Publications
Books
Ward AJW & Webster MM (2016). Sociality: The behaviour of group living animals. Springer Academic Publishing.
Read a review of this book in Animal Behaviour
Papers
2024
Rowe A, Pagonabarraga Altisen A, Dubosque A, Hills A, Shah A, Vegh A, Veiros AL, & Webster MM (2024). Wave of mutilation: Scavenging hermit crabs use social information to locate carcasses. Ethology Accepted
der Weduwen D, Jones NAR, Dubosque A, Schuster S, Sillar K, Webster MM, Rendell L (2024). Archerfish foraging success varies with immediate competition level but not group size. Behavioural Ecology, In Press
Jones NAR, Gardella G & Webster MM (2024). Three-spined sticklebacks show dimension specific preferences for shelter. Animal Behaviour 208, 41-49 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2023.12.004
Invernizzi E, Michelot T, Popov V, Ng N, Macqueen E, Rouviere A, Webster MM & Sasaki T (2024). Identifying cues for self-organised building behaviour in the rock ant, Temnothorax rugatulus, with hidden Markov models. Animal Behaviour https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2024.01.008
Veiros AL, Schweinfurth MK & Webster MM (2024). On closer inspection: reviewing the debate on whether fish cooperate to inspect predator. Ethology https://doi.org/10.1111/eth.13427
2023
Jones NAR, Cortese D, Munson A, Spence-Jones HC, Storm Z, Killen SS, Bethel R, Deacon AE, Webster MM, Závorka L (2023). Maze design: Size and number of choices impact fish performance in cognitive assays. Journal of Fish Biology https://doi.org/10.1111/jfb.15493
Gray L & Webster MM (2023). Quorum decision-making coordinates group departure decisions in Eurasian oystercatchers (Haematopus ostralegus). Animal Behaviour 202, 29-38.
Webster MM (2023). Social learning in non-grouping animals. Biological Reviews 98, 1329-1344 PDF
Gray L & Webster MM (2023). False alarms and information transmission in grouping animals. Biological Reviews 98, 833-848 PDF
2022
Hills A & Webster MM (2022). Sampling biases and reproducibility: Experimental design decisions affect behavioural responses in hermit crabs. Animal Behaviour 194, 101-110. PDF
2021
Jones NAR, Klump BC, Abaurrea TM, Harrower S, Marr C, Scott L, Rendell L & Webster MM (2021). Short range hunters: exploring the function and constraints of water shooting in dwarf gouramis. Journal of Experimental Biology 224: jeb243477. PDF
Vanadzina K, Phillips A, Martins B, Laland K, Webster MM & Sheard C (2021). Ecological and behavioural drivers of offspring size in marine teleost fishes. Global Ecology and Biogeography 30, 2407-2419. PDF
Jones NAR, Webster MM & Salvanes AGV (2021). Physical enrichment research for captive fish: time to focus on the DETAILS. Journal of Fish Biology, 99 704-725. PDF
Kressler MM, Gerlam A, Spence-Jones HC & Webster MM (2021). Passive traps and sampling bias: social effects and personality affect trap-entry by sticklebacks. Ethology 127, 446-452. PDF
Jones NAR, Spence-Jones HC, Webster MM & Rendell LE (2021). Individual behavioural traits not social context affects learning about novel objects in archerfish. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 75, 58. PDF
Rutz C & Webster MM (2021). Ethology adopts the STRANGE framework for animal behaviour research, to improve reporting standards. Ethology 127, 99-101. PDF
2020
Webster MM & Laland KN (2020). No evidence for individual recognition in threespine or ninespine sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus or Pungitius pungitius). Royal Society Open Science 7, 191703. PDF
Webster MM & Rutz C (2020). How STRANGE are your study animals? Nature 582, 337-340. PDF
Psychology Today – The Scientist – Knowable Magazine (reproduced in Ars Technica | The Wire | The Atlantic)
Ward AJW, Kent MIA, Webster MM (2020). Social recognition and social attraction in group-living fishes. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 8, 1-16. PDF
Jones NAR, Webster MM, Newport C, Templeton CN, Schuster S & Rendell L (2020). Cognitive styles: Speed accuracy trade-offs underlie individual differences in archerfish. Animal Behaviour 160, 1-14. PDF
Borcherding J, Webster MM & Heubel K (2020). Teaching lab for large cohorts of undergraduates: private and social information in fish. Ecology & Evolution 10, 4-10. PDF
2019
Ward AJW & Webster MM (2019). Mid-sized groups perform best in a collective decision task in sticklebacks. Biology Letters 15 doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2019.0335 PDF
Webster MM, Chouinard-Thuly L, Herczeg G, Kitano J, Riley R, Rogers S, Shapiro MD, Shikano T & Laland KN (2019). A Four-Questions Perspective on Public Information Use in Sticklebacks (Gasterosteidae). Royal Society Open Science doi.org/10.1098/rsos.181735. PDF
