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Shen S-F and DR Rubenstein. The ecology and evolution of cooperative breeding: linking dual benefits theory and inclusive fitness theory.

Lake, J, MJ Whiting, GM While, D Kabelik, DR Rubenstein and D Hoops. The neural distribution of vasotocin, oxytocin, dopamine and serotonin in two Australian skinks with contrasting social lives.

Shen S-F, M Liu and DR Rubenstein. The evolution of group size and kin structure in complex societies.

Chang C-F, S-C Chan, Y- Liu, B-F Chen, J Mai, Y-H Li, M Liu, DR Rubenstein and S-F Shen. The emergence of non-kin cooperation under ecological pressure.

Lake, J, GM While, P Lange, AG Ophir, DR Rubenstein and MJ Whiting. Vasotocin influences mother-offspring associations in a facultatively family-living lizard.

Mai G-S, Y-H Wen, Rolland A, DR Rubenstein, S Wu, J-C Lin, M Liu, C-K Tang and S-F Shen. Generative AI reveals how natural and sexual selection vary across an environmental gradient to shape sexual dimorphism in moths.

Lake, J, GM While, P Lange, AG Ophir, DR Rubenstein and MJ Whiting. The effect of vasotocin on social recognition in juvenile bluetongue skinks.

Kua KL, G-S Mai, DR Rubenstein, P-F Lee and S-F Shen. SEAM-SDM: a modular deep-learning species distribution model.

Li Y-C, DR Rubenstein, S-C Lin, G-S Mai, M Liu and S-F Shen. Temperature dependence of collective behavior varies with coordination complexity in social insects.

Kennedy P, M Tindo, PS Masse, S Kapmegne, R Tcheutchoua, M Keeping, C Pirk, AR Radford and DR Rubenstein. Climate shapes cooperation in Africa’s continent-spanning wasps. 

Siller Wilks SJ, DF Westneat, BJ Heidinger, J Solomon and DR Rubenstein. Developmental patterns of DNA methylation predict sex-specific long-term fitness in wild house sparrows (Passer domesticus).

Firman RC and DR Rubenstein. The thermal benefits of a mound-burrow system in a semi-desert Australian landscape: will this pebble fortress provide refuge from climate change? 

Mai J, J-P Huang, DR Rubenstein, Y-H Wen, M Liao, J-C Lin, S Wu, M Liu and S-F Shen. The rise of morphological diversity in butterflies and moths. 

2026

Rubenstein DR. 2026. Avian mating and social systems. In The Cornell Lab of Ornithology Handbook of Bird Biology, 4th Edition (Lovette IJ and JA Walsh, eds.). Princeton University Press, Princeton, In press.

Shen S-F and DR Rubenstein. 2026. Climate, cooperation and social evolution. In Encyclopedia of Animal Behavior, 3rd Edition (Choe J, ed.). Elsevier, New York, In press. 

Rubenstein DR and J Solomon. 2026. Endocrine and epigenetic flexibility in an African starling. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B In press.

Falk JJ, MS Webster and DR Rubenstein. 2026. Hypotheses for the adaptive maintenance of phenotypic polymorphisms. Ecology and Evolution 16:e73493.

Garcia-Ruiz I and DR Rubenstein. 2026. Fitness drivers of division of labour in vertebrates. eLife 14:RP105501. 

Chen B-F, Y-C Li, DR Rubenstein, S-J Sun, M Liu, D-P Chen and S-F Shen. 2026. Interspecific competition reduces energy expenditure  by decreasing intragroup conflict in a social burying beetle. Ecology Letters 28:e70300. 

2025

Ben Mocha Y, M Woith, S Scemama de Gialluly, L Bruscagnin, N Kestel, S Markman,  SM Drobniak, V Baglione, J Boersma, L Cousseau, R Covas, GH Braga de Miranda, CJ Dey, C Doutrelant, R Gula, R Heinsohn, O Keynan, SA Kingma, AV Leitao, J Li, L Makuya, K-M Middleton, S Pruett-Jones, AN Radford, C Restrepo, DR Rubenstein, C Schradin, J Theuerkauf, MH Warrington, DA Williams, IA Woxvold and M Griesser. 2025. An integrative, peer-reviewed and open-source Cooperative-Breeding Database (Co-BreeD). Journal of Animal Ecology 94:2597–2614. 

