Maternal allocation and differential allocation in cooperative birds and mammals
My main research is aimed at (1) investigating how helper number and predictability influence maternal allocation of resources in the eggs of cooperatively breeding birds and the young offspring of cooperatively breeding mammals; and (2) examining the fitness consequences of such differential allocation.
Evolution of cooperative breeding in birds and mammals, including humans
Cooperative breeding normally arises when offspring delay dispersal and help to rear (half)siblings. I am interested in the ecological and life-history factors that influence the evolution and dissolution of families, as well as the fitness benefits that individuals gain from helping to rear the offspring of others. I am currently using energetics in combination with longitudinal data to test between indirect and direct models of fitness benefits.
Individual contributions to cooperation in vertebrates
In cooperative societies, individuals vary markedly in their contributions to cooperation, with some individuals contributing nothing and others contributing more than the parents. Accounting for this variation and explaining why aggressive interactions between individuals are surprisingly rare despite the variation in care is critical to understanding the factors that stabilise cooperative societies. We know that variation is caused, in part, by helper differences in age, sex, and condition, but these terms have low explanatory power. Consequently, I am currently interested on the relative importance of genetics, hormones and maternal effects in explaining the observed differences
Hatchwell BJ & Russell AF 1996. Provisioning rules in cooperatively breeding long-tailed tits Aegithalos caudatus: an experimental study. Proceeding of the Royal Society of London Series B-Biological Sciences263, 83-88.
Hatchwell BJ, Russell AF, Ross DJ & Fowlie MK 2000. Divorce in cooperatively breeding long-tailed tits: a consequence of inbreeding avoidance? Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B-Biological Sciences 267, 813-919.
Cunningham EJA & Russell AF 2000. Egg investment is affected by male attractiveness in mallards. Nature 404, 74-77.
Cunningham EJA & Russell AF. 2001. Differential allocation of sex hormones in avian eggs. Nature 410, 548-549.
Russell AF 2001. Dispersal costs set the scene for helping in an atypical avian cooperative breeder. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B-Biological Sciences 268, 95-99.
Russell AF & Hatchwell BJ 2001 Experimental evidence for kin-biased helping in a cooperatively breeding vertebrate. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B-Biological Sciences268, 2169-2174.
Clutton-Brock TH, Brotherton PNM, Russell AF, O'Riain MJ, Gaynor D, Kansky R, Manser M, Sharpe L, McIlrath GM, Small T, Moss A & Monfort S 2001. Cooperation, conflict, and concession in meerkat groups. Science 201, 43-48.
Clutton-Brock TH, Russell AF, Sharpe LL, Brotherton PNM, McIlrath GM, White S & Cameron EZ. 2001. Effects of helpers on juvenile development and survival in meerkats. Science 293, 2446-2449.
Russell AF, Clutton-Brock TH, Brotherton PNM, Sharpe LL, McIlrath GM, Dalerum FD, Cameron EZ & Barnard JA 2002. Factors affecting pup growth and survival in cooperatively breeding meerkats. Journal of Animal Ecology 71, 700-709.
Clutton-Brock TH, Russell AF, Young AJ, Sharpe LL, McIlrath GM & Balmforth Z 2002. Evolution and development of sex differences in cooperative behavior in meerkats. Science 297, 253-256.
Scantlebury M, Russell AF, McIlrath GM, Speakman JR & Clutton-Brock TH 2002. Energetics of obligate cooperative breeding meerkats Suricata suricatta. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B-Biological Sciences 269: 2147-2153.
Russell AF, Sharpe LL, Brotherton PNM & Clutton-Brock TH 2003. Cost minimization by helpers in cooperative vertebrates. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, U.S.A.100, 3333-3338.
Russell AF, Brotherton PNM, McIlrath GM, Sharpe LL & Clutton-Brock TH 2003. Breeding success in cooperative meerkats: effects of helper number and maternal state. Behavioural Ecology 14, 486-492.
Clutton-Brock TH, Russell AF & Sharpe LL 2003. Meerkat helpers do not specialise in particular activities. Animal Behaviour 66, 531-540.
Russell AF, Carlson AA, McIlrath GM, Jordan NR & Clutton-Brock TH. 2004. Adaptive size modification by dominant female meerkats. Evolution 58, 1600-1607.
