Dr Natalie Cooper

Grants

Evolutionary Ecology and Fossil Primates
Role: Principal investigator
Funding: FP7 - People
Total value £100,000
Dates: 2012 - 2015

CHROMREP - An integrative approach linking chromosomal evolution and biodiversity in reptiles from Madagascar
Role: Principal investigatorMezzasalma M
Co-investigator: Streicher J
Dates: 2018 - 2020

Molecules meet fossils – an integrated approach to studying palaeodiversity
Role: Principal investigatorWaeschenbach A
Co-investigator: Taylor P
Funding: Leverhulme Trust
Total value £350,090 (to Museum £350,090)
Dates: 2017 - 2020

Committees

Chair, British Ecological Society Macroecology Special Interest Group, 2018 - on going.

Member, British Ecological Society Publications Committee, 2014 - 2020.

Memberships

Member, British Ecological Society.

Editorships

Editor, Primers in Ecology and Evolution, Oxford University Press, 2019 - on going.

Associate editor, Methods in Ecology and Evolution,

Events

Conference Attendance

Attendee/participant, BES Quantitative Ecology 2018, (Conference),

Attendee/participant, Chair, Organiser, BES Macro 2016, (Conference), 2016 - 2016.

Attendee/participant, Facilitator, British Ecological Society annual meeting, (Conference), 2015 - 2015.

Attendee/participant, Workshop, British Ecological Society annual meeting, (Conference), 2016 - 2016.

Chair, Attendee/participant, Organiser, BES Macro 2017, (Conference), 2017 - 2017.

Attendee/participant, Session chair, Organiser, BES Macro 2018, (Conference), 2018 - 2018.

Attendee/participant, Chair, Organiser, BES Macro 2019, (Conference), 2019 - 2019.

Organisation

Organiser, BES Macro ECR workshop, (Workshop),

Organising committee, Disparate views on disparity, (Workshop),

Organiser, BES Macro 2017, (Conference),

Organiser, BES Macro 2016, (Conference),

Publications

Isip JE, Jones MEH, Cooper N (2022) Clade-wide variation in bite-force performance is determined primarily by size, not ecology. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 289 (1969) : doi: 10.1098/rspb.2021.2493

Rombaut LMK, Capp EJR, Hughes EC, Varley ZK, Beckerman AP, Cooper N, Thomas GH (2022) The evolution of the traplining pollinator role in hummingbirds: specialization is not an evolutionary dead end. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 289 (1967) : doi: 10.1098/rspb.2021.2484

Alewijnse SR, Stowasser G, Saunders RA, Belcher A, Crimmen OA, Cooper N, Trueman CN (2021) Otolith-derived field metabolic rates of myctophids (Family Myctophidae) from the Scotia Sea (Southern Ocean). Marine Ecology Progress Series, 675 : 113 - 131. doi: 10.3354/meps13827

Deepak V, Maddock ST, Williams R, Nagy ZT, Conradie W, Rocha S, James Harris D, Perera A, Gvoždík V, Doherty-Bone TM, Kamei RG, Menegon M, Labisko J, Morel C, Cooper N, Day JJ, Gower DJ (2021) Molecular phylogenetics of sub-Saharan African natricine snakes, and the biogeographic origins of the Seychelles endemic Lycognathophis seychellensis. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 161 : 107152 - 107152. doi: 10.1016/j.ympev.2021.107152

Buckingham E, Curry J, Emogor C, Tomsett L, Cooper N (null) Using natural history collections to investigate changes in pangolin (Pholidota: Manidae) geographic ranges through time. PeerJ, 9 : e10843 - e10843. doi: 10.7717/peerj.10843

Mezzasalma M, Guarin FM, Loader SP, Odierna G, Streicher JW, Cooper N (2020) First karyological analysis of the endemic Malagasy phantom gecko Matoatoa brevipes (Squamata: Gekkonidae). ACTA HERPETOLOGICA, 15 (2) : 137 - 141. doi: 10.13128/a_h-8437

Bonsor JA, Barrett PM, Raven TJ, Cooper N (2020) Dinosaur diversification rates were not in decline prior to the K-Pg boundary. Royal Society Open Science, 7 (11) : 201195 - 201195. doi: 10.1098/rsos.201195

