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Angela Chira

Department of Linguistic and Cultural Evolution
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
Deutscher Platz 6
04103 Leipzig

e-mail: angela_chira@[>>> Please remove the text! <<<]eva.mpg.de

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About me
Curriculum Vitae
Publications & Presentations

About me

I am a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Linguistic and Cultural Evolution, where I am part of the wonderful Comparative Oceanic Linguistics (CoOL) team.

I am interested in how cultural diversity accumulates at broad scales. My projects usually investigate the evolution of cultural practices that originated in our prehistory and have spread worldwide to thousands of human cultural groups. As part of the CoOL team, I am looking at the patterns and processes behind language and cultural change among the peoples of Oceania.

I have cultivated my interest in the broad perspective through my training in macro-evolutionary biology. My research there is focused on identifying and understanding episodes of exceptional changes in the pace and/or manner of bird evolution. When I take a break from my computer, I enjoy bird watching, live music and sport events.

Curriculum Vitae

2018 - 2021Postdoctoral Research Associate, Washington University in St Louis, USA
2014 - 2018PhD Evolutionary Biology, University of Sheffield, UK. Thesis: Patterns and correlates of ecomorphological diversification in birds.
2010 - 2014MBiolSci Zoology, University of Sheffield, UK. Research project: Personality and reproductive investment in a cooperatively breeding species.

Publications & Presentations

Skirgård, H., Haynie, H. J., Blasi, D. E., Hammarström, H., Collins, J., Latarche, J. J., Lesage, J., Weber, T., Witzlack-Makarevich, A., Passmore, S., Chira, A.-M., Maurits, L., Dinnage, R., Dunn, M., Reesink, G., Singer, R., Bowern, C., Epps, P., Hill, J., Vesakoski, O., Robbeets, M., Abbas, N. K., Auer, D., Bakker, N. A., Barbos, G., Borges, R. D., Danielsen, S., Dorenbusch, L., Dorn, E., Elliott, J., Falcone, G., Fischer, J., Ghanggo Ate, Y., Gibson, H., Göbel, H.-P., Goodall, J. A., Gruner, V., Harvey, A., Hayes, R., Heer, L., Herrera Miranda, R. E., Hübler, N., Huntington-Rainey, B., Ivani, J. K., Johns, M., Just, E., Kashima, E., Kipf, C., Klingenberg, J. V., König, N., Koti, A., Kowalik, R. G., Krasnoukhova, O., Lindvall, N. L., Lorenzen, M., Lutzenberger, H., Martins, T. R., Mata German, C., van der Meer, S., Montoya Samamé, J., Müller, M., Muradoglu, S., Neely, K., Nickel, J., Norvik, M., Oluoch, C. A., Peacock, J., Pearey, I. O., Peck, N., Petit, S., Pieper, S., Poblete, M., Prestipino, D., Raabe, L., Raja, A., Reimringer, J., Rey, S. C., Rizaew, J., Ruppert, E., Salmon, K., Sammet, J., Schembri, R., Schlabbach, L., Schmidt, F. W., Skilton, A., Smith, W. D., de Sousa, H., Sverredal, K., Valle, D., Vera, J., Voß, J., Witte, T., Wu, H., Yam, S., Ye, J., Yong, M., Yuditha, T., Zariquiey, R., Forkel, R., Evans, N., Levinson, S. C., Haspelmath, M., Greenhill, S. J., Atkinson, Q. D., & Gray, R. D. (2023). Grambank reveals the importance of genealogical constraints on linguistic diversity and highlights the impact of language loss. Science Advances, 9: eadg6175.
Open Access    DOI    BibTeX   Endnote   

Chira, A. M., Kirby, K., Epperlein, T., & Bräuer, J. (2023). Function predicts how people treat their dogs in a global sample. Scientific Reports, 13(1): 4954.
Open Access    DOI    BibTeX   Endnote   

Chira, A.-M., Cooney, C. R., Bright, J. A., Capp, E. J. R., Hughes, E. C., Moody, C. J. A., Nouri, L. O., Varley, Z. K., & Thomas, G. H. (2020). The signature of competition in ecomorphological traits across the avian radiation. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 287: 20201585.
Open Access    DOI    BibTeX   Endnote   

Cooney, C. R., Bright, J. A., Capp, E. J. R., Chira, A.-M., Hughes, E. C., Moody, C. J. A., Nouri, L. O., Varley, Z. K., & Thomas, G. H. (2017). Mega-evolutionary dynamics of the adaptive radiation of birds. Nature, 542, 344-347.
DOI    BibTeX   Endnote   

2024

Chira, A.-M., Gray, R. D., & Botero, C. A. (2024). Geography is not destiny: A quantitative test of Diamond's axis of orientation hypothesis. Evolutionary Human Sciences, 6: e5, pp. 1-16.
Open Access    DOI    BibTeX   Endnote   