Greives TJ, J Solomon, S Siller Wilks, H Galante, KB Needham, J Kittilson and DR Rubenstein. 2025. A potential role for epigenetic mechanisms enabling appropriate seasonal transitions of liver yolk-precursor production. Journal of Avian Biology 2025:e03470. 

Firman RC, RE Buckley, W De Angelis and DR Rubenstein. 2025. A mouse that rocks: variation in western pebble mouse (Pseudomys chapmani) activity through camera trapping reveals that mound assessment criteria are inaccurate. Wildlife Research 5:WR24209. 

Chen H, DR Rubenstein, G-S Mai, C-F Chang and S-F Shen. 2025. Circadian activity predicts breeding phenology in the Asian burying beetle Nicrophorus nepalensis.  Royal Society Open Science 12:250624. 

Earl AD, GG Carter, AG Berlinger, E Korir, SS Shah, WN Watetu and DR Rubenstein. 2025. A cryptic role for reciprocal helping in a cooperatively breeding bird. Nature 642:381-388. 

Chan S-F, M Liu, DR Rubenstein, Y-A Chung, W Lin, L-Y Liao and S-F Shen. 2025. Assessment across life stages reveals superior habitat suitability in reintroduced historical habitats for an endangered salmon species. Journal of Applied Ecology 62:1378–1391. 

Shah SS and DR Rubenstein. 2025. Intraspecific variation in the social structure of a cooperative breeder arises due to fine-scale environmental conditions governing directional dispersal. Journal of Animal Ecology 94:356-367. 

Chan S-F, DR Rubenstein, T-W Wang, Y-Y Chen, I-C Chen, D-Z Ni, W-K Shih and S-F Shen. 2025. Land-use changes influence climate resilience through altered population demography in a social insect. Ecological Monographs 95:e1638. 

2024

Wikelski M, M Quetting, J Bates, T Berger-Wolf, G Bohrer, L Börger, T Chapple, M Crofoot, SC Davidson, DKN Dechmann, D Ellis-Soto, L Ellwood, W Fiedler, A Flack, B Fruth, N Franconi, RW Havmøller, J Hirt, NR Hussey, F Iannarilli, M Landwehr, ME Müller, T Müller, U Müller, R Oliver, J Partecke, L Pokrovskaya, DR Rubenstein, C Rutz, K Safi, A Santangeli, L van Schalkwyk, A Sequeira, T Ramesh, P Viljoen, K Wasik, S Yanco and R Kays. 2024. Introducing a unique animal ID and digital life history museum for wildlife. Methods in Ecology and Evolution 15:1777–1788. 

Potticary, AL, MC Belk, JC Creighton, M Ito, R Kilner, J Komdeur, NJ Royle, DR Rubenstein, M Schrader, S-F Shen, DS Sikes, PT Smiseth, R Smith, S Steiger, ST Trumbo and AJ Moore. 2024. Revisiting the ecology and evolution of burying beetles (Staphylinidae: Silphinae). Ecology and Evolution 14:e70175. 

Siller Wilks SJ, BJ Heidinger, DF Westneat, J Solomon and DR Rubenstein. 2024. The impact of parental and developmental stress on DNA methylation in the avian hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis. Molecular Ecology 33:e17291. 

Rubenstein DI and DR Rubenstein. 2024. Social behavior and animal societies. In Encyclopedia of Biodiversity, 3rd Edition (Scheiner S, ed.). Elsevier, New York, pp. 61-71. 

2023

Shen S-F, HK Reeve, ST Emlen, M Liu and DR Rubenstein. 2023. Group size and the resolution of insider-outsider conflict in animal societies. Animal Behaviour 205:107-116. 

Siller Wilks SJ, DF Westneat, BJ Heidinger, J Solomon and DR Rubenstein. 2023. Epigenetic modification of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis during development in the house sparrow (Passer domesticus). General and Comparative Endocrinology 341:114336. 

Lin Y-H, Y-Y Chen, DR Rubenstein, M Liu and S-F Shen. 2023. Environmental quality mediates the ecological dominance of cooperatively breeding birds. Ecology Letters 26:1145–1156. 

Chan S-F, M Liu, DR Rubenstein, I-C Chen, Y-M Fan, Y-W Zheng and S-F Shen. 2023. Higher temperature variability in deforested mountain regions impacts the competitive advantage of nocturnal species. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 290:20230529. 

