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Dieter Lukas

Research staff

Department of Human Behavior, Ecology and Culture
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
Deutscher Platz 6
04103 Leipzig

phone: +49 (0) 341 3550 316
e-mail: dieter_lukas@[>>> Please remove the text! <<<]eva.mpg.de

personal webpage  

I am an evolutionary biologist focused on social systems of past and present populations from a comparative perspective. My key research achievements highlight the role of kinship in structuring social behaviour, resolve long standing questions about the evolution of animal societies, and advance novel approaches to provide insights into the evolution of social systems. My recent work unravels the fundamental assumptions underlying the field of human behavioural ecology, showing that behavioural variation in humans appears to be constrained by many of the same factors that shape behaviour in other mammals and birds. I am now revealing how the factors shaping social interactions lead to inequality in resource access and power imbalances within societies.

Publications

In preparation

Folsom, M. A., MacPherson, M., Lukas, D., McCune, K. B., Bergeron, L., Bond, A., Blackwell, A., Rowney, C., & Logan, C. J. (in preparation). Repeated parental care by adult male great-tailed grackles and its association with hormones, fitness, specific populations, and mating strategies.
Open Access   

In press

Logan, C. J., Lukas, D., Bergeron, L., Folsom, M., & McCune, K. (in press). Is behavioral flexibility related to foraging and social behavior in a rapidly expanding species? (In principle acceptance by PCI Ecology of the version on 6 Aug 2019). Peer Community in Ecology, 100026.
Open Access    DOI   

Logan, C. J., McCune, K. B., Chen, N., & Lukas, D. (in press). Implementing a rapid geographic range expansion - the role of behavior and habitat changes (In principle acceptance by PCI Ecology of the version on 06 Oct 2020). Peer Community in Ecology, 100062.
Open Access    DOI   

2024

Dalzero, A., Beheim, B. A., Kaplan, H., Stieglitz, J., Hooper, P. L., Ross, C. T., Gurven, M., & Lukas, D. (2024). Cross-cousin marriage among Tsimane forager–horticulturalists during demographic transition and market integration. Evolutionary Human Sciences, 6: e18.
Open Access    DOI    BibTeX   Endnote   

Dezeure, J., Dagorrette, J., Burtschell, L., Chowdhury, S., Lukas, D., Swedell, L., & Huchard, E. (2024). Flexible reproductive seasonality in Africa-dwelling papionins is associated with low environmental productivity and high climatic unpredictability. Peer Community Journal, 4: e87.
Open Access    DOI    BibTeX   Endnote   

Lukas, D., McCune, K., Blaisdell, A., Johnson-Ulrich, Z., MacPherson, M., Seitz, B., Sevchik, A., & Logan, C. J. (2024). Bayesian reinforcement learning models reveal how great-tailed grackles improve their behavioral flexibility in serial reversal learning experiments. Peer Community Journal, 4: e88.
Open Access    DOI    BibTeX   Endnote   

2023

Lee, K. G., Mennerat, A., Lukas, D., Dugdale, H. L., & Culina, A. (2023). The effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the gender gap in research productivity within academia. eLife, 12: e85427.
Open Access    DOI    BibTeX   Endnote   

McCune, K., Blaisdell, A., Johnson-Ulrich, Z., Sevchik, A., Lukas, D., MacPherson, M., Seitz, B., & Logan, C. J. (2023). Using repeatability of performance within and across contexts to validate measures of behavioral flexibility. PeerJ, 11: e15773.
DOI    BibTeX   Endnote   

Summers, J., Lukas, D., Logan, C. J., & Chen, N. (2023). The role of climate change and niche shifts in divergent range dynamics of a sister-species pair. EcoEvoRxiv.
DOI    BibTeX   Endnote   

2022

Dalzero, A., Ross, C., & Lukas, D. (2022). Fitness consequences of cousin marriage: A life-history assessment in two populations. Evolutionary Human Sciences.
Open Access    DOI    BibTeX   Endnote   