2023

Skirgård, H., Haynie, H. J., Blasi, D. E., Hammarström, H., Collins, J., Latarche, J. J., Lesage, J., Weber, T., Witzlack-Makarevich, A., Passmore, S., Chira, A.-M., Maurits, L., Dinnage, R., Dunn, M., Reesink, G., Singer, R., Bowern, C., Epps, P., Hill, J., Vesakoski, O., Robbeets, M., Abbas, N. K., Auer, D., Bakker, N. A., Barbos, G., Borges, R. D., Danielsen, S., Dorenbusch, L., Dorn, E., Elliott, J., Falcone, G., Fischer, J., Ghanggo Ate, Y., Gibson, H., Göbel, H.-P., Goodall, J. A., Gruner, V., Harvey, A., Hayes, R., Heer, L., Herrera Miranda, R. E., Hübler, N., Huntington-Rainey, B., Ivani, J. K., Johns, M., Just, E., Kashima, E., Kipf, C., Klingenberg, J. V., König, N., Koti, A., Kowalik, R. G., Krasnoukhova, O., Lindvall, N. L., Lorenzen, M., Lutzenberger, H., Martins, T. R., Mata German, C., van der Meer, S., Montoya Samamé, J., Müller, M., Muradoglu, S., Neely, K., Nickel, J., Norvik, M., Oluoch, C. A., Peacock, J., Pearey, I. O., Peck, N., Petit, S., Pieper, S., Poblete, M., Prestipino, D., Raabe, L., Raja, A., Reimringer, J., Rey, S. C., Rizaew, J., Ruppert, E., Salmon, K., Sammet, J., Schembri, R., Schlabbach, L., Schmidt, F. W., Skilton, A., Smith, W. D., de Sousa, H., Sverredal, K., Valle, D., Vera, J., Voß, J., Witte, T., Wu, H., Yam, S., Ye, J., Yong, M., Yuditha, T., Zariquiey, R., Forkel, R., Evans, N., Levinson, S. C., Haspelmath, M., Greenhill, S. J., Atkinson, Q. D., & Gray, R. D. (2023). Grambank reveals the importance of genealogical constraints on linguistic diversity and highlights the impact of language loss. Science Advances, 9: eadg6175.
Open Access    DOI    BibTeX   Endnote   

Chira, A. M., Kirby, K., Epperlein, T., & Bräuer, J. (2023). Function predicts how people treat their dogs in a global sample. Scientific Reports, 13(1): 4954.
Open Access    DOI    BibTeX   Endnote   

Greenhill, S. J., Haynie, H. J., Ross, R. M., Chira, A.-M., List, J.-M., Campbell, L., Botero, C. A., & Gray, R. D. (2023). A recent northern origin for the Uto-Aztecan family. Language, 99(1), 81-107.
Open Access    BibTeX   Endnote   

2020

Chira, A.-M., Cooney, C. R., Bright, J. A., Capp, E. J. R., Hughes, E. C., Moody, C. J. A., Nouri, L. O., Varley, Z. K., & Thomas, G. H. (2020). The signature of competition in ecomorphological traits across the avian radiation. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 287: 20201585.
Open Access    DOI    BibTeX   Endnote   

2018

Chira, A.-M., Cooney, C. R., Bright, J. A., Capp, E. J. R., Hughes, E. C., Moody, C. J. A., Nouri, L. O., Varley, Z. K., & Thomas, G. H. (2018). Correlates of rate heterogeneity in avian ecomorphological traits. Ecology Letters, 21, 1505-1514.
Open Access    DOI    BibTeX   Endnote   

Chira, A.-M. (2018). Patterns and correlates of ecomorphological diversification in birds. PhD Thesis, University of Sheffield.
BibTeX   Endnote   

2017

Cooney, C. R., Bright, J. A., Capp, E. J. R., Chira, A.-M., Hughes, E. C., Moody, C. J. A., Nouri, L. O., Varley, Z. K., & Thomas, G. H. (2017). Mega-evolutionary dynamics of the adaptive radiation of birds. Nature, 542, 344-347.
DOI    BibTeX   Endnote   

2016

Chira, A.-M., & Thomas, G. H. (2016). The impact of rate heterogeneity on inference of phylogenetic models of trait evolution. Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 29, 2502-2518.
Open Access    DOI    BibTeX   Endnote   

2014

Chira, A.-M. (2014). How does parental personality influence offspring quality in animals? Annals of Forest Research, 57(2), 347-362.
DOI    BibTeX   Endnote   

2022

Quantitative approaches to cultural diversity. Biology Dept, Sheffield University.

A quantitative test of Jared Diamond’s axis of orientation hypothesis. European Human Behaviour & Evolution Association.

On the evolution of linguistic disparity. International Conference on Historical Linguistics.

Cultural differences in dog – human interactions. Cultural Evolution Society.

2021

A quantitative test of Jared Diamond’s axis of orientation hypothesis. Cultural Evolution Society. 

2020

Quantitative approaches to understanding cultural diversity. Living Earth Collaborative online seminar series.
YouTube

2019

The signature of competition for shared resources across the avian radiation. Biology Dept, Washington University in St. Louis.

2018

Competition and the ecomorphological diversification of birds. Biology Dept, Durham University. 

Evidence of competition in avian granivorous assemblages across the globe. Second Joint conference on Evolutionary Biology 2018.

2017

Can we predict rates of avian bill evolution? European Society of Evolutionary Biology.

What predicts rates of avian bill evolution? British Ecological Society Macroecology Meeting.

2016

Spurious inferences from standard trait evolutionary models. British Ecological Society Macroecology Meeting.

2015

Modelling heterogeneous trait evolutionary rates. European Meeting of PhD Students in Evolutionary Biology.