lacking important functional 

domains. nAChRs require 5 subunits to function, and insects generally encode 

10–12 subunit genes. Spinosad may therefore be targeting a redundant nAChR 

subunit not essential for survival in diamondback moth. Other insects that evolve 

field resistance to spinosad can now be tested to determine whether the same 

resistance mechanism is involved. 

Reference 

Baxter SW, Chen M, Dawson A, Zhao JZ, Vogel H, Shelton AM, Heckel DG, 

Jiggins CD (2010). Mis-spliced transcripts of nicotinic acetylcholine receptor α6 are 

associated with field evolved spinosad resistance in Plutella xylostella (L.). PLoS 

Genet. 6(1), e1000802. 

23 

rainforest insect communities 

Edgar Turner: Impacts of habitat change on tropical and 

temperate insect communities 

Jamie Walters: Patterns of molecular evolution in the 

Lepidoptera 

Franz Kainz: Segmentation mechanisms in the cricket 

Gryllus bimaculatus 

Barbora Konopova: Development and function of the 

pleuropodium in insects 

Alan Marron: Comparative analysis of silica 

biomineralisation in eukaryotes 

Anastasios Pavlopoulos: Function of the Hox gene 

Ultrabithorax in insects and crustaceans 

Elizabeth Sefton: Analysis of segmentation in insects and 

centipedes 

Xiaoxuan Tian: Hox genes of Hemipteran insects 

The diamondback moth, Plutella 

xylostella, is a worldwide agricultural 

pest. Different populations have 

evolved resistance to all major 

insecticide classes. 

Photo by: Heiko Vogel, MPI

Awards and Prizes 

Michael Akam Linnean Medal for Zoology, 

awarded by the Linnean Society 

of London 

Pat Bateson Honorary Fellow of the Royal 

Society of New Zealand 

Jenny Clack Fellowship of the Royal Society 

Foreign Honorary Member of the 

American Academy of Arts and 

Sciences 

Rhys Green Godman-Salvin Medal by the 

British Ornithologists’ Union 

John Gurdon 2009 Albert Lasker award for 

pioneering work with stem cells 

2009 Lewis S. Rosenstiel Award 

for distinguished work in basic 

medical sciences 

Steve Jackson BBSRC Innovator of the Year 

Award 2009 

Ron Laskey Royal Society’s Royal Medal 

Rosie Trevelyan Zoological Society of London 

Silver Medal for contributions 

to wildlife conservation and 

education 

At the Graduate School of the Life Sciences’ annual 

poster competition held in March, Zoology graduate 

students scooped three prizes. James Bullock was the 

overall winner, Karin Moll won the prize for the best 1st 

year PhD/MPhil poster and Thomas Endlein received 

the prize for the best image. James Bullock also won the 

runner-up prize for Biological and Biomedical Sciences 

in the SET for BRITAIN competition 2009 in the House of 

Commons. 

24 

People 

During the year, the Department made seven assistant 

staff and 22 research staff appointments, the latter 

including three prestigious independent Fellowships: 

Toby Gardner (NERC), Colin Russell (RS URF) and 

Martin Stevens (BBSRC). The Department welcomed 

more than 50 academic visitors from around the world. 

Michael Akam was elected to succeed Malcolm Burrows 

as Head of Department with effect from October 2010. 

Rebecca Kilner and Richard Preece became Readers 

and Andrea Manica gained a promotion to Senior 

Lecturer. 

Mike Bate retired from the Department. He joined the 

Department of Zoology in 1980 and became a University 

Professor in 1998. He was elected Fellow of the Royal 

Society in 1997 and was awarded a prestigious Royal 

Society Professorship in 2001. 

Ray Symonds retired from the Department of Zoology 

in March 2009 after 45 years’ service. In effect, Ray 

had two careers in Zoology. He began in 1964 as an 

electronics technician and over the years created many 

superb pieces of electronic equipment of huge value to 

researchers in the Department. He then in 1985 moved 

into the Museum of Zoology team, becoming collections 

manager in 1999 and finishing his career as a specialist 

registrar. He built an unrivalled knowledge of the Museum 

collections and left a wonderful legacy for researchers 

worldwide in the shape of the digitization of the Museum’s 

catalogues. 

Martin Stevens was elected to a Fellowship at Churchill 

College from 1 October 2009. Ben Phalan won a 

Research Fellowship at Churchill College from 1 October 

2009. PhD student Jennifer Harcourt (Evolutionary 

Ecology Group) was elected Graduate Student Union 

sabbatical President for 2009/10. 

Martin Wells (1928 – 2009) 

The Department 

was saddened by 

the loss of Martin 

Wells, who was a 

long time member 

of Zoology. He 

was a Frank 

Smart Prize winner in 1951, then undertook research 

with Wigglesworth before working at the Marine Station 

in Naples. He was appointed a Demonstrator in 1959,

a Lecturer in 1964 and a Reader in 1976. He retired in 

1995. Many members of Zoology will have vivid and happy 

memories of Martin. The legacy of his science, his art and 

his writing still permeate the Department. 

Mike Majerus (1954 - 2009) 

The Department lost a close 

colleague in Professor Mike 

Majerus, who worked at the 

Department of Genetics. Mike 

was a traditional Cambridge 

scientist; a charismatic individual 

for whom the boundaries 

between life and work, and 

teaching and research, were very hard to discern. He 

was a world authority in his field, a tireless advocate 

of evolution and an enthusiastic educator of graduate 

and undergraduate students. Mike’s enthusiasm for his 

subject and his rapport with students made him an ideal 

undergraduate lecturer. He had a great enthusiasm for 

field work and was tireless in training all of his students 

in practical skills. Never shy of publicity he took every 

opportunity to promote his field of evolutionary biology 

to the wider public. In 2004 the arrival of the harlequin 

ladybird in Britain was a disaster for native species but 

catapulted Mike into the public eye and on to the front 

page of The Times. Such was the appetite of the press, TV 

and radio for Mike’s work with the harlequin ladybird that 

for weeks he was omnipresent in the media. An enthusiast, 

a natural teacher and a man who radiated a passion for his 

subject he will be very sorely missed by all of his friends 

and colleagues in the Department. 