Davidian, E., Surbeck, M., Lukas, D., Kappeler, P. M., & Huchard, E. (2022). The eco-evolutionary landscape of power relationships between males and females. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 37, 706-718.
DOI    BibTeX   Endnote   

Sevchik, A., Logan, C. J., Bergeron, L., Blackwell, A., Rowney, C., & Lukas, D. (2022). Investigating sex differences in genetic relatedness in great-tailed grackles in Tempe, Arizona to infer potential sex biases in dispersal. Animal Behavior and Cognition, 9(1).
Open Access    DOI    BibTeX   Endnote   

2021

Barsbai, T., Lukas, D., & Pondofer, A. (2021). Local convergence of behavior across species. Science, 371(6526), 292-295.
DOI    BibTeX   Endnote   

Lukas, D., Towner, M., & Borgerhoff Mulder, M. (2021). The potential to infer the historical pattern of cultural macroevolution. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 376(1828): 20200057.
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2020

Lukas, D., & Clutton-Brock, T. (2020). Monotocy and the evolution of plural breeding in mammals. Behavioral Ecology, 31(4), 943-949.
Open Access    DOI    BibTeX   Endnote   

2019

Kappeler, P. M., Clutton-Brock, T., Shultz, S., & Lukas, D. (2019). Social complexity: Patterns, processes, and evolution. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 73(1): 5.
DOI    BibTeX   Endnote   

Koster, J., Lukas, D., Nolin, D., Power, E., Alvergne, A., Mace, R., Ross, C. T., Kramer, K., Greaves, R., Caudell, M., Macfarlan, S., Schniter, E., Quinlan, R., Mattison, S., Reynolds, A., Yi-Sum, C., & Massengill, E. (2019). Kinship ties across the lifespan in human communities. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Series B: Biological Sciences, 374(1780): 20180069.
DOI    BibTeX   Endnote   

Lukas, D., & Clutton-Brock, T. (2019). Climate and the distribution of cooperative breeding in mammals. Royal Society Open Science, 4(1): 160897.
Open Access    DOI    BibTeX   Endnote   

Lukas, D., & Huchard, E. (2019). The evolution of infanticide by females in mammals. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Series B: Biological Sciences, 374(1780): 20180075.
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2018

Carter, A. J., Croft, A., Lukas, D., & Sandstrom, G. M. (2018). Women's visibility in academic seminars: Women ask fewer questions than men. PLoS One, 13(9): e0202743.
Open Access    DOI    BibTeX   Endnote   

Logan, C. J., Avin, S., Boogert, N., Buskell, A., Cross, F. R., Currie, A., Jelbert, S., Lukas, D., Mares, R., Navarrete, A. F., Shigeno, S., & Montgomery, S. H. (2018). Beyond brain size: Uncovering the neural correlates of behavioral and cognitive specialization. Comparative Cognition & Behavior Reviews, 13, 55-89.
Open Access    DOI    BibTeX   Endnote   

Lukas, D., & Clutton-Brock, T. (2018). Social complexity and kinship in animal societies. Ecology Letters, 21(8), 1129-1134.
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Montgomery, S. H., Currie, A., Lukas, D., Boogert, N., Buskell, A., Cross, F. R., Jelbert, S., Avin, S., Mares, R., Navarrete, A. F., Shigeno, S., & Logan, C. J. (2018). Ingredients for understanding brain and behavioral evolution: Ecology, phylogeny, and mechanism. Comparative Cognition & Behavior Reviews, 13, 99-104.
Open Access    DOI    BibTeX   Endnote   

2017

Dixit, T., English, S., & Lukas, D. (2017). The relationship between egg size and helper number in cooperative breeders: A meta-analysis across species. PeerJ, 5: e4028.
Open Access    DOI    BibTeX   Endnote   

2014

Carter, A. J., Horrocks, N. P., Huchard, E., Logan, C. J., Lukas, D., MacLeod, K. J., Marshall, H. H., Peck, H. L., Sanderson, J. L., & Sorensen, M. C. (2014). Junior scientists are sceptical of sceptics of open access: a reply to Agrawal. Trends in Plant Science, 19(6), 339-340.
DOI    BibTeX   Endnote   

