Graeme Ruxton is a zoologist known for his research into

behavioural ecology Behavioral ecology, also spelled behavioural ecology, is the study of the evolutionary basis for animal behavior due to ecological pressures. Behavioral ecology emerged from ethology after Niko Tinbergen outlined four questions to address when ...

and

evolutionary ecology Evolutionary ecology lies at the intersection of ecology and evolutionary biology. It approaches the study of ecology in a way that explicitly considers the evolutionary histories of species and the interactions between them. Conversely, it can ...

Life and work

Ruxton received his PhD in Statistics and Modelling Science in 1992 from the

University of Strathclyde The University of Strathclyde ( gd, Oilthigh Shrath Chluaidh) is a public research university located in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded in 1796 as the Andersonian Institute, it is Glasgow's second-oldest university, having received its royal chart ...

. His studies focus on the evolutionary pressures on aggregation by animals, and

predator-prey Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill the ...

aspects of sensory ecology. He researched visual communication in animals at the University of Glasgow, where he was professor of

theoretical ecology Theoretical ecology is the scientific discipline devoted to the study of ecological systems using theoretical methods such as simple conceptual models, mathematical models, computational simulations, and advanced data analysis. Effective models im ...

. In 2013 he became professor at the

University of St Andrews (Aien aristeuein) , motto_lang = grc , mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best , established = , type = Public research university Ancient university , endowment ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

Publications

Ruxton has published numerous papers on

antipredator adaptation Anti-predator adaptations are mechanisms developed through evolution that assist prey organisms in their constant struggle against predators. Throughout the animal kingdom, adaptations have evolved for every stage of this struggle, namely by avo ...

s, along with contributions to textbooks. His book ''Living in Groups'' has been cited over 2300 times. His textbook ''Avoiding Attack. The Evolutionary Ecology of Crypsis, Warning Signals and Mimicry'' has been cited over 1150 times. His paper "Collective memory and spatial sorting in animal groups" has been cited over 1300 times, while his paper on the use of

statistics Statistics (from German language, German: ''wikt:Statistik#German, Statistik'', "description of a State (polity), state, a country") is the discipline that concerns the collection, organization, analysis, interpretation, and presentation of ...

in behavioural ecology, "The unequal variance t-test is an underused alternative to Student's t-test and the Mann–Whitney U test", has been cited over 850 times.

Honours and awards

In 2012 Ruxton was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was established i ...

References

External links

University of Glasgow bio of Ruxton
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ruxton, Graeme British ecologists Evolutionary biologists Living people Mathematical ecologists Year of birth missing (living people) Camouflage researchers