Halupka L, D Arlt, J Tolvanen, A Millon, P Bize, P Adamík, P Albert, WJ Arendt, AV Artemyev, V Baglione, J Bańbura, M Bańbura, E Barba, RT Barrett, PH Becker, E Belskii, M Bolton, EK Bowers, J Bried, LBrouwer, M Bukacińska, D Bukaciński, L Bulluck, KF Carstens, I Catry, M Charter, A Chernomorets, R Covas, M Czuchra, DC Dearborn, F de Lope, AS Di Giacomo, VC Dombrovski, H Drummond, MJ Dunn, T Eeva, LM Emmerson, Y Espmark, JA Fargallo, SI Gashkov, EY Golubova, M Griesser, MP Harris, JP Hoover, Z Jagiełło, P Karell, J Kloskowski, WD Koenig, H Kolunen, M Korczak-Abshire, E Korpimäki, I Krams, M Krist, SC Krüger, BD Kuranov, X Lambin, MP Lombardo, A Lyakhov, A Marzal, AP Møller, VC Neves, JT Nielsen, A Numerov, B Orłowska, D Oro, M Öst, RA Phillips, H Pietiäinen, V Polo, J Porkert, J Potti, H Pöysä, T Printemps, J Prop, P Quillfeldt, JA Ramos, P-A Ravussin, RN Rosenfield, Alexandre Roulin, DR Rubenstein, IE Samusenko, DA Saunders, M Schaub, J Senar, F Sergio, T Solonen, DV Solovyeva, J Stępniewski, PM Thompson, M Tobolka, J Török, M van de Pol, L Vernooij, ME Visser, DF Westneat, NT Wheelwright, J Wiącek, KL Wiebe, AG Wood, A Wuczyński, D Wysocki, M Zárybnická, A Margalida and K Halupka. 2023. The effect of climate change on offspring production in 201 avian populations: a global meta-analysis. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 120:e2208389120. 

Shah SS and DR Rubenstein. 2023. Group augmentation underlies the evolution of complex sociality in the face of environmental instability. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 120:e2212211120. 

Rubenstein DR and J Solomon. 2023. Target-enriched enzymatic methyl sequencing: flexible, scalable and inexpensive hybridization capture for quantifying DNA methylation.  PLOS ONE 18:e0282672. 

2022

Chak STC, SE Harris, KM Hultgren, JE Duffy and DR Rubenstein. 2022. Demographic inference provides insights into the extirpation and ecological dominance of eusocial snapping shrimps.  Journal of Heredity 113:552-562. 

Falk JJ, DR Rubenstein, A Rico-Guevara and MS Webster. 2022. Intersexual social dominance mimicry drives female hummingbird polymorphism. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 289:20220332. 

Firman RC, DR Rubenstein and BA Buzatto. 2022. The spatial and temporal distribution of females influence the evolution of testes size in Australian rodents. Biology Letters 18:20220058. 

Little J, DR Rubenstein and S Guindre-Parker. 2022. Plasticity in social behaviour varies with reproductive status in an avian cooperative breeder. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 289:20220355. 

Shah SS and DR Rubenstein. 2022. Prenatal environmental conditions underlie alternative reproductive tactics that drive the formation of a mixed-kin cooperative society.  Science Advances 8:eabk2220. 

Chen Y-Y, DR Rubenstein and S-F Shen. 2022. Cooperation and lateral forces: moving beyond bottom-up and top-down drivers of animal population dynamics. Frontiers in Psychology 13:768773. 

2021

Liu M, DR Rubenstein, SA Cheong and S-F Shen. 2021. Antagonistic effects of long- and short-term environmental variation on species coexistence. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 288:20211491. 

Falk JJ, MS Webster and DR Rubenstein. 2021. Male-like ornamentation in female hummingbirds results from social harassment rather than sexual selection. Current Biology 31:4381-4387. 

Guindre-Parker S and DR Rubenstein. 2021. Long-term measures of climate unpredictability shape the avian endocrine stress axis. The American Naturalist 198:394-405. 

Mazzei R and DR Rubenstein. 2021. Larval ecology, dispersal and the evolution of sociality in the sea. Ethology 127:808–820. 

Chak STC, SE Harris, KM Hultgren, NW Jeffrey and DR Rubenstein. 2021. Eusociality in snapping shrimps is associated with larger genomes and an accumulation of transposable elements. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 118:e2025051118. 

