Welcome to the Rubenstein Lab

Our research is integrative in nature and combines studies in behavior, ecology, and evolution. Our work combines field studies and collections with laboratory work on genetics, genomics, hormones, and physiology. We are interested in understanding the evolution of social life on earth, particularly the causes and consequences of living in complex societies. Currently, we work with African starlings to examine how environmental uncertainty shapes family-living, and sponge-dwelling snapping shrimp in the Caribbean to determine how the diversity of social life on earth may have evolved. Previously, we examined the reproductive physiology and mating behavior of Galapagos marine iguanas, and used stable isotopes to study migration in birds. We have also worked with insects and mammals and always continue to explore and work with new systems to answer related questions.

Lab Highlights (complete lab news)

Read about our field expedition to Belize in The New York Times’ Scientists at Work Blog.

Read about the Rubenstein Lab in the Columbia Magazine.

Read about our field expedition to Kenya in The New York Times’ Scientists at Work Blog.

Read about our long-term studies in African starling in Natural History Magazine.

Selected Publications (complete publication list)

Maia, R., D.R. Rubenstein and M.D. Shawkey. 2013. Key ornamental innovations facilitate diversification in an avian radiation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA In press.

Rubenstein, D.R. 2012. Family feuds: social competition and sexual conflict in complex societies. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 367:2304-2313

Rubenstein, D.R. 2011. Spatiotemporal environmental variation, risk aversion and the evolution of cooperative breeding as a bet-hedging strategy. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 108:10816-10822.

Jetz, W.* and D.R. Rubenstein*. 2011. Environmental uncertainty and the global biogeography of cooperative breeding in birds. Current Biology 21:72-78.  *contributed equally

Rubenstein, D.R. and I.J. Lovette. 2009. Reproductive skew and selection on female ornamentation in social species. Nature 462:786-789.

Rubenstein, D.R. and S.-F. Shen. 2009. Reproductive conflict and the costs of social status in cooperatively breeding vertebrates. The American Naturalist 173:650-661.

Rubenstein, D.R. and I.J. Lovette. 2007. Temporal environmental variability drives the evolution of cooperative breeding in birds. Current Biology 17:1414-1419.

Rubenstein, D.R. 2007. Female extrapair mate choice in a cooperative breeder: trading sex for help and increasing offspring heterozygosity. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B 274:1895-1903.

Rubenstein, D.R. 2007. Stress hormones and sociality: integrating social and environmental stressors. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B 274:967-975.

Rubenstein, D.R. and K.A. Hobson. 2004. From birds to butterflies: animal movement patterns and stable isotopes. Trends in Ecology & Evolution 19:256-263.

Rubenstein, D.R. and M. Wikelski. 2003. Seasonal changes in food quality: a proximate cue for reproductive timing in marine iguanas. Ecology 84:3013-3023.

Rubenstein, D.R., et al. 2002. Linking breeding and wintering ranges of a migratory songbird using stable isotopes. Science 295:1062-1065.

Last updated 18 June 2013
© 2002-2013 Dustin Rubenstein