Guillerme T, Cooper N, Brusatte SL, Davis KE, Jackson AL, Gerber S, Goswami A, Healy K, Hopkins MJ, Jones MEH, Lloyd GT, O'Reilly JE, Pate A, Puttick MN, Rayfield EJ, Saupe EE, Sherratt E, Slater GJ, Weisbecker V, Thomas GH, Donoghue PCJ (2020) Disparities in the analysis of morphological disparity. Biology Letters, 16 (7) : 20200199 - 20200199. doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2020.0199

Martins MCI, Park T, Racicot R, Cooper N (null) Intraspecific variation in the cochleae of harbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) and its implications for comparative studies across odontocetes. PeerJ, 8 : e8916 - e8916. doi: 10.7717/peerj.8916

Park T, Mennecart B, Costeur L, Grohé C, Cooper N (2019) Convergent evolution in toothed whale cochleae. BMC Evolutionary Biology, 19 (1) : doi: 10.1186/s12862-019-1525-x

Cooper N, Bond AL, Davis JL, Portela Miguez R, Tomsett L, Helgen KM (2019) Sex biases in bird and mammal natural history collections. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 286 (1913) : 20192025 - 20192025. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2019.2025

Trueman CN, Jackson AL, Chadwick KS, Coombs EJ, Feyrer LJ, Magozzi S, Sabin RC, Cooper N (null) Combining simulation modeling and stable isotope analyses to reconstruct the last known movements of one of Nature’s giants. PeerJ, 7 : e7912 - e7912. doi: 10.7717/peerj.7912

Coombs EJ, Deaville R, Sabin RC, Allan L, O'Connell M, Berrow S, Smith B, Brownlow A, Doeschate MT, Penrose R, Williams R, Perkins MW, Jepson PD, Cooper N (2019) What can cetacean stranding records tell us? A study of UK and Irish cetacean diversity over the past 100 years. Marine Mammal Science, 35 (4) : 1527 - 1555. doi: 10.1111/mms.12610

Verde Arregoitia LD, Cooper N, D'Elia G (2018) Good practices for sharing analysis-ready data in mammalogy and biodiversity research. Hystrix : the Italian Journal of Mammalogy, 29 : 155 - 161. doi: 10.4404/hystrix-00133-2018

Guillerme T, Cooper N (2018) Time for a rethink: time sub‐sampling methods in disparity‐through‐time analyses. Palaeontology, 61 (4) : 481 - 493. doi: 10.1111/pala.12364

Page CE, Cooper N (null) Morphological convergence in ‘river dolphin’ skulls. PeerJ, 5 : e4090 - e4090. doi: 10.7717/peerj.4090

Cooper N, Thomas GH, FitzJohn RG (2016) Shedding light on the ‘dark side’ of phylogenetic comparative methods. Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 7 (6) : 693 - 699. doi: 10.1111/2041-210x.12533

Cooper N, Thomas GH, Venditti C, Meade A, Freckleton RP (2016) A cautionary note on the use of Ornstein Uhlenbeck models in macroevolutionary studies. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 118 (1) : 64 - 77. doi: 10.1111/bij.12701

Guillerme T, Cooper N (2016) Assessment of available anatomical characters for linking living mammals to fossil taxa in phylogenetic analyses. Biology Letters, 12 (5) : 20151003 - 20151003. doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2015.1003

Guillerme T, Cooper N (2016) Effects of missing data on topological inference using a Total Evidence approach. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 94 : 146 - 158. doi: 10.1016/j.ympev.2015.08.023

Finlay S, Cooper N (null) Morphological diversity in tenrecs (Afrosoricida, Tenrecidae): comparing tenrec skull diversity to their closest relatives. PeerJ, 3 : e927 - e927. doi: 10.7717/peerj.927

Nunn CL, Cooper N (2015) Investigating evolutionary lag using the species-pairs evolutionary lag test (SPELT). Evolution, 69 (1) : 245 - 253. doi: 10.1111/evo.12520

Cooper N (2014) Quantitative Biology Practical.