(Dr David Summers, Head of Department of Genetics) 

Tropical Biology Association in the Zoology 

Department 

The Department of Zoology has hosted the Tropical 

Biology Association for over ten years. Alumni of the 

TBA are playing a more and more prominent role in 

conservation. Almost all of TBA’s former trainees (98%) 

are engaged in conservation science or related fields and 

many have returned to teach on TBA courses. There are 

now 13 autonomous TBA alumni groups across Africa that 

provide a platform to promote good conservation practices 

and collaboration, as well as an avenue to nurture and 

mentor the next generation of conservationists in their 

countries. In 2009, the TBA welcomed five new countries 

to its growing network, with students from Guatemala, 

25 

Laos, Liberia, Papua New Guinea and Vietnam attending 

courses for the first time. 

Students on a 2009 TBA field course at 

Danum Valley in Sabah 

Events of the year 

Departmental Seminar Day 

A high point in the year was again our Departmental 

Seminar Day, which was held on 13 March at St. John’s 

College. The talks this year, in a programme coordinated 

by Chris Jiggins, were as follows: 

Peter Lawrence - Francis Crick and his approach to 

science 

Jennifer Clack - The humerus of Ichthyostega: no joke 

Kate Jones - Evolution of echolocation and its use as a 

monitoring tool 

Matthias Landgraf - Development of neural networks: 

global patterning cues arrange rendezvous 

between partner neurons 

Kelly Moyes - Climate change and phenology in a wild red 

deer population 

Martina Boerner - Killing me softly (or: How to charm your 

hosts whilst killing their chicks) 

Torsten Krude - Non-coding Y RNA and the control of 

DNA replication in vertebrates 

Irene Miguel-Aliaga - Insect gut feelings: development 

and physiology of visceral neurons in Drosophila 

Simon Laughlin - How your rod photoreceptors cut the 

cost of night vision 

The Seminar Day included a poster session, where Chris 

Bird (Sub-Department of Animal Behaviour) won the 

first prize for his poster on “Tool use in the rook (Corvus 

frugilegus)” and the runner-up prize was given to Karin 

Moll (Insect Biomechanics Workgroup) for her poster 

“Balancing acrobats: grass-carrying ants avoid falling over 

by controlled head movements”. 

Media 

In a very strong year for media stories, highlights included 

Nick Davies’ documentary on cuckoos at Wicken Fen and 

the feature on the Library’s first edition copy of Charles

Darwin’s ‘On the origin of species’ on Countryfile. 

Just in time for Easter, a cracked 

brown egg, believed to be the last 

of a batch personally collected 

and then cack-handedly packed 

by Charles Darwin during his 

voyage on the Beagle, was 

found by Museum volunteer Liz 

Wetton, who had been helping to 

catalogue the museum’s gigantic collection of birds’ eggs 

for ten years. In the 200th year of Darwin’s birth, this story 

received very wide coverage internationally. 

Events 

The Department hosted once again the “Crash Bang 

Squelch!” day of hands-on activities during the Science 

Festival and the annual Conversazione, Cambridge’s 

oldest natural history exhibition, organized by the 

Cambridge Natural History Society. 

In July, the Department helped to host the 41st 

International Chemistry Olympiad for 67 teams of 

undergraduate students from around the world. This 

was the first time this pretigious event has been held in 

Cambridge. 

Evolution on Film 13-14 February 2009 

A notable outreach event sponsored jointly by the 

Department of Zoology and CRASH (Centre for Research 

into the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities) was the 

“Evolution on Film” Festival, organised by Marie Pointer. 

The aim of the event was to encourage anyone interested 

in evolution and the big questions of our existence to hear 

the opinions of leading academics and scholars – sources 

often believed to be unavailable or unintelligible to nonscientists. 

The Festival included a screening of ‘A flock of 

dodos: the evolution/intelligent design circus’, followed by 

a question and answer session with the film’s director, Dr. 

Randy Olson – a marine biologist turned film director. A 

well-attended panel discussion on evolution and intelligent 

design was chaired by Professor Michael Akam, with 

panel members including Dr. Rob Asher, Professor Revd. 

Michael Reiss, Dr. David Rosevear (chair of the Creation 

Science movement), Professor Robert Foley, Dr. Randy 

Olson and Revd. Angela Tilby. 

Class of 1969 reunion 

Following a suggestion from Dr. Alan Cane, on Saturday 

8 August a party of 15 of the original 23 former students 

26 

of the Part II class of 1969, together with their partners, 

were welcomed back to the Department. They were 

hosted by Malcolm Burrows 

and other senior members of 

staff. The career paths of the 

Class of ‘69 are instructive. 

Of 18 people who provided 

information, 15 had gone 

on to take higher degrees, 

and 13 of them working in 

biological or medical fields. 

In expressing thanks to 

Malcolm Burrows and the 

Department, Alan Cane commented that it had been “an 

unforgettable experience. It was good to see again the 

familiar (and rather less well remembered) places, and to 

gain some appreciation of the many changes since ‘our 

day’. I was particularly struck by the dedicated and largely 

unseen work of support staff and volunteers.” 

10th Student Conference on Conservation 

Science 

The Student Conference on Conservation Science 

celebrated its 10th birthday in March 2009. Jointly 

organised by Andrew Balmford (Zoology), Rhys Green 

(RSPB and Zoology) and Rosie Trevelyan (Tropical 

Biology Association), the meeting has now hosted a 

total of 1600 student delegates from 106 countries. To 

celebrate the 10th meeting, the organisers invited back 

10 “conference alumni” to share their advice on how to 

Lunch with Her Majesty the Queen 

Her Majesty and His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh 

attended a formal lunch at King's College to celebrate 

long service to the University by its employees. The 

100 longest-serving employees of the University, along 

with their guests, were invited to attend, with an average 

of more than 39 years service to the University. Four of 

those long-serving employees came from the Zoology Department: 

Barrie Fuller who joined the Department in 1961 

as a junior technician; Paul Heavens who joined in 1965 

as a part-time Junior Technician at the Sub-Department 

of Animal Behaviour; Barry Keverne, FRS, who joined the 

Anatomy Department on a Research Fellowship in 1972; 

and Neal Maskell who also joined the department in 1965 

as a part-time Junior Technician. All four of them, along 

with their partners, thoroughly enjoyed this memorable 

occasion celebrating the University’s 800th birthday.