Lukas, D., & Clutton-Brock, T. (2014). Costs of mating competition limit male lifetime breeding success in polygynous mammals. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 281(1786): 20140418.
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Lukas, D., & Clutton-Brock, T. (2014). Evolution of social monogamy in primates is not consistently associated with male infanticide. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 111(17), E1674-E1674.
DOI    BibTeX   Endnote   

Lukas, D., & Huchard, E. (2014). The evolution of infanticide by males in mammalian societies. Science, 346(6211), 841-844.
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MacLeod, K. J., & Lukas, D. (2014). Revisiting non-offspring nursing: Allonursing evolves when the costs are low. Biology Letters, 10(6): 378.
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2013

Lukas, D. (2013). Caring for offspring in a world of cheats. PLoS Biology, 11(3): e1001519.
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Lukas, D., & Clutton-Brock, T. H. (2013). The evolution of social monogamy in mammals. Science, 341(6145), 526-530.
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2012

Clutton-Brock, T. H., & Lukas, D. (2012). The evolution of social philopatry and dispersal in female mammals. Molecular Ecology, 21(3), 472-492.
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Lukas, D., & Clutton-Brock, T. (2012). Cooperative breeding and monogamy in mammalian societies. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 279(1736), 2151-2156.
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Lukas, D., & Clutton-Brock, T. (2012). Life histories and the evolution of cooperative breeding in mammals. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 279(1744), 4065-4070.
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Thornton, A., & Lukas, D. (2012). Individual variation in cognitive performance: Developmental and evolutionary perspectives. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 367(1603), 2773-2783.
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2011

Lukas, D., & Clutton-Brock, T. H. (2011). Group structure, kinship, inbreeding risk and habitual female dispersal in plural-breeding mammals. Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 24(12), 2624-2630.
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Schubert, G., Stoneking, C. J., Arandjelovic, M., Boesch, C., Eckhardt, N., Hohmann, G., Langergraber, K., Lukas, D., & Vigilant, L. (2011). Male-mediated gene flow in patrilocal primates. PLoS One, 6(7): e21514.
Open Access    DOI    BibTeX   Endnote   

2008

Lukas, D. (2008). Comparative study of genetic variation in relation to social structures of animals. PhD Thesis, Universität Leipzig, Leipzig.
Open Access    BibTeX   Endnote   

2006

Eriksson, J., Siedel, H., Lukas, D., Kayser, M., Erler, A., Hashimoto, C., Hohmann, G., Boesch, C., & Vigilant, L. (2006). Y-chromosome analysis confirms highly sex-biased dispersal and suggests a low male effective population size in bonobos (Pan paniscus). Molecular Ecology, 15(4), 939-949.
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2005

Lukas, D., & Vigilant, L. (2005). Reply: Facts, faeces and setting standards for the study of MHC genes using noninvasive samples. Molecular Ecology, 14(5), 1601-1602.
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Lukas, D., Reynolds, V., Boesch, C., & Vigilant, L. (2005). To what extent does living in a group mean living with kin? Molecular Ecology, 14(7), 2181-2196.
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Thalmann, O., Serre, D., Hofreiter, M., Lukas, D., Eriksson, J., & Vigilant, L. (2005). Nuclear insertions help and hinder inference of the evolutionary history of gorilla mtDNA. Molecular Ecology, 14(1), 179-188.
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2004

Bradley, B. J., Doran-Sheehy, D. M., Lukas, D., Boesch, C., & Vigilant, L. (2004). Dispersed male networks in western gorillas. Current Biology, 14, 510-513.
Open Access    DOI    BibTeX   Endnote   

Lukas, D., Bradley, B. J., Nsubuga, A. M., Robbins, M. M., & Vigilant, L. (2004). Major histocompatibility complex and microsatellite variation in two populations of wild gorillas. Molecular Ecology, 13(11), 3389-3402.
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