Jones NAR, Mendo T, Broell F & Webster MM (2019). No experimental evidence of stress-induced hyperthermia in zebrafish (Danio rerio). Journal of Experimental Biology 222, jeb192971 doi: 10.1242/jeb.192971. PDF
2018
Ward AJW, Schaerf TM, Burns A, Lizier J, Crosato E, Prokopenko M & Webster MM (2018). Cohesion, order and information flow in the collective motion of mixed-species shoals. Royal Society Open Science 5, 181132. PDF
Webster MM & Laland KN (2018). Experience shapes social information use in foraging fish. Animal Behaviour 146 63-70. PDF
Kendal RL, Boogert N, Rendell L, Laland KN, Webster MM & Jones P (2018). Social Learning Strategies: Bridge-building between fields. Trends in Cognitive Sciences 22 651-665. PDF
Jones NAR, Webster MM, Templeton CN, Schuster S & Rendell L (2018). Presence of an audience and consistent inter-individual differences affect archerfish shooting behaviour. Animal Behaviour 131 95-103. PDF
Phys.org – TheScientist – Discover Wildlife
Gaffney K & Webster MM (2018). Consistency of fish-shoal social network structure under laboratory conditions. Journal of Fish Biology 92 1574-1589. PDF
2017
Riddell, J & Webster MM (2017). How does hunger affect convergence on prey patches in a social forager? Ethology 123 811-817. PDF
Ward AJW, Schaerf TM, Herbert-Read JE, Morrell L, Sumpter DJT & Webster MM (2017). Local Interactions and Global Properties of Free-Ranging Stickleback Shoals. Royal Society Open Science 4, 170043. PDF
Webster MM & Laland KN (2017). Social information use and social learning in non-grouping fishes. Behavioural Ecology 28 1547-1552. PDF
Webster MM, Whalen A & Laland KN (2017). Fish pool their experience to solve problems collectively. Nature Ecology & Evolution 1 0135. PDF
Nature Research Highlights – BBC News
2016
Webster MM (2016). Experience and motivation shape leader-follower interactions in fish shoals. Behavioral Ecology 28 77-84. PDF
Seebacher F, Webster MM, James RS, Tallis J & Ward AJW (2016). Morphological differences between habitats are associated with physiological and behavioural trade-offs in stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus). Royal Society Open Science 3(6), 160316. PDF
Taylor DEF, Cownden D & Webster MM (2016). Sticklebacks show consistent prey-share hierarchies within but not between patchy and sequential prey distributions. Journal of Zoology DOI: 10.1111/jzo.12350. PDF
2015
Smith LA & Webster MM (2015). Gammarus pulex show a grouping response to conspecific injury cues but not to predator kairomones. Behavioral Ecology 26 1188-1195. PDF
Webster MM & Laland KN (2015). Public information use by foraging ninespine sticklebacks: social learning or an unlearned social influence on travel direction? Behaviour 11 1569-1584. PDF
Webster MM & Laland KN (2015). Space-use and sociability are not related to public-information use in ninespine sticklebacks. Behavioural Ecology & Sociobiology 69 895-907. PDF
2014
Atton N, Galef BJ, Hoppitt W, Webster MM, Laland KN. (2014). Familiarity affects social network structure and discovery of prey patch locations in foraging stickleback shoals. Proceedings of the Royal Society series B 281 20140579. PDF
2013
Ward AJW, James R, Wilson ADM & Webster MM (2013). Site fidelity and localised homing behaviour in three-spined sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus). Behaviour 150 1689-1708. PDF
Webster MM & Laland KN (2013). Local enhancement via eavesdropping on courtship displays in male guppies. Animal Behaviour. 1 75-83. PDF
Webster MM & Laland KN (2013). The learning mechanism underlying public information use in ninespine sticklebacks (Pungitius pungitius). Journal of Comparative Psychology 127 154-165. PDF
Webster MM, Atton N, Hoppitt W & Laland KN (2013) Environmental complexity influences association network structure and network-based diffusion of foraging information in fish shoals. American Naturalist 181 235-244. PDF
2012
Atton N, Hoppitt W, Webster MM, Galef BG & Laland KN (2012) Information flow through threespine stickleback networks without social transmission. Proceedings of the Royal Society series B 279 4272-4278. PDF
Webster MM & Laland KN (2012). Social information, conformity and the opportunity costs paid by foraging fish. Behavioural Ecology & Sociobiology 66 797-809. PDF
2011
Webster MM & Ward AJW (2011). Personality and social context. Biological Reviews. 86 759-773. PDF
Webster MM, Atton, N, Hart PJB & Ward AJW (2011). Habitat-specific morphological variation among threespine sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus) within a drainage basin. PLoS ONE 6(6) e21060. PDF
