Angela-Maria Chira
Abteilung für Sprach- und Kulturevolution
Max-Planck-Institut für evolutionäre Anthropologie
Deutscher Platz 6
04103 Leipzig
Telefon: +49 (0) 341 3550 285
E-Mail:
angela_chira@[>>> Please remove the text! <<<]eva.mpg.de
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 - 2021 | Postdoctoral Research Associate, Washington University in St Louis, USA |
| 2014 - 2018 | PhD Evolutionary Biology, University of Sheffield, UK. Thesis: Patterns and correlates of ecomorphological diversification in birds. |
| 2010 - 2014 | MBiolSci 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. |
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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 AccessChira, 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. |
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. |
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. |
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. |
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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. |
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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. |
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. |
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. |
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Chira, A.-M. (2018). Patterns and correlates of ecomorphological diversification in birds. PhD Thesis, University of Sheffield. |
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. |
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. |
2014
Chira, A.-M. (2014). How does parental personality influence offspring quality in animals? Annals of Forest Research, 57(2), 347-362. |
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.