Kelly SBA, Kelly DJ, Cooper N, Bahrun A, Analuddin K, Marples NM (2014) Molecular and phenotypic data support the recognition of the Wakatobi flowerpecker (Dicaeum kuehni) from the unique and understudied Sulawesi region. PLoS ONE, 9 (6) : e98694 - e98694. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0098694

Cooper N, Nunn CL (null) SPELT: Species Pairs Evolutionary Lag Test (SPELT).

Healy K, Guillerme T, Finlay S, Kane A, Kelly SBA, McClean D, Kelly DJ, Donohue I, Jackson AL, Cooper N (2014) Ecology and mode-of-life explain lifespan variation in birds and mammals. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 281 (1784) : 20140298 - 20140298. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2014.0298

Healy K, McNally L, Ruxton GD, Cooper N, Jackson AL (2013) Metabolic rate and body size are linked with perception of temporal information. Animal Behaviour, 86 (4) : 685 - 696. doi: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2013.06.018

Cooper N (2013) Cooper et al 2008 PRSB.

Kamilar JM, Cooper N (2013) Phylogenetic signal in primate behaviour, ecology and life history. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 368 (1618) : doi: 10.1098/rstb.2012.0341

Cooper N (null) Phylogenetic approaches for studying competition in mammals. PhD Thesis. (Supervisor(s)) Purvis A, Jones KE.

Cooper N (2013) Natural Selection practical.

Cooper N, Nunn CL (2013) Identifying future zoonotic disease threats. Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health, 2013 (1) : 27 - 36. doi: 10.1093/emph/eot001

Cooper N, Griffin R, Franz M, Omotayo M, Nunn CL (2012) Phylogenetic host specificity and understanding parasite sharing in primates. Ecology Letters, 15 (12) : 1370 - 1377. doi: 10.1111/j.1461-0248.2012.01858.x

Cooper N, Kamilar JM, Nunn CL (null) Host Longevity and Parasite Species Richness in Mammals. PLoS ONE, 7 (8) : e42190 - e42190. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0042190

Davies TJ, Cooper N, Diniz-Filho JAF, Thomas GH, Meiri S (2012) Using phylogenetic trees to test for character displacement: a model and an example from a desert mammal community. Ecology, 93 (sp8) : S44 - S51. doi: 10.1890/11-0400.1

Collen B, McRae L, Deinet S, De Palma A, Carranza T, Cooper N, Loh J, Baillie JEM (2011) Predicting how populations decline to extinction. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 366 (1577) : 2577 - 2586. doi: 10.1098/rstb.2011.0015

Cooper N, Freckleton RP, Jetz W (2011) Phylogenetic conservatism of environmental niches in mammals. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 278 (1716) : 2384 - 2391. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2010.2207

Freckleton RP, Cooper N, Jetz W (2011) Comparative Methods as a Statistical Fix: The Dangers of Ignoring an Evolutionary Model. The American Naturalist, 178 (1) : E10 - E17. doi: 10.1086/660272

Belmaker J, Cooper N, Lee TM, Wilman H (2010) Specialization and the road to academic success. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 8 (10) : 514 - 515. doi: 10.1890/10.wb.25

COOPER N, JETZ W, FRECKLETON RP (2010) Phylogenetic comparative approaches for studying niche conservatism. Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 23 (12) : 2529 - 2539. doi: 10.1111/j.1420-9101.2010.02144.x

Cooper N, Purvis A (2010) Body Size Evolution in Mammals: Complexity in Tempo and Mode. The American Naturalist, 175 (6) : 727 - 738. doi: 10.1086/652466

Bielby J, Cardillo M, Cooper N, Purvis A (2010) Modelling extinction risk in multispecies data sets: phylogenetically independent contrasts versus decision trees. Biodiversity and Conservation, 19 (1) : 113 - 127. doi: 10.1007/s10531-009-9709-0

Cooper N, Belmaker J (2010) opinion: Habitat data resolution and the detection of species interactions. Frontiers of Biogeography. 2 : :

COOPER N, PURVIS A (2009) What factors shape rates of phenotypic evolution? A comparative study of cranial morphology of four mammalian clades. Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 22 (5) : 1024 - 1035. doi: 10.1111/j.1420-9101.2009.01714.x

