Dr Hazel Nichols
Faculty: Faculty of Science
School: Natural Sciences and Psychology
Email address: H.J.Nichols@ljmu.ac.uk
Telephone: 0151 231 2376
Biography
My research interests centre on the evolution of cooperative animal societies. Cooperation is an evolutionary puzzle. While a simple reading of natural selection as ‘survival of the fittest’ predicts that individuals will benefit from selfish, competitive behaviour, cooperation is not only commonplace within nature, but is of profound evolutionary and social significance. I work to reveal the causes of conflict between cooperative partners and the mechanisms that have evolved to resolve these conflicts. My work draws on a variety of biological disciplines, combining observational, biochemical, molecular ecological and genetic methods. This approach provides a powerful technique to reveal the important influences of reproductive success, kinship, inbreeding avoidance and environmental change on the evolution of cooperative animal societies.
Degrees
2009, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom, PhD in Zoology
2004, University of Sheffield, United Kingdom, BSc Biology, 1st Class Hons
Publications
Vitikainen EIK, Cant MA, Sanderson JL, Mitchell C, Nichols HJ, Marshall HH, Thompson FJ, Gilchrist JS, Hodge SJ, Johnstone RA, Blount JD. 2016. Evidence of oxidative shielding offspring in a wild mammal Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, >DOI
Amos W, Nichols HJ, Churchyard T, Brooke MDL. 2016. Rat eradication comes within a whisker! a case study of a failed project from the South Pacific Royal Society Open Science, 3 >DOI
Thompson FJ, Marshall HH, Sanderson JL, Vitikainen EIK, Nichols HJ, Gilchrist JS, Young AJ, Hodge SJ, Cant MA. 2016. Reproductive competition triggers mass eviction in cooperative banded mongooses Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 283
Cant MA, Nichols HJ, Thompson FJ, Vitikainen E. 2016. Banded mongooses: Demography, life history and social behavior Koenig WD, Dickinson JL. Cooperative Breeding in Vertebrates: Studies of Ecology, Evolution and Behaviour :318-337 Cambridge University Press. Cambridge, UK
Inzani EL, Marshall HH, Sanderson JL, Nichols HJ, Thompson FJ, Kalema-Zikusoka G, Hodge SJ, Cant MA, Vitikainen EIK. 2016. Female reproductive competition explains variation in prenatal investment in wild banded mongooses Scientific Reports, 6 :20013-20013 >DOI
Nichols HJ, Zecherle L, Arbuckle K. 2016. Patterns of philopatry and longevity contribute to the evolution of post-reproductive lifespan in mammals Biology Letters, 12 >DOI
Sanderson JL, Nichols HJ, Marshall HH, Vitikainen EIK, Thompson FJ, Walker SL, Cant MA, Young AJ. 2015. Elevated glucocorticoid concentrations during gestation predict reduced reproductive success in subordinate female banded mongooses Biology Letters, 11 >DOI
Nichols HJ, Cant MA, Sanderson JL. 2015. Adjustment of costly extra-group paternity according to inbreeding risk in a cooperative mammal BEHAVIORAL ECOLOGY, 26 :1486-1494 >DOI >Link
Sanderson JL, Wang J, Vitikainen EIK, Cant MA, Nichols HJ. 2015. Banded mongooses avoid inbreeding when mating with members of the same natal group MOLECULAR ECOLOGY, 24 :3738-3751 >DOI >Link
Slight DJ, Nichols HJ, Arbuckle K. 2015. Are mixed diets beneficial for the welfare of captive axolotls (Ambystoma mexicanum)? Effects of feeding regimes on growth and behavior Journal of Veterinary Behavior: Clinical Applications and Research, 10 :185-190 >DOI
Nichols HJ, Cant MA, Hoffman JI, Sanderson JL. 2014. Evidence for frequent incest in a cooperatively breeding mammal BIOLOGY LETTERS, 10 >DOI >Link
Nichols HJ, Fullard K, Amos W. 2014. Costly sons do not lead to adaptive sex ratio adjustment in pilot whales, Globicephala melas ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR, 88 :203-209 >DOI >Link
Cant MA, Nichols HJ, Johnstone RA, Hodge SJ. 2014. Policing of reproduction by hidden threats in a cooperative mammal PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 111 :326-330 >DOI >Link
Cant MA, Vitikainen E, Nichols HJ. 2013. Demography and social evolution of banded mongooses Advances in the Study of Behavior, 45 :407-445 >DOI
Nichols HJ, Jordan NR, Jamie GA, Cant MA, Hoffman JI. 2012. Fine-scale spatiotemporal patterns of genetic variation reflect budding dispersal coupled with strong natal philopatry in a cooperatively breeding mammal Molecular Ecology, 21 :5348-5362 >DOI
Nichols HJ, Bell MBV, Hodge SJ, Cant MA. 2012. Resource limitation moderates the adaptive suppression of subordinate breeding in a cooperatively breeding mongoose Behavioral Ecology, 23 :635-642 >DOI
Nichols HJ, Amos W, Bell MBV, Mwanguhya F, Kyabulima S, Cant MA. 2012. Food availability shapes patterns of helping effort in a cooperative mongoose Animal Behaviour, 83 :1377-1385 >DOI
Bell MB, Nichols HJ, Gilchrist JS, Cant MA, Hodge SJ. 2012. The cost of dominance: suppressing subordinate reproduction affects the reproductive success of dominant female banded mongooses. Proc Biol Sci, 279 :619-624 >DOI >Link
Hoffman JI, Nichols HJ. 2011. A novel approach for mining polymorphic microsatellite markers in silico PLoS ONE, 6 >DOI
Cant MA, Hodge SJ, Bell MBV, Gilchrist JS, Nichols HJ. 2010. Reproductive control via eviction (but not the threat of eviction) in banded mongooses Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 277 :2219-2226 >DOI
Nichols HJ, Amos W, Cant MA, Bell MBV, Hodge SJ. 2010. Top males gain high reproductive success by guarding more successful females in a cooperatively breeding mongoose Animal Behaviour, 80 :649-657 >DOI
Hoffman JI, Dasmahapatra KK, Nichols HJ. 2008. Ten novel polymorphic dinucleotide microsatellite loci cloned from the Antarctic fur seal Arctocephalus gazella Molecular Ecology Resources, 8 :459-461 >DOI
Hoffman JI, Dasmahapatra KK, Nichols HJ. 2008. PERMANENT GENETIC RESOURCES: Ten novel polymorphic dinucleotide microsatellite loci cloned from the Antarctic fur seal Arctocephalus gazella. Mol Ecol Resour, 8 :459-461 >DOI >Link
Stoffel MA, Esser M, Kardos M, Humble E, Nichols HJ, David P, Hoffman JI. inbreedR: An R package for the analysis of inbreeding based on genetic markers Methods in Ecology and Evolution,
Arbuckle K, Nichols H, Wich S, Bethell EJ. LJMU R workshop 2015 R workshop