Investment in buildings and infrastructure 

The Departmental Equipment Committee agreed £93k 

for equipment bids including CCTV upgrades for the 

Library and Museum as well as items of laboratory 

equipment. Additional funds were found to replace the 

workshop and aviaries following the damage caused by 

a falling tree at the Sub-Department. The Department 

Finance 

FY 06-07 FY 07-08 FY 08-09 

Core University budget £2.5m £2.9m £3.1m 

No. of research grants 96 89 90 

Total value of research grants £24.4m £25.2m £27.5m 

Annual value of research grants £5.9m £6.1m £6.4m 

Overhead income to the Department 

from research grants 

Departmental Trust fund awards 

from interest on capital 

£171k £324k £239k 

£113k £70k £82k 

The Department received with gratitude a donation from Dr. Christopher and Mrs Ann Dobson. 

The Department received a positive audit report from the University’s internal auditor, covering all aspects of financial 

management. 

Members of the Department 

Professors 

Burrows, M, FRS, (Head of 

Department) 

Akam, M, FRS, 

(Director of the University 

Museum of Zoology) 

Amos, W 

Balmford, A P 

Bate, C M, FRS 

Clack, J 

Clutton-Brock, T H, FRS 

(Prince Philip Professor) 

Davies, N B, FRS 

Ellington, C P, FRS 

Jackson, S P, FRS 

(Quick Professor) 

Keverne, E B, FRS 

Laskey, R A, FRS (Charles 

Darwin Professor) 

Laughlin, S B, FRS 

Simpson, P, FRS 

Smith, D 

Smith, J, FRS, 

(John Humphrey Plummer 

Professor) 

Sutherland, W 

(Miriam Rothschild 

Professor) 

27 

committed more than £36k for upgrading the IT link to 

the Sub-Department and for installing the new VOIP 

telephone system and the wireless Lapwing service. 

The former lecture theatre in the Austin Building was 

converted into new office space for the research group 

of Prof. Derek Smith. Work on the new Elementary 

Genetics Laboratory at Madingley (a shared facility with 

Genetics) progressed smoothly. 

Readers 

Hedwig, Dr B 

Johnstone, Dr R 

Kilner, Dr R 

Skaer, Dr H 

University Senior 

Lecturers 

Barnes, Dr R S K 

Manica, Dr A 

Deputy Head of 

Department (Teaching) 