Rubenstein DR, A Corvelo, MD MacManes, R Maia, G Narzisi, A Rousaki, P Vandenabeele, M Shawkey and J Solomon. 2021. Feather gene expression elucidates the developmental basis of iridescence in African starlings. Journal of Heredity 112:417-429. 

Diamant ES, J Falk and DR Rubenstein. 2021. Male-like female morphs in hummingbirds: the evolution of a widespread sex-limited plumage polymorphism. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 288:20203004. 

2020

Liu M, B-F Chen, DR Rubenstein and S-F Shen. 2020. Social rank modulates how environmental quality influences cooperation and conflict within animal societies. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 287:20201720. 

Antonson ND, DR Rubenstein, ME Hauber and CA Botero. 2020. Ecological uncertainty favors the diversification of host use in avian brood parasites. Nature Communications 11:4185. 

Tsai H-Y, DR Rubenstein, B-F Chen, M Liu, S-F Chan, Y-M Fan, D-P Chen, S-J Sun, T-N Yuan and S-F Shen. 2020. Antagonistic effects of intraspecific cooperation and interspecific competition on thermal performance. eLife 9:e57022. 

Guindre-Parker S and DR Rubenstein. 2020. Survival benefits of group living in a fluctuating environment. The American Naturalist 195:1027-1036. 

Liu M, S-F Chan, DR Rubenstein, S-J Sun, B-F Chen and S-F Shen. 2020. Ecological transitions in grouping benefits explain the paradox of environmental quality and sociality. The American Naturalist 195:818-832. 

Tsai H-Y, DR Rubenstein, Y-M Fan, T-N Yuan, B-F Chen, Y Tang, I-C Chen and SF Shen. 2020. Locally-adapted reproductive photoperiodism determines population vulnerability to climate change. Nature Communications 11:1398. 

Firman RC, DR Rubenstein, JM Moran, KC Rowe and BA Buzatto. 2020. Extreme and variable climatic conditions drive the evolution of sociality in Australian rodents. Current Biology 30:691-697. 

Chen B-F, M Liu, DR Rubenstein, S-J Sun, J-N Liu, Y-H Lin and S-F Shen. 2020. A chemically triggered transition from conflict to cooperation in burying beetles. Ecology Letters 23:467-475. 

2019

Chak STC and DR Rubenstein. 2019. TERAD: Extraction of transposable element composition from RADseq data. Molecular Ecology Resources 19:1681-1688. 

Liu M, DR Rubenstein, S-A Cheong and S-F Shen. 2019. A continuum of biological adaptations to environmental fluctuation. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 286:20191623. 

Wu S, C-M Chang, DR Rubenstein, C-M Yang, Y-T Huang, H-H Lin, L-C Shih, S-W Chen and S-F Shen. 2019. Artificial intelligence reveals environmental constraints on colour diversity in insects. Nature Communications 10:4551 

Siller SJ and DR Rubenstein. 2019. A tissue comparison of DNA methylation in the glucocorticoid receptor (Nr3c1) gene promoter in the European starling. Integrative and Comparative Biology 59:264-272. 

Rubenstein DR, JA Ågren, L Carbone, NC Elde, HE Hoekstra, KM Kapheim, L Keller, CS Moreau, AL Toth, S Yeaman and HA Hofmann. 2019. Coevolution of genome architecture and social behavior. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 34:844-855. 

Cheng Y-R, DR Rubenstein and S-F Shen. 2019. Nest predation predicts infanticide in a cooperatively breeding bird. Biology Letters 15:20193014. 

Chak STC and DR Rubenstein. 2019. Social transitions in sponge-dwelling snapping shrimp. Current Opinion in Insect Science 34:33-39. 

Lin Y-H, S-F Chan, DR Rubenstein, M Liu and S-F Shen. 2019. Resolving the paradox of environmental quality and sociality: the ecological causes and consequences of cooperative breeding in two lineages of birds. The American Naturalist 194:207-216. 

Rubenstein DR. 2019. Animal society. In Encyclopedia of Animal Cognition and Behavior (Vonk J and TK Schelford, eds.). Springer, New York, pp. 1-3. 

Ellis VA, EHR Sari, DR Rubenstein, RC Dickerson, S Bensch and RE Ricklefs. 2019. The global biogeography of avian haemosporidian parasites is characterized by local diversification and intercontinental dispersal. Parasitology 146:213-219. 

