Thornton, Alex - University of Exeter - Disciplines of Biosciences

个人简介

2007 PhD Zoology, University of Cambridge 2003 BA (Hons), University of Oxford Career 2012-2015 BBSRC David Phillips Research Fellow, Exeter 2010-2012 BBSRC David Phillips Research Fellow, Cambridge 2007-2010 Pembroke College Research Fellow, Cambridge 2003-2007 PhD, Cambridge

研究领域

My research uses a comparative approach to investigate two of the most important issues in behavioural biology: the evolution of intelligence and the biological origins of culture. The vast majority of work on these topics has been conducted on captive animals and so tells us little about the selective pressures operating in natural populations. In contrast, I use a variety of experimental, observational and statistical techniques to understand the factors driving cognitive evolution and cultural information transmission in the wild. Much of my research has been conducted on cooperatively breeding meerkats in the Kalahari Desert. More recently, I have set up set up nest-box populations of wild jackdaws near Cambridge and the University of Exeter’s Cornwall Campus outside Falmouth. These corvids share many key features with primates, including large brains, complex social systems and extended periods of development, and consequently provide a highly tractable system for studies of the cognitive evolution. My current research focuses on three main areas: The role of sociality in driving cognitive evolution The causes and consequences of individual variation in cognitive ability The effects of social learning on individual and group behaviour

近期论文

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Greggor AL, McIvor GE, Clayton NS, Thornton A (2016). Contagious risk taking: social information and context influence wild jackdaws' responses to novelty and risk. Sci Rep, 6 Abstract. Author URL. Full text. Article has an altmetric score of 31 Thornton A, McAuliffe K, Dall SRX, Fernandez-Duque E, Garber PA, Young AJ (2016). Fundamental Problems with the Cooperative Breeding Hypothesis. A reply to Burkart & Van Schaik. Journal of Zoology, 299(2), 84-88. Full text. Article has an altmetric score of 17 Greggor AL, Jolles JW, Thornton A, Clayton NS (2016). Seasonal changes in neophobia and its consistency in rooks: the effect of novelty type and dominance position. Animal Behaviour, 121, 11-20. Full text. Article has an altmetric score of 14 Greggor AL, Clayton NS, Fulford AJC, Thornton A (2016). Street smart: faster approach towards litter in urban areas by highly neophobic corvids and less fearful birds. Animal Behaviour, 117, 123-133. Full text. Article has an altmetric score of 72 Mesoudi A, Chang L, Dall SRX, Thornton A (2016). The evolution of individual and cultural variation in social learning. Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 31(3), 215-225. Full text. Article has an altmetric score of 38 Thornton A, Mcauliffe K (2015). Cognitive consequences of cooperative breeding? a critical appraisal. Journal of Zoology, 295(1), 12-22. Abstract. Full text. Article has an altmetric score of 4 Zwirner E, Thornton A (2015). Cognitive requirements of cumulative culture: teaching is useful but not essential. Sci Rep, 5 Abstract. Author URL. Full text. Article has an altmetric score of 102 Aplin LM, Farine DR, Morand-Ferron J, Cockburn A, Thornton A, Sheldon BC (2015). Counting conformity: evaluating the units of information in frequency-dependent social learning. ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR, 110, E5-E8. Author URL. Full text. Article has an altmetric score of 9 Duffield C, Wilson AJ, Thornton A (2015). Desperate Prawns: Drivers of Behavioural Innovation Vary across Social Contexts in Rock Pool Crustaceans. PLoS One, 10(10). Abstract. Author URL. Full text. Article has an altmetric score of 37 Aplin LM, Farine DR, Morand-Ferron J, Cockburn A, Thornton A, Sheldon BC (2015). Experimentally induced innovations lead to persistent culture via conformity in wild birds. Nature, 518(7540), 538-541. Abstract. Author URL. Full text. Article has an altmetric score of 434 Thornton A, Wilson AJ (2015). In search of the Darwinian Holy Trinity in cognitive evolution: a comment on Croston et al. Behavioral Ecology, 26(6), 1460-1461. Full text. Article has an altmetric score of 3 Greggor AL, Thornton A, Clayton NS (2015). Neophobia is not only avoidance: Improving neophobia tests by combining cognition and ecology. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, 6, 82-89. Abstract. Full text. Article has an altmetric score of 11 Thornton A, Raihani NJ (2015). The proximate-ultimate confusion in teaching and cooperation. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 38(1). Abstract. Full text. Article has an altmetric score of 1 Mcauliffe K, Thornton A (2015). The psychology of cooperation in animals: an ecological approach. Journal of Zoology, 295(1), 23-35. Abstract. Article has an altmetric score of 10 Davidson GL, Clayton NS, Thornton A (2015). Wild jackdaws, Corvus monedula, recognize individual humans and may respond to gaze direction with defensive behaviour. Animal Behaviour, 108, 17-24. Abstract. Full text. Article has an altmetric score of 45 Greggor AL, Clayton NS, Phalan B, Thornton A (2014). Comparative cognition for conservationists. Trends Ecol Evol, 29(9), 489-495. Abstract. Author URL. Full text. Article has an altmetric score of 10 Thornton A (2014). How and why are some species so smart? a comment on Rowe and Healy. Behavioral Ecology, 25(6), 1294-1295. Full text. Article has an altmetric score of 1 Zandberg L, Jolles JW, Boogert NJ, Thornton A (2014). Jackdaw nestlings can discriminate between conspecific calls but do not beg specifically to their parents. Behavioral Ecology, 25(3), 565-573. Abstract. Full text. Article has an altmetric score of 4 Davidson GL, Clayton NS, Thornton A (2014). Salient eyes deter conspecific nest intruders in wild jackdaws (Corvus monedula). Biol Lett, 10(2). Abstract. Author URL. Full text. Article has an altmetric score of 74 Thornton A, Isden J, Madden JR (2014). Toward wild psychometrics: Linking individual cognitive differences to fitness. Behavioral Ecology, 25(6), 1299-1301. Abstract. Full text.