Research
The Banded Mongoose Research Project uses the Mweya mongoose population as a model system to investigate the evolution of animal societies. Banded mongooses have an unusual social system in which group members help to rear offspring that are not their own. These 'cooperatively breeding' societies pose a challenge to evolutionary theory because natural selection is expected to favour selfish behaviour that maximises an individual's reproductive success. The banded mongoose population at Mweya provides an opportunity to answer questions about the evolution of cooperation and the resolution of conflict in wild mammals.
Our current research focuses on the following areas:
- Causes and consequences of reproductive conflict among females
- Variation in helping effort among group members
- The function of scent marking
- Decision making in social groups
- Social learning
- Hormonal regulation of cooperative and aggressive behaviour
- Senescence and aging
- Pup vocal communication