Shen S-F and DR Rubenstein. 2019. Environmental uncertainty and social behavior. In Encyclopedia of Animal Behavior, 2nd Edition (Choe J, ed.). Elsevier, New York, Volume 4, pp. 807-815. 

2018

Guindre-Parker S and DR Rubenstein. 2018. No short-term physiological costs of offspring care in a cooperatively breeding bird. Journal of Experimental Biology 221:jeb186569. 

Guindre-Parker S and DR Rubenstein. 2018. The oxidative costs of parental care in cooperative and pair-breeding African starlings. Oecologia 188:53-63. 

Liu M, DR Rubenstein, S-A Cheong and S-F Shen. 2018. Multitasking and the evolution of optimal clutch size in fluctuating environments. Ecology and Evolution 8:8803–8817. 

Guindre-Parker S and DR Rubenstein. 2018. Multiple fitness benefits of alloparental care in a fluctuating environment. Royal Society Open Science 5:172406. 

Pikus AE, S Guindre-Parker and DR Rubenstein. 2018. Testosterone, social status and parental care in a cooperatively breeding bird. Hormones and Behavior 97:85-93. 

2017

Gaynor KM, JW Solomon, JE Duffy, L Jessell, S Siller and DR Rubenstein. 2017. Development of genome- and transcriptome-derived microsatellites in related species of snapping shrimps with highly duplicated genomes. Molecular Ecology Resources 17:e160-e173. 

Brooks KC, R Maia, JE Duffy, KM Hultgren and DR Rubenstein. 2017. Ecological generalism facilitates the evolution of sociality in snapping shrimps. Ecology Letters 20:1516-1525. 

Dantzer B and DR Rubenstein. 2017. Introduction to symposium: the developmental and proximate mechanisms causing individual variation in cooperative behavior. Integrative and Comparative Biology 57:560-565. 

S-F Shen, ST Emlen, WD Koenig and DR Rubenstein. 2017. The ecology of cooperative breeding behaviour. Ecology Letters 20:708-720. 

Chak STC, JE Duffy, KM Hultgren and DR Rubenstein. 2017. Evolutionary transitions towards eusociality in snapping shrimps. Nature Ecology & Evolution 1:0096. 

Cornwallis CK, CA Botero, DR Rubenstein, PA Downing, SA West and AS Griffin. 2017. Cooperation facilitates the colonization of harsh environments. Nature Ecology & Evolution 1:0057. 

Rubenstein DR and P Abbot. 2017. The evolution of social evolution. In Comparative Social Evolution (Rubenstein DR and P Abbot, eds.). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 1-18. 

Hultgren KM, JE Duffy and DR Rubenstein. 2017. Sociality in snapping shrimps. In Comparative Social Evolution (Rubenstein DR and P Abbot, eds.). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 224-249. 

Rubenstein DR and P Abbot. 2017. Social synthesis: opportunities for comparative social evolution. In Comparative Social Evolution (Rubenstein DR and P Abbot, eds.). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 427-452. 

2016

Hofmeister NR and DR Rubenstein. 2016. Environmental variability and the evolution of the glucocorticoid receptor (Nr3c1) in African starlings. Ecology Letters 19:1219-1227. 

Hofmann HA, SCP Renn and DR Rubenstein. 2016. Introduction to symposium: new frontiers in the integrative study of animal behavior: nothing in neuroscience makes sense except in the light of behavior. Integrative and Comparative Biology 56:1192-1196. 

Rubalcaba JG, V Polo, R Maia, DR Rubenstein and JP Veiga. 2016. Sexual and natural selection in the evolution of extended phenotypes: the use of green nesting material in starlings. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 29:1585-1592. 

Jeffrey NW, KM Hultgren, TCS Chak, TR Gregory and DR Rubenstein. 2016. Patterns of genome size variation in snapping shrimp. Genome 59:393-402.    

Maia R, DR Rubenstein and MD Shawkey. 2016. Selection, constraint and the evolution of coloration in African starlings. Evolution 70:1064-1079. 

Rubenstein DR, CA Botero and EA Lacey. 2016. Discrete but variable structure of animal societies leads to the false perception of a social continuum. Royal Society Open Science 3:160147. 