Foster, Dr W A 

University Lecturers 

Asher, Dr R 

Baylis, Dr H 

Federle, Dr W 

Jiggins, Dr C D 

Krude, Dr T 

McCabe, Dr B J 

Mundy, Dr N 

Affiliated Lecturers 

Aldridge, Dr D 

Emery, Dr N J

Senior Assistant Curator 

of Malacology 

Preece, Dr R C 

Strickland Curator of 

Ornithology 

Brooke, Dr M 

Honorary Professors 

Maddrell, S H P, FRS 

Green, R E 

Emeritus Professors 

Bateson, Sir Patrick, FRS 

Gurdon, Sir John, FRS 

Hinde, R A, FRS, CBE 

Horn, Sir Gabriel, FRS 

Research Fellows 

and Other Principal 

Investigators 

Bradley, Dr B 

Green, Dr C 

Krüger, Dr O 

Landgraf, Dr M 

Lawrence, Dr P 

Miguel-Aliaga, Dr I 

Niven, Dr J E 

Olofsson, Dr B 

Ott, Dr S 

Palacios, Dr I 

Peattie, Dr A 

Pines, Dr J 

Russel, Dr C 

Spottiswoode, Dr C 

Stevens, Dr M 

Sutton, Dr G 

Thornton, Dr A 

Zegerman, Dr P 

Research Associates and 

Research Assistants 

Alvarez-Garcia, Dr I 

Baxter, Dr S 

Berni, Dr J 

Bischoff, Dr M 

Brena, Dr C 

Broad, Dr K 

Brochet-Couton, L 

Burgess, Dr N 

Burke, Dr D 

Casal Jimenez, Dr J 

Chanana, Dr B 

Christov, C 

Clemente, Dr C 

Cognigni, P 

Cooke, Dr I 

Cotter, Dr S 

Cox, S 

Czeresnyes, Z 

De Graaf, Dr M 

Denholm, Dr B 

Dicks, Dr L 

Diegelmann, Dr S 

Dupuy, Dr F 

Edoff, Dr K 

Ellwood, Dr F 

Endlein, Dr T 

Eriksson, Dr A 

Eriksson, Dr J 

Evers, Dr J 

Farrow, R 

Finn, Dr D 

Gardner, Dr T 

Gatsi, Dr R 

Gunnarsson, Dr T 

Hatton-Ellis, Dr E 

Hautier, Dr L 

Hinde, Dr C A 

Hoffman, Dr J 

Hu, Dr N 

Hunnekuhl, V 

Jaeger, Dr J 

Jaekel, Dr M 

Johnson, R 

Kanyamibwa, Dr S 

Konopova, Dr B 

Kostarakos, Dr K 

Krezemien, Dr J 

Krissinel, Dr E 

Li, Dr F 

Lukas, Dr D 

Mark, Dr F 

Maroja, Dr L 

McKimmie, C 

Moyes, Dr K 

Nadeau, Dr N 

Negre, Dr B N 

North, A 

Parsons, Dr M 

Pavlopoulos, Dr A 

Phalan, Dr B 

Pierce, Dr S 

Pointer, Dr M 

Pople, Dr R 

Pulver, Dr S 

Repiso, Dr A 

Rogers, Dr S 

Schoeneich, Dr S 

Sharp, Dr S 

Shetty, S 

Showler, D 

Smith, R 

Strugnell, Dr J 

Surridge, Dr A 

Swetnam, Dr R 

Terriente-Félix, Dr A 

Thornham, Dr D 

Vicente-Crespo, Dr M 

Wan, Dr S 

Welbergen, Dr J 

Xia, Dr J 

28 

Yang, Dr M 

Zivkos, Dr A 

Departmental 

Administrator 

Jacobs, J 

Computer Officer 

Griffin, K 

Principal Assistant 

Rolfe, S 

Assistant Staff 

Acred, J 

Ashton, J 

Atamert, T 

Aucott, R 

Baker, K 

Beale, R 

Beeton, S 

Blades, L V 

Bootman, C 

Brazier, T 

Brighton, C 

Buckley, C 

Carter, R C 

Castle, C M 

Charlton, A 

Clarke, D R 

Cowdrey, S 

Crilley, E 

Dawson, A 

Donovan, C 

Ellis, S J 

Everitt, L 

Evers, N 

Francis, D 

Fuller, B 

Garlick, A M 

Goldstone, I T 

Green, S 

Hall, N 

Harrison, G 

Heavens, P G 

Hunter, A 

Jeffrey, A 

Joslin, J 

Lock, J 

Lowe, M 

Ly, N S 

Mackay, A R 

Marr, J 

Maskell, N 

Melchiorre, R 

Millar, I 

Mosterin-Hopping, A 

Osbaldeston, D 

Nezhentseva, A 

Palmer, J 

Pearce, D 

Peterson, S 

Pluck, C 

Riley, J 

Roth, P A 

Saavedra, P 

Sands, O 

Shearer, M 

Siggens, Dr K 

Smith R 

Stebbings, R C 

Stevenson, R 

Symonds, R 

Taylor, B 

Thomas, D 

Turner, S 

Vakrilov, I 

Wade, R 

Wheatley, K 

Wheatley, L 

Zappone, J 

Zhang, L 

Retired members 

Disney, Dr R H L 

Flowerdew, Dr J R 

Friday, Dr A E 

Harker, Dr J 

Joysey, Dr K 

Lane, Dr N J 

Messenger, Dr J 

Squires, Dr S 

Stevenson-Hinde, Dr J

Grants 2009 

Akam, Professor M. 

Akam, Professor M. 

BBSRC, 2006-2009 117,730 

EC FP6 MC RTN, 2005 – 2009 65,327 

EC FP7 MC Initial Training networks 116,257 

Aldridge, Dr D. 

Anglian Water Services Ltd, 2006 – 2009 1,500 

Severn Trent Water Ltd, 2006 – 2009 1,500 

Thames Water Utilities Ltd, 2006 – 2009 1,500 

Yorkshire Water Services Ltd, 2006 – 2009 1,500 

Amos, Professor W. 

British Antarctic Survey, 2007 – 2010 55,000 

NERC, 2008 – 2010 18,643 

Asher, Dr R. 

Leverhulme Trust, 2009-2011 55,000 

Balmford, Professor A. 

Leverhulme Trust, 2006 – 2009 9,991 

Leverhulme Trust, 2007 – 2011 249,893 

Bate, Professor M. 

The Royal Society, 2006 – 2009 183,161 

Wellcome Trust, 2005 – 2010 190,482 

Bateson, Professor P.G. 

The Royal Society, 2006 – 2008 4,757 

Baylis, Dr H. 

MRC, 2007 – 2010 101,905 

Bischoff, Dr M. 

Isaac Newton Trust, 2009-2009 21,804 

Bradley, Dr B. 

NERC, 2006 – 2009 81,672 

Burgess, Dr N. 

McArthur Foundation, 2009-2012 55,851 

Burrows, Professor M. 

BBSRC, 2006 – 2009 172,104 

Clack, Professor J. 

NERC, 2009-2012 52,798 

Clutton–Brock, Professor T.H. 


Issac Newton Trust, 2007 – 2010 19,259 


29 

NERC, 2009– 2012 150,412 


Davies, Professor N. 


Doctoral training account 

BBSRC, 2009 – 2015 330,833 

BBSRC, 2006 – 2012 144,592 

BBSRC, 2007 – 2011 53,115 


Ellington, Professor C. 

EPSRC, 2008 – 2011 41,368 

Federle, Dr W. 

BBSRC, 2006 – 2010 143,230 



Gardner, Dr T. 

NERC, 2009-2011 82,906 

Green, Dr C. 

Cancer Research UK, 2007 – 2013 83,874 

Nuffield Foundation, 2009-2009 1,440 

Hedwig, Dr B. 


BBSRC, 2008 – 2011 105,815 


Jiggins, Dr C. 

BBSRC, 2007 – 2010 112,148 


BBSRC, 2008 – 2010 121,941 



NERC, 2007 – 2010 15,614 


Johnstone, R. 

EC FP6 MC, 2007-2009 55,890 

Keverne, Professor E.B. 


BBSRC, 2007 – 2010 104,546 

Keverne, Professor E.B./Mundy, Dr N. 

Leverhulme, 2001 – 2011 72,114 

Kilner, Dr R. 

Leverhulme Trust, 2007 – 2009 35,000

Krude, Dr T. 

Cancer Research UK, 2007 – 2010 33,138 

Cancer Research UK, 2009 – 2009 2,100 

Nuffield Foundation, 2009 – 2009 1,400 

Kruger, Dr O. 


Landgraf, Dr M. 


The Royal Society, 2009 – 2011 49,000 

Isaac Newton Trust, 2009-2010 16,844 

Laughlin, Professor S. 

EOARD, 2009-2010 61,629 

Lawrence, Dr P. 

Wellcome Trust, 2006 – 2009 129,895 

Manica, Dr A. 

Leverhulme Trust 35,000 

Miguel – Aliaga, Dr I. 


Mundy, Dr N. 

NERC, 2008 – 2010 84,752 

Museum Grants 

Mus Lib. & Arichives Co, 2008-2009 10,044 

Mus., Lib. & Archives Co, 2006-2009 6,154 

Pilgrim Trust, 2007-2009 25,000 

Niven, Dr J. 