Cooper N, Rodríguez J, Purvis A (2008) A common tendency for phylogenetic overdispersion in mammalian assemblages. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 275 (1646) : 2031 - 2037. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2008.0420

Bielby J, Cooper N, Cunningham AA, Garner TWJ, Purvis A (null) Predicting susceptibility to future declines in the world's frogs. Conservation Letters, 1 (2) : 82 - 90. doi: 10.1111/j.1755-263x.2008.00015.x

Cooper N, Bielby J, Thomas GH, Purvis A (2008) Macroecology and extinction risk correlates of frogs. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 17 (2) : 211 - 221. doi: 10.1111/j.1466-8238.2007.00355.x

Meiri S, Cooper N, Purvis A (2008) The island rule: made to be broken?. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 275 (1631) : 141 - 148. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2007.1056

Deepak V, Cooper N, Poyarkov NA, Kraus F, Burin G, Das A, Narayanan S, Streicher JW, Smith S-J, Gower DJ (2022) Multilocus phylogeny, natural history traits and classification of natricine snakes (Serpentes: Natricinae). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 195 (1) : 279 - 298. doi: 10.1093/zoolinnean/zlab099

Jones MEH, Pistevos JCA, Cooper N, Lappin AK, Georges A, Hutchinson MN, Holleley CE (2020) Reproductive phenotype predicts adult bite‐force performance in sex‐reversed dragons ( Pogona vitticeps ). Journal of Experimental Zoology Part A: Ecological and Integrative Physiology, 333 (4) : 252 - 263. doi: 10.1002/jez.2353

Courses taught

Short course: BBSRC STARS: Advancing skills in computing for life scientists
Natural History Museum, London, United Kingdom
6/2017 - 6/2018.

MSc: Methods in macroecology and macroevolution

2/2017.

Professional training: Introduction to R and computing
Natural History Museum, London, United Kingdom

Supervision

Doctorate (PhD) Co-supervisor to Trapman T
Co supervisor(s): Cooper N
Disparity of arthropods
University of Bath, Bath, United Kingdom
Funding: NERC GW4+ DTP
1/10/2018 - on going.

Master's Co-supervisor to Pawlik A
Co supervisor(s): Cooper N
Salamander type localities and current distributions.
Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom

Master's Co-supervisor to Weeks T
Co supervisor(s): Cooper N
Amphibian type collection localities and the IUCN Red List geographic range maps – how well do they match and what are the implications for conservation?
University College London, London, United Kingdom

Master's Co-supervisor to Berkowitz N
Co supervisor(s): Cooper N
Comparing historical and current species distributional data for imperiled species – using the amphibian type collection at the Natural History Museum, London
University College London, London, United Kingdom

Doctorate (PhD) Joint supervisor to Alewinjse S
Co supervisor(s): Cooper N
Is metabolic rate a red herring for investigating the effects of climate change on fishes?

Funding: NERC

Doctorate (PhD) Joint supervisor to Coombs E
Co supervisor(s): Cooper N
Cetacean responses to climate change - evidence from the past and present

Funding: NERC

Master's Co-supervisor to Davies J
Co supervisor(s): Cooper N
Assessing the accuracy of IUCN range maps of amphibians using the amphibian type locality data of collections at the Natural History Museum, London
University College London, London, United Kingdom

Master's Joint supervisor to Moraviec D
Co supervisor(s): Barrett P
An investigation into the morphological disparity of ornithischian dinosaur skulls over time
Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom
Funding: Self-funded
1/9/2016 - 29/9/2017.

Master's Joint supervisor to Bonsor J
Co supervisor(s): Cooper N
The extinction rates of dinosaurs
Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom
Funding: Self-funded
1/8/2016 - 29/9/2017.

Doctorate (PhD) Lead supervisor to Guillerme T
Macroevolution with fossil and living species
Trinity College Dublin
1/10/2012 - 18/9/2015.