Lahdenperä M, Lummaa V, Helle S, Tremblay M & Russell AF 2004. Fitness benefits of prolonged post-reproductive lifespan in women. Nature 428, 178-181.
Hatchwell BJ, Russell AF, MacColl ADC, Ross DJ, Fowlie MK & McGowan A. 2004 Helpers have long term, but not short term, effects on productivity in cooperatively breeding long-tailed tits. Behavioural Ecology 15, 1-10.
Clutton-Brock TH, Russell AF & Sharpe LL. 2004. Behavioural tactics of breeders in cooperative meerkats. Animal Behaviour 68, 1029-1040.
Carlson AA, Young AJ, Russell AF, Bennett NC, McNeilly AS & Clutton-Brock TH. 2004. Hormonal correlates of dominance in meerkats Suricata suricatta. Hormones and Behavior 46, 141-150.
Stephens PA, Russell AF, Young AJ, Sutherland WJ & Clutton-Brock TH. 2005. Evolutionary stable strategies for eviction and dispersal in meerkats. American Naturalist 165, 120-135.
Clutton-Brock TH, Russell AF Sharpe LL & Jordan NR. 2005. False feeding and aggression in meerkat societies. Animal Behaviour69, 1273-1284.
Clutton-Brock TH, Hodge SJ, Spong G, Russell AF, Jordan NR, Bennett NG & Manser MB. 2006. Sexual selection among females in cooperative meerkats. Nature 444, 1065-1068.
Young AJ, Carlson AA, Montfort SL, Russell AF, Bennett NG & Clutton-Brock TH 2006. Stress and the suppression of subordinate reproduction in cooperative meerkats. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, U.S.A. 103, 1205-1210.
Carlson AA, Manser MB, Young AJ, Russell AF, McNeilly AS & Clutton-Brock TH. 2006. Cortisol levels are positively associated with pup-feedings rates in male meerkats. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B-Biological Sciences 273, 571-577.
Carlson AA, Russell AF, Young AJ, Jordan NR, McNeilly AS, Parlow AF & Clutton-Brock TH 2006. Elevated prolactin levels immediately precede decisions to babysit in male meerkats. Hormones and Behavior 50, 94-100.
Russell AF, Langmore NE, Cockburn A, Astheimer LB & Kilner RM. 2007. Reduced egg investment can conceal helper effects in cooperative birds. Science 317, 941-944.
Russell AF, Young AJ, Spong G, Jordan NR & Clutton-Brock TH. 2007. Helpers increase the reproductive potential of offspring in cooperative meerkats. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B-Biological Sciences 274, 513-520.
Lummaa V, Pettay J & Russell AF. 2007. Male twins reduce fitness of female co-twins in humans. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, U.S.A. 104, 10915-10920.
Lahdenperä M, Russell AF & Lummaa V. 2007. Selection for long lifespan in men: benefits of grandfathering? Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B-Biological Sciences. 274, 2437-2444.
Rickard IJ, Russell AF, Lummaa V. 2007. Producing sons reduces lifetime reproductive success of subsequent offspring in pre-industrial Finns. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B-Biological Sciences.
Gilchrist JS & Russell AF. 2007. Who cares? Individual contributions by breeders versus non-breeders in cooperatively breeding banded mongoose. Behavioural Ecology and Sociobiology 61, 1053-1060.
Bergmüller R, Johnstone RA, Russell AF & Bshary R. 2007. Integrating cooperative breeding into theoretical concepts of cooperation Behavioural Processes 76, 61-72.
Bergmüller R, Russell AF, Johnstone RA & Bshary R. 2007. On the further integration of cooperative breeding and cooperation theory. Behavioural Processes 76, 170-181.
Russell AF, Langmore NE, Gardner JL & Kilner RM. 2008 Maternal investment tactics in superb fairy-wrens. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B-Biological Sciences. 275, 29-36.
Gillespie D, Russell AF & Lummaa V 2008. When fecundity does not equal fitness: quality-quantity trade-offs in humans. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B-Biological Sciences 275, 713-722.
Book Chapters
Russell AF 2004. Mammalian contrasts and comparisons: In Ecology and Evolution of Cooperative Breeding in Birds (eds WD Koenig & J Dickinson). Ch 13. University Press, Cambridge, MA.
Cant MA, Johnstone RA & Russell AF 2007. Reproductive skew and the evolution of menopause (ed R Hager). University Press, Cambridge, UK (In Press).
