Thomas N. Sherratt, known as Tom, is a professor of
evolutionary ecology at
Carleton University
Carleton University is an English-language public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1942 as Carleton College, the institution originally operated as a private, non-denominational evening college to serve returning Wo ...
, Canada.
He is known for his research on
camouflage
Camouflage is the use of any combination of materials, coloration, or illumination for concealment, either by making animals or objects hard to see, or by disguising them as something else. Examples include the leopard's spotted coat, the b ...
,
aposematism and
mimicry.
Life
Sherratt read his bachelor's degree at the
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...
, and gained his Ph.D. at the
University of Dundee
, mottoeng = "My soul doth magnify the Lord"
, established = 1967 – gained independent university status by Royal Charter1897 – Constituent college of the University of St Andrews1881 – University College
, ...
. He states that the two main themes in his research laboratory are the evolution of surprising traits in behaviour and morphology, including co-operation with unrelated individuals (as opposed to
kin selection
Kin selection is the evolutionary strategy that favours the reproductive success of an organism's relatives, even when at a cost to the organism's own survival and reproduction. Kin altruism can look like altruistic behaviour whose evolution i ...
) and the existence of conspicuous
warning signals; and the way that individual behaviour shapes the spatio-temporal dynamics of populations, as when
travelling wave
In physics, mathematics, and related fields, a wave is a propagating dynamic disturbance (change from List of types of equilibrium, equilibrium) of one or more quantities. Waves can be Periodic function, periodic, in which case those quantities ...
s are set up when individuals move over a landscape feature.
[
]
Work
Sherratt has contributed to more than 100 papers in major journals. His co-written 2004 book ''Avoiding Attack'' on camouflage
Camouflage is the use of any combination of materials, coloration, or illumination for concealment, either by making animals or objects hard to see, or by disguising them as something else. Examples include the leopard's spotted coat, the b ...
, aposematism and mimicry has been cited at least 1175 times, while his co-written papers "Development of cooperative relationships through increasing investment" and "Evidence of intra-specific competition for food in a pelagic seabird" have each been cited over 300 times.
Books
* Sherratt, T. N.; Wilkinson, D. M. (2009). ''Big Questions in Ecology and Evolution''. Oxford University Press.
* Ruxton Graeme D., Sherratt, T. N.; Speed, M. P. (2004). ''Avoiding attack: the evolutionary ecology of crypsis, warning signals and mimicry''. Oxford University Press.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sherratt, Thomas N.
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people
Scottish ecologists
Alumni of the University of Dundee
Alumni of the University of Edinburgh
Carleton University faculty
Camouflage researchers