Olofsson, Dr B. 

MRC, 2006 – 2009 43,214 

Ott, Dr S. 




Palacios, Dr I. 



Wellcome Trust, 2009 – 2012 86,355 

Pines, Dr J. 

BBSRC Ind Partnership Studentship, 2007 – 2011 17,705 

30 

Preece, Dr R. 

NERC DTG, Faunal Analysis, 2008 – 2012 17,904 

Simpson, Professor P. 


Skaer, Dr H. 

Issac Newton Trust, 2007 – 2010 12,000 

Wellcome Trust, 2006 – 2009 49,485 


Smith, Professor D. 

Animal Health Trust, 2007 – 2010 3,333 

Human Frontier Science Programme 95,745 

IFPMA, 2008 – 2010 75,471 

NIH (USA), 2005 – 2010 290,482 

Veterinary Laboratories Agency, 2008 – 2010 10,000 

EC - Emperie, 2009-2013 103,516 

Spann, Dr N. 

The Malacological Society, 2009-2009 1,000 

Spottiswoode, Dr C. 


Stevens, Dr M. 


NERC, 2009 – 2014 154,538 

British Ecological Society, 2009-2009 2,000 

Nuffield Foundation , 2009-2009 1,440 

Strugnell, Dr J. 

Antarctic Science Ltd, 2008 – 2009 2,846 

Lloyds Tercentenary Foundation, 2008 – 2009 33,153 

Sutherland, Professor W. 

British Ecological Society, 2007 – 2009 32,868 

ESRC, 2006 – 2009 256,134 


NERC, 2008 – 2011 70,951 

NERC, 2008 – 2011 13,688 

Sutton, Dr G. 

Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation, 2009-2010 1,000 

Various – Cell Imaging Facility 


Total value 2009 7,654,527

Publications 

Alves, M. A., Jenkins, C. N., Pimm, S. L., 

Storni, S., Raposo, M. A., Brooke, M. de L., Harris, G. 

& Foster, A. (2009). Birds, Montane forest, State of Rio 

de Janeiro, Southeastern Brazil. Check List 5, 289-299. 

Anstey, M. L., Rogers, S. M., Ott, S. R., 

Burrows, M. and Simpson, S. J. (2009). Serotonin 

mediates behavioral gregarization underlying swarm 

formation in desert locusts. Science 323, 627-630. 

Asher, R. J., Bennett, N. & Lehmann, T. (2009). 

The new framework for understanding placental mammal 

evolution. BioEssays 31, 853-864. 

Asher, R. J. & Olbricht, G. (2009). Dental 

ontogeny in Macroscelides proboscideus (Afrotheria) and 

Erinaceus europaeus (Lipotyphla). J. Mammal. Evol. 16, 

99-115. 

Ashyraliyev, M., Siggens, K., Janssens, H., 

Blom, J. G., Akam, M. & Jaeger, J. (2009). Gene circuit 

analysis of the terminal gap gene huckebein. PLoS Comput. 

Biol. 5, e1000548. 

Baden, T. & Hedwig, B. (2009). Dynamics of 

free intracellular Ca2+ during synaptic and spike activity 

of cricket tibial motoneurons. Europ. J. Neurosci. 29, 

1357-1368. 

Balloux, F., Handley, L. J. L., Jombart, T., Liu, 

H. & Manica, A. (2009). Climate shaped the worldwide 

distribution of human mitochondrial DNA sequence 

variation. Proc. R. Soc. B 276, 3447-3455. 

Balmford, A. (2009). Foreword. In East of the 

Cape. Conserving Eden (ed. R. Cowling & S. Pierce): 

Fernwood Press. 

Balmford, A. (2009). Saving Ely’s wildspace. 

Cambridgeshire Bird Club Bull. 405, 5-6. 

Balmford, A., Beresford, J., Green, J., Naidoo, 

R., Walpole, M. & Manica, A. (2009). A global perspective 

on trends in nature-based tourism. PLoS Biol. 7 

Balmford, A., Carey, P., Kapos, V., Manica, A., 

Rodrigues, A. S. L., Scharlemann, J. P. W. & Green, 

R. E. (2009). Capturing the many dimensions of threat: 

comment on Salafsky et al. Conserv. Biol. 23, 482-487. 

Bärmann, E. V., Fürst von Lieven, A. & Sudhaus, 

W. (2009). Revision and phylogeny of Myolaimus Cobb, 

1920 (Secernentea, Nematoda) with the description of four 

new species. J. Nemat. Morphol. Syst. 12, 145-168. 

Barnes, D. K. A., Barnes, R. S. K., Smith, D. J. & 

Rothery, P. (2009). Littoral biodiversity across scales in the 

Seychelles, Indian Ocean. Mar. Biodivers. 39, 109-119. 

Bateson, P. (2009). Patrick Bateson. In 

Evolutionary Theory: 5 Questions (ed. G. Oftedal, J. K. 

B. O. Friis, P. Rossel & M. S. Norup). Copenhagen: VIP: 

Automatic Press. 

Bateson, P. (2009). Supplemental commentary: 

Baldwin and the adaptability driver. In Genetic theory of 

reality. New Brunswick: Transaction (ed. J. M. Baldwin), 

pp. 61-77. 

Bateson, P. (2009). The value of truly comparative 

and holistic approaches in the neurosciences. In Oxford 

Handbook of Developmental Behavioral Neuroscience 

(ed. M. S. Blumberg, J. H. Freeman & S. R. Robinson), pp. 

7-11. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 

Bauer, U. & Federle, W. (2009). The insecttrapping 

rim of Nepenthes pitchers: surface structure and 

function. Plant Signal. Behav. 4, 1019-1024. 

31 

Bauer, U., Willmes, C. & Federle, W. (2009). 

Effect of pitcher age on trapping efficiency and natural prey 

capture in carnivorous Nepenthes rafflesiana plants. Ann. 

Bot. 103, 1219-1226. 

Benton, M. J., Donoghue, P. C. J. & Asher, R. 

