Darren Croft (@DarrenPCroft) header
Darren Croft (@DarrenPCroft) profile picture

Darren Croft

@DarrenPCroft

Professor of Behavioural Ecology @UniofExeter. Interested in the Ecology and Evolution of Social Behaviour and Life History Evolution #DyslexicAcademic

 Exeter, England
Joined September 2013
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Photo by Darren Croft (@DarrenPCroft)Photo by Darren Croft (@DarrenPCroft)Photo by Darren Croft (@DarrenPCroft)Photo by Darren Croft (@DarrenPCroft)Photo by Darren Croft (@DarrenPCroft)Photo by Darren Croft (@DarrenPCroft)Photo by Darren Croft (@DarrenPCroft)Photo by Darren Croft (@DarrenPCroft)Photo by Darren Croft (@DarrenPCroft)Photo by Darren Croft (@DarrenPCroft)
Very excited to share this TedEd animation on our research with @CWROrcas. A huge thank you to everyone who contributed to this project and to @CetaceanMike who worked on the TedEd video @UofE_Research @ExeterMarine Grandmothers are amazing! ed.ted.com/lessons/the-amazi…
Inside the killer whale matriarchy - Darren Croft

Inside the killer whale matriarchy - Darren Croft

Pods of killer whales inhabit the waters of every major ocean on Earth. Each family is able to survive thanks mainly to one member, its most knowledgeable hunter: the grandmother. These matriarchs...

ed.ted.com
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Souvenirs of a wonderful time are the only thing students spend money on during the #LundyIsland field course, which is a fully-funded ecologically sustainable week of practising field skills in a stunning location. #MSc @CrabExeter #AnimalBehaviour
Image from Andy D Higginson (@AndyDHigginson)
Andy D Higginson (@AndyDHigginson) profile pictureAndy D Higginson@AndyDHigginson21 Apr 2025
Off to #LundyIsland on the field course tomorrow! Excited to guide the MSc students as they explore this beautiful place and study puffins and fulmars. The weather even looks lovely! Here's an old video to give you an idea. youtube.com/watch?v=Hkek5nAQ… @LandmarkTrust @nationaltrust
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Off to #LundyIsland on the field course tomorrow! Excited to guide the MSc students as they explore this beautiful place and study puffins and fulmars. The weather even looks lovely! Here's an old video to give you an idea. youtube.com/watch?v=Hkek5nAQ… @LandmarkTrust @nationaltrust
Andy D Higginson (@AndyDHigginson) profile pictureAndy D Higginson@AndyDHigginson4 Apr 2025
Applications are open to the best #MSc training for a career in #AnimalBehaviour! Highly suitable for anyone with a BSc in Biology or Psychology, but we are skilled at converting people with social, veterinary and agricultural BSc's to a exciting career. exeter.ac.uk/study/postgradu…
Image from Andy D Higginson (@AndyDHigginson)
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Exciting opportunities to join us at the university of Exeter as an MSc student
Andy D Higginson (@AndyDHigginson) profile pictureAndy D Higginson@AndyDHigginson4 Apr 2025
Applications are open to the best #MSc training for a career in #AnimalBehaviour! Highly suitable for anyone with a BSc in Biology or Psychology, but we are skilled at converting people with social, veterinary and agricultural BSc's to a exciting career. exeter.ac.uk/study/postgradu…
Image from Andy D Higginson (@AndyDHigginson)
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Pls RT: Interested in doing a PhD on the behaviour of #bees, foxes or other animals at @CrabExeter? Check out SWBio swbio.ac.uk/programme/projec…(closes 11.12.) & NERC GW4+ nercgw4plus.ac.uk/projects-2… (13.01. @SeanRands @BethBees) @DardenSafi @DarrenPCroft @pec_exeter @Samellisq @ljnbrent
Image from Natalie Hempel, nataliehempel.bsky.social (@NatalieHempel)
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I am making the move👇🏻
Image from Darren Croft (@DarrenPCroft)
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Migratory hoverflies fly further – but not faster – than their non-migratory relatives according to research from @UniExeCEC. brnw.ch/21wP3fH @UniofExeterESI @WillLeoHawkes
Migration is a marathon – not a sprint – for hoverflies

Migration is a marathon – not a sprint – for hoverflies

Migratory hoverflies fly further – but not faster – than their non-migratory relatives, new research shows. Scientists caught migrating marmalade hoverflies in the Pyrenees, and non-migrating members...

