Reproductive Ecology and Biology Group

Our group was established in January 2002. We are interested in the origin and conservation of biological diversity. We study the evolution of reproductive strategies and, in particular, the role of post-copulatory sexual selection (sperm competition and cryptic female choice) on male reproductive success. We are interested in how sperm competition has favoured adaptations from the organismal to the molecular level, focusing on mammals and, in particular, on various rodent lineages. Work on biodiversity conservation concentrates on two areas: the effects of inbreeding upon male reproduction in threatened species and development of reproductive biotechnologies for endangered species to facilitate the exchange of genes between populations, both captive and natural.