J. (2009). Calibrating and constraining molecular clocks. 

In The timetree of life (ed. S. B. Hedges & S. Kumar), pp. 

35-86: Oxford University Press. 

Betti, L., Balloux, F., Amos, W., Hanihara, T. 

& Manica, A. (2009). Distance from Africa, not climate, 

explains within-population phenotypic diversity in humans. 

Proc. R. Soc. B 276, 809-814. 

Biddle, A., Simeoni, I. & Gurdon, J. B. (2009). 

Xenopus oocytes reactivate muscle gene transcription in 

transplanted somatic nuclei independently of myogenic 

factors. Development 136, 2695-2703. 

Bonadonna, F., Caro, S. P. & Brooke, M. de L. 

(2009). Olfactory sex recognition investigated in Antarctic 

prions. PLoS ONE 4, e4148. 

Bradley, B. J., Pedersen, A. & Mundy, N. I. 

(2009). Blue eyes in lemurs and humans: same phenotype, 

different genetic mechanism. Amer. J. Phys. Anthropol. 

139, 269-273. 

Broad, K. D., Curely, J. P. & Keverne, E. 

B. (2009). Increased apoptosis during neonatal brain 

development underlies the adult behavioral deficits seen 

in mice lacking a functional paternally expressed gene 3 

(Peg3). Dev. Neurobiol. 69, 314-325. 

Brooke, M. de L. (2009). A necessary adjustment 

of the extinction risk associated with the Red List Criteria? 

Avian Conservation and Ecology 4, 1. 

Brown, B. V. & Disney, R. H. L., 2009. Validation 

of the name Dicophora multichaeta (Diptera: Phoridae). P. 

Entomol. Soc. Wash. 111, 128-131 

Bullock, J. M. R. & Federle, W. (2009). Division of 

labour and sex differences between fibrillar, tarsal adhesive 

pads in beetles: effective elastic modulus and attachment 

performance. J. Exp. Biol. 212, 1876-1888. 

Burrows, M. (2009). How fleas jump. J. Exp. Biol. 

212, 2881-2883. 

Burrows, M. (2009). Jumping performance of 

planthoppers (Hemiptera, Issidae). J. Exp. Biol. 212, 

2844-2855 

Burrows, M. (2009). Jumping strategies and 

performance in shore bugs (Hemiptera, Heteroptera, 

Saldidae). J. Exp. Biol. 212, 106-115. 

Burrows, M. (2009). A single muscle moves a 

crustacean limb joint rhythmically by acting against a spring 

containing resilin. BMC Biol 7, 27. 

Callier, V., Clack, J. A. & Ahlberg, P. E. (2009). 

Contrasting developmental trajectories in the earliest 

known tetrapod forelimbs. Science 324, 364-367. 

Campbell, A., Kapos, V., Scharlemann, J. P. W., 

Bubb, P., Chenery, A., Coad, L., Dickson, B., Doswald, 

N., Khan, M. S. I., Kershaw, F. & Rashid, M. (2009). 

Review of the literature on the links between biodiversity 

and climate change: impacts, adaptation and mitigation: 

CBD Technical Series. 

Cant, M. A. & Johnstone, R. A. (2009). How 

threats influence the evolutionary resolution of within-group 

conflict. Am. Nat. 173, 759-771. 

Catry, I., Alcazar, R., Franco, M. A. & Sutherland, 

W. J. (2009). Identifying the effectiveness and constraints of 

conservation interventions: A case study of the endangered 

lesser kestrel. Biol. Conserv. 142, 2782-2791.

Champagne, F. A., Curley, J. P., Swaney, W. T., 

Hasen, N. S. & Keverne, E. B. (2009). Paternal influence on 

female behavior: the role of Peg3 in expoloration, olfaction 

and neuroendocrine regulation of maternal behavior of 

female mice. Behav. Neurosci. 123, 469-480. 

Clack, J. A. (2009). The fin to limb transition: new 

data, interpretations, and hypotheses from paleontology 

and developmental biology. Annu. Rev. Earth Pl. Sc. 37, 

163-179. 

Clack, J. A. (2009). The fish-tetrapod transition: 

new fossils and interpretations. Evolution: Education and 

Outreach 2, 213-223. 

Clack, J. A. & Klembara, J. (2009). An articulated 

specimen of a chroniosuchid from the Late Permian of 

Russia. Spec. Pap. Palaeontol. 81, 15-42. 

Clemente, C. J., Dirks, J.-H., Barbero, D. 

R., Steiner, U. & Federle, W. (2009). Friction ridges 

in cockroach climbing pads: anisotropy of shear stress 

measured on transparent, microstructured substrates. J. 

Comp. Physiol. A 195, 805-814. 

Cohen, M., Reale, V., Olofsson, B., Knights, A., 

Evans, P. & de Bono, M. (2009). Coordinated regulation 

of foraging and metabolism in C. elegans by RFamide 

neuropeptide signaling. Cell Metab. 9, 375-385. 

Cooke, I. R., Queenborough, S. A., Mattison, 

E. H. A., Bailey, A. P., Sandars, D. L., Graves, A. R., 

Morris, J., Atkinson, P., Trawick, P., Freckleton, R. P., 

Watkinson, A. R. & Sutherland, W. J. (2009). Integrating 

socio-economics and ecology: a taxonomy of quantitative 

methods and a review of their use in agro-ecology. J. Appl. 

Ecol. 46, 269-277. 

Coomes, E. G., Jones, A. P., Bateman, I. J., 

Tratalos, J. A., Gill, J. A., Showler, D. A., Watkinson, 

A. R. & Sutherland, W. J. (2009). Spatial and temporal 

modeling of beach use: a case study of East Anglia. UK 

Coastal Management 37, 94-115. 

Coomes, E. G., Jones, A. P. & Sutherland, W. 

J. (2009). The implications of climate change on coastal 

visitor numbers: a regional analysis. J. Coastal Res. 25, 

981-990. 

Cornulier, T., Elston, D., Arcese, P., Benton, 

T., Douglas, D., Lambin, X., Reid, J., Robinson, R. & 

Sutherland, W. J. (2009). Estimating annual breeding 

frequency from censused breeding dates: using mixture 

models to disaggregate overlapping distributions. Ecol. 

