Brian T. Preston

Department of Primatology
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
Deutscher Platz 6
04103 Leipzig
Germany
Phone: ++49 (0)341-3550-245
Email: brian.prestoneva.mpg.de

Research Interests

My research has focussed on the interaction between overt physical contests and covert sperm competition in determining the reproductive success of feral Soay rams on the island group of St. Kilda, Scotland, and the occurrence and consequences of constraints on males’ ability to compete successfully. I am also interested in the endocrine control of reproductive strategies in Soay rams, and the evolution of sperm investment strategies and protracted copulatory sequences in wild house mice. This research has drawn upon long term collaborative studies that combine life history data, detailed behavioural observations, sperm quality analysis, hormone monitoring, and genetic paternity analysis to investigate evolutionary processes at a mechanistic level. Currently, I am taking a phylogenetic approach to investigating the function of mammalian sleep, and examining how ecological constraints may shape patterns of interspecific variation in sleeping behaviour.

male Soay ram