news.exeter.ac.uk
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* NEW #PhD * #Evolution #Ecology of Immune #Senesence in Wild Badgers with me, @B_Tschirren and our brilliant collaborators @ APHA, at @UniExeCEC in Cornwall. 50 year data sets+immune analyses. PLEASE SHARE! See animalsocieties.org and apply here: exeter.ac.uk/study/funding/a…
Image from Andy Young (@animalsocieties)
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Darren Croft retweeted
Josh Firth (@JoshAFirth) profile picture
Josh Firth@JoshAFirth24 Nov 2024
New PhD opportunity: harnessing real-world network experiments to aid prediction of how natural social systems will respond to change & perturbations, using 🐦 @WythamTits yes-dtn.ac.uk/research/under… feel free to get in touch for more info. Please share!
Image from Josh Firth (@JoshAFirth)
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Exciting new PhD opportunity available with us on #killerwhale #orca #behaviour and #conservation, co-supervised by @_StephanieLKing @Samellisq and Dan Franks in partnership with The Center for Whale Research @CWROrcas exeter.ac.uk/study/funding/a… - deadline 13th January 2025
Copyright David Ellifrit Center for Whale Research

ALT Copyright David Ellifrit Center for Whale Research

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Darren Croft retweeted
Sam Ellis (@Samellisq) profile picture
Sam Ellis@Samellisq13 Nov 2024
Funded PhD Available at the University of Exeter. Loneliness is a global epidemic. We want to use field experiments in wild rabbits to understand why our social connections change with age. Deadline: 11th Dec More info & how to apply here: bpb-eu-w2.wpmucdn.com/blogs.…
Image from Sam Ellis (@Samellisq)
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Menopause explains why some female whales live so long - new study by @UniofExeter @UniOfYork & @CWROrcas Full paper 👉 nature.com/articles/s41586-0… Read more 👉 news.exeter.ac.uk/faculty-of… @DarrenPCroft @Samellisq @DanFranksRsrch @ExeterMarine @CrabExeter
The evolution of menopause in toothed whales

The evolution of menopause in toothed whales

Nature - A comparative analysis tests competing evolutionary hypotheses in toothed whales in which menopause has evolved many times as females extended their overall lifespan but not their...

nature.com
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Darren Croft retweeted
Sam Ellis (@Samellisq) profile picture
Sam Ellis@Samellisq13 Mar 2024
Very pleased to see our paper taking a comparative approach to understand the evolution of menopause in toothed whales published today in @Nature . Couple of slides below talking through the key results but all the details here: nature.com/articles/s41586-0…
Image from Sam Ellis (@Samellisq)
Image from Sam Ellis (@Samellisq)
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There is a lot of misunderstanding about the evolution of menopause in animal (and human) societies - a new preprint just out today (with @sn_chapman @Samellisq Mirkka Lahdenpera and Virpi Lummaa) addressing some points from a recent commentary in @CellCellPress
bioRxiv (@biorxivpreprint) profile picturebioRxiv@biorxivpreprint4 Mar 2024
Menopause has not evolved as a general trait in mammals: A response to "Do mammals have menopause?" biorxiv.org/cgi/content/shor… #bioRxiv
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A huge thanks to the academic rockstars who have supported me, particularly @DarrenPCroft and @pec_exeter at Exeter, and @C_C_Ioannou and the folks in @Camo_Lab in Bristol. Can't wait for the next chapter!
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Killer Whales and the Mystery of the Menopause - fascinating #NatureBang @BBCRadio4 programme featuring @DarrenPCroft of @exeterpsych @CrabExeter @UniofExeter bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001qm…
Naturebang - Killer Whales and the Mystery of the Menopause - BBC Sounds

Naturebang - Killer Whales and the Mystery of the Menopause - BBC Sounds

Why do we - and a few species of whale - have a menopause?

bbc.co.uk
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Really enjoyed chatting with @Becky_Ripley and @EmilyPKnight about killer whale grannies and the amazing work done by @CWROrcas you can hear more here bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001qmb… @ExeterMarine @CrabExeter @UniofExeterNews @exeterpsych
BBC Radio 4 - Naturebang, Killer Whales and the Mystery of the Menopause

BBC Radio 4 - Naturebang, Killer Whales and the Mystery of the Menopause

Why do we - and a few species of whale - have a menopause?

bbc.co.uk
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Another wonderful study from this hugely talented group: Charli Grimes @DarrenPCroft @UniofExeter @ljnbrent @CetaceanMike @DanFranksRsrch and @CWROrcas Killer whale moms protect their sons from fights with other whales | Science | AAAS science.org/content/article/…
Killer whale moms protect their sons from fights with other whales

Killer whale moms protect their sons from fights with other whales

A new study highlights the importance of postmenopausal moms to orcas’ social dynamics

science.org
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Deploy camera tags on bull sharks off Fiji. Part of a new study on bull shark sociality by @FijiSharks and Natasha Marosi. Certainly no shortage of sharks to choose from. @FIUMarineBio @peclabfiu
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📣🌟PhD and Post-doc🌟📣 with @BustonLab, Mike Cant and I working on Kimbe Bay anemonefish. Official ads coming soon. Start Sept 23/Jan 24. Some details below. DM me if interested!
Image from Theresa Rueger (@TheresaRueger)
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Wonderful couple of days of sun, fun and science: watch this space! @AndrewFoote2 @EllenGarland4 @DarrenPCroft
Image from Stephanie L King @stephanielking.bsky.social (@_StephanieLKing)
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