Lett. 12, 1184-1193. 

Cowling, R. M., Mascia, M. B., Possingham, 

H. & Sutherland, W. J. (2009). Conservation science for 

impact: the first year of Conservation Letters. Conserv. 

Lett. 2, 1-2. 

Cseresnyes, Z., Schwarz, U. & Green, C. M. 

(2009). Analysis of replication factories in human cells by 

super-resolution light microscopy. BMC Cell Biol. 10, 88. 

Curley, J. P. & Keverne, E. B. (2009). Epigenetics 

and psychology. In The Encyclopedia of Positive Psychology 

(ed. S. J. Lopez): Blackwell Publishing. 

Daeschler, E. B., Clack, J. A. & Shubin, N. H. 

(2009). Late Devonian tetrapod remains from Red Hill, 

Pennsylvania, USA: how much diversity? Acta Zool. 90, 

306-317. 

Danielsen, F., Burgess, N. D., Balmford, A., et al. 

(2009). Local participation in natural resource monitoring: a 

characterization of approaches. Conserv. Biol. 23, 31-42. 

Davies, N. B. & Welbergen, J. A. (2009). Social 

transmission of a host defense against cuckoo parasitism. 

Science 324, 1318-1320. 

32 

Disney, H., Pérez, A. M., Pérez, T & Torres, 

D. (2009). Nueva especie de Diptero (Fam. Phoridae) 

descubierta en el Complejo del Romera (Antequera, 

Málaga). Grupo Espelogia de Villacarrillo (G. E. V.) 

Espelio no. 21. Bio-Espelio 2009, 49-51. 

Disney, R. H. L. & Bänziger, H. (2009). Further 

records of scuttle flies (Diptera: Phoridae) imprisoned by 

Aristolochia baenzigeri (Aristolochiaceae) in Thailand. 

Mitt. Schw. Entomol. Ges. 82, 233-251. 

Disney, R. H. L. & Brown, B. V. (2009). Two 

additions to the list of phorid flies (Diptera: Phoridae) 

reported from the USA. P. Entomol. Soc. Wash. 111, 

539-540. 

Disney, R. H. L. & Manlove, J. D. (2009). First 

report of Triphleba nudipalpis (Becker) (Diptera: Phoridae) 

in a forensic case. Forensic Sci. Int. 91, e1-e3. 

Disney, R. H. L. & Pagola-Carte, S. (2009). Two new 

species of Megaselia Rondani (Diptera: Phoridae) 

attracted to bracket fungi (Polyporaceae) in Spain. 

Heteropterus Rev. Entomol. 9, 87-95. 

Disney, R. H. L. & Sevcík, J. (2009). A new 

species of fungus breeding Triphleba Rondani (Dipt., 

Phoridae) from Malaysia, including an intriguing mutant. 

Entomol. Mag. 145, 203-210. 

Disney, R. H. L. & Sevcík, J. (2009). New 

rearing records of scuttle flies (Diptera: Phoridae) 

associated with fungi from the Czech and Slovak 

Republics. Casopis Slezského Zemského Muzea Opava 

(A) 58, 47-48. 

Disney, R. H. L. & Withers, P. (2009). A new 

species of Pseudacteon Coquillett (Diptera, Phoridae) 

and a new key to the European species. Fragm. faunist. 

52, 1-12. 

Disney, R. H. L. (2009). A further synonym in 

Chonocephalus Wandolleck (Dipt., Phoridae). Entomol. 

Mag. 145, 33-34. 

Disney, R. H. L. (2009). A new species of 

Apocephalus Coquillett (Dipt., Phoridae) from Brazil. 

Entomol. Mag. 145, 39-41. 

Disney, R. H. L. (2009). Insects of Arabia Scuttle 

flies (Diptera: Phoridae) Part II: the Genus Megaselia. Pp 

249-357 In Krupp, F. (Ed.) Fauna of Arabia 24. 405 pp. 

Disney, R. H. L. (2009). Scuttle flies (Diptera: Phoridae) 

from caves in Meghalaya, India. J. Cave Karst Stud. 71:, 

81-85. 

Disney, R. H. L. (2009). Scuttle flies (Diptera: 

Phoridae) from the Falkland Islands. Entomol. Mag. 145, 

125-128. 

Disney, R. H. L. (2009). Superfamily 

Platypezoidea Family Phoridae. In Gerlach, J. (Ed.) 

Seychelles Fauna Monographs. The Diptera of the 

Seychelles islands. Chapter 11: 167-236. Pensoft Series 

Faunistica 85. Sofia-Moscow, 431 pp. 

Disney, R. H. L. (2009). Three new species 

of Metopina Macquart (Dipt., Phoridae) from the West 

Indies. Entomol. Mag. 145, 35-38. 

Disney, R. H. L.(2009). Scuttle flies (Dipt., 

Phoridae) from caves in Spain, including a new species of 

Megaselia Rondani. Entomol. Mag. 145, 153-156. 

Disney, R. H. L., Copeland, R. S. & Murrell, 

E. (2009). The true identity of Copeland’s aquatic scuttle 

fly (Diptera: Phoridae) from Indiana and recognition of a 

sibling species from Texas. P. Entomol. Soc. Wash. 111, 

564-574.

Disney, R. H. L., Elizalde, L. & Folgarait, P. 

J. (2009). New species and new records of scuttle flies 

(Diptera: Phoridae) that parasitize leaf-cutter and army 

ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Sociobiology 54, 

601-631. 

Disney, R. H. L., Lizon à l’Allemand, S., 

von Beeren, C. & Witte, V. (2009). A new genus and 

new species of scuttle flies (Diptera: Phoridae) from 

colonies of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Malaysia. 

Sociobiology 53,1-12. 

Disney, R. H. L., Neoh, K. B. & Lee, C-Y. 

(2009). A new species of scuttle fly (Diptera: Phoridae) 

parasitizing a termite (Isoptera: Termitidae) in Malaysia. 

Sociobiology 54, 89-94. 