Master's Lead supervisor to Moraviec D
Co supervisor(s): Cooper N
Geometric morphometrics of ornithischian dinosaurs.
Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom

Master's Lead supervisor to Morris O
Co supervisor(s): Cooper N
Biogeographic origins of Galapagos reptiles.
Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom

Master's Lead supervisor to Gilbert G
Co supervisor(s): Cooper N
Biogeography of Galapagos birds.
Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom

Master's Lead supervisor to Bell D
Co supervisor(s): Cooper N
Predicting cetacean length from skull measurements.
Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom

Master's Lead supervisor to Ng WS
Co supervisor(s): Cooper N
Convergence in afrotherian and laurasiatherian "insectivores".
Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom

Master's Lead supervisor to Weeks T
Co supervisor(s): Cooper N
Mismatches in East African amphibian type localities and current distributions.
University College London, London, United Kingdom

Master's Co-supervisor to Allain S
Co supervisor(s): Cooper N
Changes in Asian amphibian distributions through time.
Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom

Master's Joint supervisor to Martins MCI
Co supervisor(s): Cooper N
Intraspecific variation in the harbour porpoise inner ear.
University College London, London, United Kingdom

Master's Lead supervisor to Curry J
Co supervisor(s): Cooper N
Establishing Baselines: Are our conservation baselines accurate?
Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom

Master's Lead supervisor to Buckingham E
Co supervisor(s): Cooper N
Historical distributions and overexploitation of pangolins.
Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom

Lead supervisor to Sartorius A
Co supervisor(s): Cooper N
Marsupial type distributions and IUCN Red List maps.

Master's Lead supervisor to Page C
Co supervisor(s): Cooper N
Convergence in "river dolphins"

Master's Lead supervisor to Finlay S
Morphological disparity in tenrecs
Trinity College Dublin
Funding: Irish Research Council

Invited and keynote speaker

Invited speaker, Sex bias in bird museum collections, American Ornithological Society annual meeting: Anchorage, United States, 28/6/2019.

Cheilostome bryozoan evolution through time - insights from a time-calibrated family-level phylogeny., 18th International Bryozoology Association Conference: Technicka Univerzita v Liberci, Liberec, Czech Republic, 21/6/2019.

Keynote speaker, Exploring the Treasure Trove - using natural history specimens to study ecology and evolution, Seminar: University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom, 23/1/2019.

Sex biases in mammal museum collections, British Ecological Society annual meeting: 19/12/2018.

Keynote speaker, Convergent evolution in odontocete ear bones, Chilean Society for Ecology and Evolution: Puerto Varas, Chile, 20/11/2018.

Keynote speaker, Exploring the Treasure Trove - using natural history specimens to study ecology and evolution, Seminar: Durham University, Durham, United Kingdom, 9/10/2018.

Keynote speaker, Exploring the Treasure Trove - using natural history specimens to study ecology and evolution, Postgraduate Student Symposium: Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland, 21/3/2018.

Invited speaker, Disparity through time: time for a rethink?, Palaeontological Association annual meeting: 10/12/2017.

Reconstruction the last movements of one of Nature's giants, British Ecological Society and SfE joint annual meeting: Ghent, Belgium, 6/12/2017.

Keynote speaker, Exploring the Treasure Trove - using natural history specimens to study ecology and evolution, Seminar: Bangor University, Bangor, United Kingdom, 6/9/2017.

Keynote speaker, Exploring the Treasure Trove - using natural history specimens to study ecology and evolution, Seminar: Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel, 15/3/2017.

Invited speaker, Macroevolution with fossil and living species, Zoology Seminar Series: Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Tel Aviv, Israel, 15/3/2017.

Skeletons in the closet: using museum specimens in research, Evolution 2016: Austin, United States, 20/6/2016.

Keynote speaker, Macroevolution with living and fossil species, Seminar: EGI, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom, 16/3/2016.

Keynote speaker, Macroevolution with living and fossil species, Seminar: CMEC, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark, 22/1/2016.

Keynote speaker, Macroevolution with fossil and living species, Seminar: LERN, University College London, London, United Kingdom, 20/10/2015.

Keynote speaker, Macroevolution with living and fossil species, Seminar: University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland, 7/10/2015.

Invited speaker, The Limitations of PCMs, Methods in Ecology and Evolution 5th anniversary symposium: 3/8/2015.

Guest lectures

Invited speaker, Jobs in museums post PhD, ACCE DTP Careers Cafe: University of Sheffield, Sheffield, Sheffield, United Kingdom, 6/6/2017.

Public Engagement

Internal activities

Science Uncovered, 25/9/2015