BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
PRODID:-//Talks.cam//talks.cam.ac.uk//
X-WR-CALNAME:Talks.cam
BEGIN:VEVENT
SUMMARY:'Teaching and Traditions in Meerkat Societies' by Dr Alex Thornton
  - Dr. Alex Thornton\, University of Cambridge
DTSTART:20110208T190000Z
DTEND:20110208T200000Z
UID:TALK29803@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:David Collins
DESCRIPTION:Human behaviour is largely moulded and refined in society. Peo
 ple learn from one another\, and the resulting spread of social informatio
 n plays a major role in shaping the behaviour of individuals and groups. T
 o what extent is this true of other species? In this talk\, I consider the
  role of social information in meerkat societies. I show that information 
 acquired from their elders plays a critical role in allowing pups to devel
 op critical life skills and discuss how the spread of information can lead
  to local traditions in different meerkat groups.\n\nDr. Thornton's biogra
 phy:\n\nI grew up in Mexico City and later moved to the UK and studied bio
 logy at Oxford. Following my PhD at the Department of Zoology in Cambridge
  I took up a Drapers' Company Research Fellowship at Pembroke College\, Ca
 mbridge and then a BBSRC Fellowship at the Department of Experimental Psyc
 hology. My research uses observational and experimental techniques to inve
 stigate the development and evolution of cognitive abilities and the role 
 of social learning in shaping the behaviour of individuals and groups in n
 atural animal populations. This work has led me to spend much of my career
  with meerkats in the Kalahari Desert\, with an occasional outing to study
  banded mongooses in Uganda. More recently\, I have begun a programme of r
 esearch closer to home\, investigating culture and cognition in jackdaws i
 n the Cambridgeshire countryside.\n
LOCATION:Nihon Room\, Foundess Court\, Pembroke College
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR