
Dr Stephanie King
PhD, MRes, BSc
Current positions
Associate Professor in Animal Behaviour
School of Biological Sciences
Contact
Press and media
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Research interests
I'm a behavioural biologist with a primary focus on animal communication systems and how these systems have evolved to help mediate complex social behaviours.
To date, much of my research has focused on the temporal and social aspects of vocal interactions in bottlenose dolphins, and their use of individually distinctive signature whistles. I have over a decade's worth of experience studying marine mammal acoustic communication, as well as extensive experience in assessing the consequences of anthropogenic noise disturbance on marine mammal populations.
My current research interests lie with exploring the role vocal communication plays in mediating complex social behaviours, such as cooperation, in animal systems. I continue to use bottlenose dolphins as a model system, with the aim of understanding how dynamic social environments may influence and shape the communicative strategies that animals employ when making decisions of when and with whom to cooperate.
I am a PI of the Shark Bay Dolphin Research alongside Prof Richard Connor, Prof Michael Krützen and Dr Simon Allen. Please visit our website www.sharkbaydolphins.org to find out more about the research currently underway in Shark Bay.
Projects and supervisions
Research projects
Male synchrony: individual variation, epigenetic drivers and the overall effect on reproductive success in multilevel alliances of wild dolphins
Principal Investigator
Managing organisational unit
School of Biological SciencesDates
01/04/2023 to 31/03/2025
Thesis supervisions
Social drivers of signature whistle complexity in bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops aduncus)
Supervisors
Investigating the effects of climatic variability on long term behavioural activity budgets of Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops aduncus) in Shark Bay, Western Australia
Supervisors
Communication is key
Supervisors
Applications of eDNA-based methods
Supervisors
Publications
Recent publications
01/01/2023An epigenetic DNA methylation clock for age estimates in Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops aduncus)
Evolutionary Applications
Anthropogenic noise impairs cooperation in bottlenose dolphins
Current Biology
Allied male dolphins use vocal exchanges to “bond at a distance”
Current Biology
Association patterns and community structure among female bottlenose dolphins
Mammalian Biology
Bottlenose dolphin communication during a role-specialized group foraging task
Behavioural Processes