Doswald, N., Willis, S. G., Collingham, Y. C., 

Pain, D. J., Green, R. E. & Huntley, B. (2009). Potential 

impacts of climatic change on the breeding and nonbreeding 

ranges and migration distance of European Sylvia 

warblers. J. Biogeogr. 36, 1194-1208. 

Eglington, S. M., Gill, J. A., Sutherland, W. J., 

Watkinson, A. R. & Bolton, M. (2009). Habitat management 

and patterns of predation of Northern Lapwings on wet 

grasslands: the influence of linear habitat structures at 

different spatial scales. Biol. Conserv. 142, 314-324. 

Ellwood, M. D. F., Manica, A. & Foster, W. A. 

(2009). Stochastic and deterministic processes jointly 

structure tropical arthropod communities. Ecol. Lett. 12, 

277-284. 

Eriksson, B. J., Tait, N. N., Budd, G. E., Akam, 

M. (2009) The involvement of engrailed and wingless 

during segmentation in the onychophoran Euperipatoides 

kanangrensis (Peripatopsidae: Onychophora) (Reid 

1996). Dev. Genes Evol. 219, 249-64 

Evans, K. L., Gaston, K. J., Frantz, A. C., 

Simeoni, M., Sharp, S. P., McGowan, A., Dawson, D. A., 

Walasz, K., Partecke, J., Burke, T. & Hatchwell, B. J. 

(2009). Independent colonization of multiple urban centres 

by a formerly forest specialist bird species. Proc. R. Soc. B 

276, 2403-2410. 

Evans, K. L., Gaston, K. J., Sharp, S. P., 

McGowan, A. & Hatchwell, B. J. (2009). The effect of 

urbanisation on avian morphology and latitudinal gradients 

in body size. Oikos 118, 251-259. 

Evans, K. L., Gaston, K. J., Sharp, S. P., 

McGowan, A., Simeoni, M. & Hatchwell, B. J. (2009). 

Effects of urbanisation on disease prevalence and age 

structure in blackbird Turdus merula populations. Oikos 

118, 774-782. 

Ewers, R. M., Kapos, V., Coomes, D. A., 

Lafortezza, R. & Didham, R. K. (2009). Mapping 

community change in modified landscapes. Biol. Conserv. 

142, 2872-2880. 

Ewers, R. M., Scharlemann, J. P. W., Balmford, 

A. P. & Green, R. E. (2009). Do increases in agricultural 

yield spare land for nature? Glob. Change Biol. 15, 

1716-1726. 

Fischer, J., Peterson, G. D., Gardner, T. A., 

Gordon, L. J., Fazey, I., Elmqvist, T., Felton, A., Folke, 

C. & Dovers, S. (2009). Integrating resilience thinking 

and optimisation for conservation. Trends Ecol. Evol. 24, 

549-554. 

Fisher, B., Balmford, A., Green, R. E. & 

Trevelyan, R. (2009). Conservation science training: the 

need for an extra dimension. Oryx 43, 361-363. 

Fisher, B., Bolt, K., Bradbury, R. B., Gardner, T. 

A., Green, J. M. H., Hold, D. G. & Naidoo, R. (2009). Two 

cultures of conservation. Conserv. Biol. 23, 1069-1071. 

33 

Gardiner, T. J., Christov, C. P., Langley, A. 

R., Krude, T. (2009). A conserved motif of vertebrate Y 

RNAs essential for chromosomal DNA replication. Rna 15, 

1375-1385 

Gardner, T. A., Barlow, J., Chazdon, R. L., 

Ewers, R., Harvey, C. A., Peres, C. A. & Sodhi, N. S. 

(2009). Prospects for tropical forest biodiversity in a humanmodified 

world. Ecol. Lett. 12, 561-582. 

Garten, R.J., Davis, C.T., Russell, C.A., Shu, 

B., Lindstrom, S., Balish, A., Sessions, W.M., Xu, 

X., Skepner, E., Deyde, V., Okomo-Adhiambo, M., 

Gubareva, L., Barnes, J., Smith, C.B., Emery, S.L., 

Hillman, M.J., Rivailler, P., Smagala, J., de Graaf, M., 

Burke, D.F., Fouchier, R.A., Pappas, C., Alpuche- 

Aranda, C.M., López-Gatell, H., Olivera, H., López, I., 

Myers, C.A., Faix, D., Blair, P.J., Yu, C., Keene, K.M., 

Dotson, P.D.Jr., Boxrud, D., Sambol, A.R., Abid, S.H., 

St George, K., Bannerman, T., Moore, A.L., Stringer, 

D.J., Blevins, P., Demmler-Harrison, G.J., Ginsberg, 

M., Kriner, P., Waterman, S., Smole, S., Guevara, H.F., 

Belongia, E.A., Clark, P.A., Beatrice, S.T., Donis, R., Katz, 

J., Finelli, L., Bridges, C.B., Shaw, M., Jernigan, D.B., 

Uyeki, T.M,, Smith, D.J., Klimov, A.I., Cox, N.J. (2009). 

Antigenic and genetic characteristics of swine-origin 2009 

A(H1N1) influenza viruses circulating in humans. Science 

325, 197-201. 

Gilbert, J. & Manica, A. (2009). Brood 

conspicuousness and clutch viability in male-caring 

assassin bugs (Rhinocoris tristis). Ecol. Entomol. 34, 

176-182. 

Gilroy, J. J., Anderson, G. Q. A., Grice, P. V., 

Vickery, J. A., Watts, P. N. & Sutherland, W. J. (2009). 

Foraging habitat selection, diet and nestling condition 

in Yellow Wagtails (Motacilla flava) breeding on arable 

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Front cover (Photo by Thomas Endlein) 

Nectar-drinking White-necked Jacobin (Florisuga 

mellivora) in Trinidad 

Back cover (Photo by Swidbert R. Ott (brain image 

and composition) and Tom Fayle (locust portrait)) 

Portrait of a Desert locust in the swarming gregarious 

phase, with a schematic view of the brain within the head

Annual Report 2009 - Department of Zoology - University of ...

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