Theo C.M. Bakker, PhD

2025 marked the 50th anniversary of the publication of  Sociobiology: the New Synthesis  by E.O. Wilson. Since  Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology  incorporated the name of the then-new discipline in the title of the journal in 1976. The journal has been a main source for disseminating sociobiological research; James Traniello and I have prepared editorials commemorating the semicentennial of this transformational tome. In these editorials, James and I , and Associate Editor

Starting with the February issue, BES has a new cover image. ​ Agonistic interaction between two male adult brown bears at Cabarceno Nature Park, Spain. The dominant bear (right) walks ahead while the subordinate, with frontal body orientation, backs up. Defensive positioning (backward orientation) of the subordinate's ears contrasts with the dominant's erect ears. The subordinate's open mouth and long, low defensive sounds, indicate distress rather than a threat. The dominan

Redder stickleback males produced male-biased offspring sex ratio. Check out our latest publication in Evolutionary Ecology.

Our paper Bakker TCM, Hiermes M, Müller B, Martin S, Rennison DJ, Rick IP: "Adaptive variation in opsin expression of sticklebacks from...

Redder stickleback males produced male-biased offspring sex-ratio. Check out our latest preprint on ResearchSquare.

Starting with the May issue, BES has a new cover image. ​ Eggshell coloration is a cue of female condition but is not related to male...

Our paper  Bakker TCM, Hiermes M, Müller B, Martin S, Rennison DJ, Rick IP: "Adaptive variation in opsin expression of sticklebacks from...

Starting with the November issue, BES has a new cover image. ​ ​ A female great fruit-eating bat ( Artibeus lituratus ) roosting with...

Starting with the January 2024 issue, BES has a new cover image. ​ The brittle star Ophiocoma echinata lacks a central nervous system but...

James Traniello and I wrote an editorial on the restricted use of ChatGPT and other GenAI models in preparing manuscripts.

Starting with the May issue, BES has a new cover image. ​ Female redfronted lemurs (Eulemur rufifrons) permanently evict closely related...

Starting with the November issue, BES has a new cover image. ​ Male grass wrens (Cistothorus platensis) do not adjust parental care to...

We (Rebeca Rosengaus, James Traniello and Theo Bakker) just published the introduction to the Topical Collection “Sociality and Disease“...

Honey bees (Apis mellifera) minimize the spread of disease by altruistic self-exile and the physical eviction of immune-challenged...

Starting with the August issue, BES has a new cover image showing an humpback whale. A surface active humpback whale (Megaptera...

the second paper in Current Zoology came out and looked at UVA-based shoaling and mate preferences of lab-bred fishes from two photic...

Starting with the January issue, BES has a new cover image showing Angolan giraffes. King (in the middle), an adult male desert-dwelling...

new paper online in Current Zoology. Males from tea-stained habitats were redder than males from clear-water habitats on North Uist,...

I just published a paper in Hydrobiologia based on 25-year-old stickleback data. The topic is still very up-to-date. Males preferred to...

Denis Meuthen's paper is now online in Oecologia. His father, the haematologist Ingo Meuthen, did the blood-cell counts. Alarm...