Laland KN, Atton N & Webster MM (2011). From fish to fashion: experimental and theoretical insights into the evolution of culture. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society series B 366 958-968. PDF
Webster MM & Laland KN (2011). Reproductive state affects reliance on public information in sticklebacks. Proceedings of the Royal Society series B 278 619-627. PDF
Rendell L, Fogarty L Hoppitt WJE, Morgan TJH, Webster MM & Laland KN (2011) Cognitive culture: theoretical and empirical insights into social learning strategies. Trends in Cognitive Sciences 15 68-76. PDF
2010 and earlier
Ward AJW, Hensor EMA, Webster MM & Hart PJB (2010). Behavioural thermoregulation in two freshwater fish species. Journal of Fish Biology 76 2287-2298. PDF
Webster MM & Laland (2009). Evaluation of a non-invasive tagging system for laboratory studies using three-spined sticklebacks. Journal of Fish Biology 75 1868-1873. PDF
Ward AJW, Webster MM, Magurran, AE, Currie S & Krause, J. (2009). Species and population differences in social recognition between fishes: a role for ecology? Behavioural Ecology. 20 511-516. PDF
Webster MM, Ward AJW & Hart PJB (2009). Individual boldness affects interspecific interactions in sticklebacks. Behavioural Ecology & Sociobiology 63 511-520. PDF
Webster MM & Laland KN (2008). Social learning strategies and predation risk: minnows copy only when using private information would be costly. Proceedings of the Royal Society series B 275 2869-2876. PDF
Hoppitt WJE, Brown GR, Kendal R, Rendell L, Thornton A, Webster MM & Laland KN (2008). Lessons from animal teaching. Trends in Ecology & Evolution 23 486-493. PDF
Webster MM, Adams EL & Laland KN (2008). Diet-specific chemical cues influence association preferences and prey patch use in a shoaling fish. Animal Behaviour 76 17-23. PDF
Webster MM, Ward AJW & Hart PJB (2008). Shoal and prey patch choice by co-occurring fish and prawns: inter-taxa use of socially transmitted cues. Proceedings of the Royal Society series B 275 203-208. PDF
Webster MM, Goldsmith J, Ward AJW & Hart PJB (2007). Habitat specific chemical cues influence association preferences and shoal cohesion in fish. Behavioural Ecology & Sociobiology 62, 273-280. PDF
Webster MM, Atton N, Ward AJW & Hart PJB (2007). Turbidity and foraging rate in threespine sticklebacks: the importance of visual and chemical prey cues. Behaviour 144 1347-1360. PDF
Webster MM & Hart PJB (2007). Prior association mediates kleptoparasitic prey competition in shoals of threespine stickleback. Animal Behaviour 74 253-258. PDF
Webster MM, Ward AJW & Hart PJB (2007). Boldness is influenced by social context in threespine sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus). Behaviour 144 351-371. PDF
Ward AJW, Webster MM & Hart PJB (2007). Social recognition in wild fish populations. Proceedings of the Royal Society series B 274 1071-1077. PDF
Ward AJW, Webster MM & Hart PJB (2006). Intraspecific food competition in fishes. Fish and Fisheries 7 1-31. PDF
Webster MM & Hart PJB (2006). Kleptoparasitic prey competition in shoaling fish: effects of familiarity and prey distribution. Behavioural Ecology 17 959-964. PDF
Webster MM & Hart PJB (2006). Subhabitat selection by foraging threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus): previous experience and social conformity. Behavioural Ecology & Sociobiology 60 77-86. PDF
Webster MM & Hart PJB (2004). Substrate discrimination and preference in foraging fish. Animal Behaviour 68 1071-1077. PDF
Croft DP, Arrowsmith BJ, Webster M & Krause J. (2004). Intra-sexual preferences for familiar fish in male guppies. Journal of Fish Biology 64 279-283. PDF
Croft DP, Albanese B, Arrowsmith BJ, Botham MS, Webster M & Krause J. (2003). Sex-biased movement in the guppy (Poecilia reticulata). Oecologia, 137 62-68. PDF
Peer-reviewed book chapters
Laland KN, Atton N & Webster MM 2012. From fish to fashion: experimental and theoretical insights into the evolution of culture. In: Whiten, A; Hinde, RA, Stringer, CB & Laland, KN (Eds.) Culture Evolves, University of Oxford Press.
Laland KN, Dean L, Hoppitt W, Rendell L & Webster MM 2012. Social learning: strategies, mechanisms and models. In: Zentall TR & Wasserman E (Eds.) Handbook of Comparative Cognition, University of Oxford Press.
Webster MM & Laland KN. 2011. Social learning and innovation. In: Evans J, Pilastro A & Schlupp I (Eds), Ecology and Evolution of Poeciliid Fishes, University of Chicago Press.
Hart PJB, Webster MM & Ward AJW. 2008. Fish foraging behaviour in theory and practice. In: Magnhagen C, Braithwaite VA, Forsgren E & Kapoor BG (Eds), Fish Behaviour, CABI Press.