Evolution of social and reproductive behaviour

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In my research group we study the evolution of traits related to social behaviour, reproduction, and life history, in a variety of animals, including insects, mammals, and humans. Our work on social behavior is designed to help uncover the circumstances under which animals cooperate with one another, rather than engaging in the forms of competition that usual prevail in nature. These studies involve detailed analyses of the behaviour, ecology and evolution of specific sets of related species, and comparisons of these species with diverse others. Our work on reproduction is focused on understanding why most animals engage in sexual reproduction (with two sexes, male and female), when theory from evolutionary biology predicts that asexual, all-female reproduction is more efficient in terms of passing on genes to the next generation. This is a key unresolved question in biology, with important implications for human genetics. Our work on the evolution of life histories addresses two main issues, how placentation evolves in mammals, and how lifespan has evolved. These studies use variation among species in placental and life-history traits, and in the genes that appear to underly these traits, to sort out what genes, and what changes in these genes, have been most important in mediating their development and evolution. Finally, we are studying the genetic bases of autism and schizophrenia, the two main disorders involving human social behaviour, from evolutionary perspectives, to generate insights into what causes these diseases and what can be done to alleviate them.