Josh Arbon

My research interests cover animal cognition, social evolution and predator prey interactions, combining classical behavioural ecology with novel analytical and experimental methods on wild populations. My current work investigates the evolution of anti-predator signals given in the absence of a detected threat, using pied wagtails as an experimental system. Understanding such pre-emptive behaviours can play a key role in understanding how animals navigate their world. Such pre-emption was the focus of my post-doc research, where I demonstrated how mongoose groups changed their behaviour based on the potential risks associated with encountering rival neighbours. My work has demonstrated how within-group conflict can reduce cooperation and contributions to group defence, how animals assess and develop social relationships and how information transmits through populations. I also collaborate on projects involving my previous study systems (dwarf mongooses, meerkats and jackdaws) as well as comparative work on sensory evolution and global avian declines.

I completed my undergraduate in Zoology at the University of Bristol in 2016 and Master's by Research supervised by Andy Radford on cooperative anti-predator behaviour in dwarf mongooses in 2018. I moved to the Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter to complete my PhD in jackdaw social cognition under the supervision of Prof. Alex Thornton (2022), before returning to Bristol for a 3 year postdoc with Andy Radford on pre-emptive behaviour in a landscape of intergroup conflict. I am now a Herchel Smith Research Fellow hosted by Prof. Becky Kilner investigating pre-emptive anti-predator signalling in birds.