© Universität Bielefeld
Causes for Individual Variation
- Oliver Krüger (Head of Project Group)
- Zum Hauptinhalt der Sektion wechseln
Pricipal Investigator of Animal Behaviour
The unifying feature of my different research projects is life history strategy evolution, the way natural selection optimises the entire life of an organism. Differences between individuals and their life histories are evaluated by natural selection on the basis of fitness. Hence it is of paramount importance to measure fitness if we want to attach biological meaningfulness to animal behaviour. However, animal behaviour and life history strategies do not evolve in isolation. Individual behaviour is bound to have consequences at the population level and, conversely, populations set the stage for the evolution of life history strategies and animal behaviour. As a consequence, by studying life history strategies, my research is encompassed by a triangle of evolution, ecology and ethology. Only detailed knowledge of individual fitness allows one to decompose individual behavioural variation into components of genotypic and phenotypic quality, as well as environmental effects.
- Sabine Kraus (Head of Project Group)
My research focuses on causes & consequences of consistent individual differences in behaviour. I mainly work on selection lines in zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata). In collaborative projects, I work on effects on the development of individual differences in wild guinea pigs (Cavia aperea), the influence of the microbiome on behaviour, as well as on the inheritance of certain behavioural traits.
- Eike Tobias Krause
- Lisa Kalnins
- Nadine Schubert
It always fascinated me how genetics and immunology might act together to drive behaviour. I am thus investigating potential relationships between the MHC, microbiota and body odour in banded mongooses. Furthermore I am interested in the anatomy of scent glands, population genetics of mongoose populations in zoos, movement ecology and conservation.
- Navina Liebermann-Lilie
- Zum Hauptinhalt der Sektion wechseln
- Stephen Salazar
- Sophia Quante
- Louisa Bierbaum
- Josefine Eisermann