Keen SC, CD Meliza, JA Pilowsky and DR Rubenstein. 2016. Song in a social and sexual context: vocalizations signal identity and rank in both sexes of a cooperative breeder. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 4:46. 

Rubenstein DR, HE Skolnik, A Berrio, F Champagne, S Phelps and J Solomon. 2016. Sex-specific fitness effects of unpredictable early life conditions are associated with DNA methylation in the avian glucocorticoid receptor. Molecular Ecology 25:1714-1728. 

Rubenstein DR. 2016. Superb starlings: cooperation and conflict in an unpredictable environment. In Cooperative Breeding in Vertebrates: Studies of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior (Koenig WD and JL Dickinson, eds.). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 181-196. 

2015

Chak TCS, DR Rubenstein and JE Duffy. 2015. Social control of reproduction and breeding monopolization in the eusocial snapping shrimp Synalpheus elizabethae. The American Naturalist 186:660-668. 

Pollack LJ and DR Rubenstein. 2015. The fitness consequences of kin-biased dispersal in a cooperatively breeding bird. Biology Letters 11:20150336. 

Chak TCS, JE Duffy and DR Rubenstein. 2015. Reproductive skew drives patterns of sexual dimorphism in sponge-dwelling snapping shrimps. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 282:20150342. 

Apakupakul K and DR Rubenstein. 2015. Bateman’s principle is reversed in a cooperatively breeding bird. Biology Letters 11:20150034. 

Taborsky M, HA Hofmann, AK Beery, DT Blumstein, LD Hayes, EA Lacey, EP Martins, SM Phelps, NG Solomon and DR Rubenstein. 2015. Taxon matters: promoting integrative studies of social behavior. Trends in Neuroscience 38:189-191. 

Weinman LR, J Solomon and DR Rubenstein. 2015. A comparison of single nucleotide polymorphism and microsatellite markers for analysis of parentage and kinship in a cooperatively breeding bird. Molecular Ecology Resources 15:502-511. 

Botero CA, FJ Weissing, J Wright and DR Rubenstein. 2015. Evolutionary tipping points in the capacity to adapt to environmental change. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 112:184-189. 

Rubenstein DR and HA Hofmann. 2015. The integrative study of animal behavior. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences 6:v-viii. 

Rubenstein DR and HA Hofmann. 2015. Proximate pathways underlying social behavior. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences 6:154-159. 

2014

Hofmann HA, AK Beery, DT Blumstein, ID Couzin, RL Earley, LD Hayes, PL Hurd, EA Lacey, SM Phelps, NG Solomon, M Taborsky, LJ Young and DR Rubenstein. 2014. An evolutionary framework for studying mechanisms of social behavior. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 29:581-589. 

Sun S-J, DR Rubenstein, J-N Liu, M Liu, B-F Chen, S-F Chan, W Hwang, P-S Yang and S-F Shen. 2014. Climate-mediated cooperation promotes niche expansion in burying beetles. eLife 3:e02440. 

Shen S-F, E Akçay and DR Rubenstein. 2014. Group size and social conflict in complex societies. The American Naturalist 183:301-310. 

2013

Keen SC, CD Meliza and DR Rubenstein. 2013. Flight calls signal group and individual identity but not kinship in a cooperatively breeding bird. Behavioral Ecology 24:1279-1285. 

Meliza CD, SC Keen and DR Rubenstein. 2013. Pitch- and spectral-based dynamic time warping methods for comparing field recordings of harmonic avian vocalizations. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 134:1407-1415. 

Seddon N, CA Botero, JA Tobias, PO Dunn, H MacGregor, DR Rubenstein, A Uy,  JT Weir, LA Whittingham and RJ Safran. 2013. Sexual selection accelerates signal evolution during speciation in birds. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 280:20131065. 

Maia R, DR Rubenstein and MD Shawkey. 2013. Key ornamental innovations facilitate diversification in an avian radiation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 110:10687-10692. 

Mark MM and DR Rubenstein. 2013. Physiological costs and carry-over effects of avian interspecific brood parasitism influence reproductive tradeoffs. Hormones and Behavior 63:717-722. 

Pilowsky JA and DR Rubenstein. 2013. Social context and the lack of sexual dimorphism in song in an avian cooperative breeder. Animal Behaviour 85:709-714. 

Rubenstein DI and DR Rubenstein. 2013. Social behavior. In Encyclopedia of Biodiversity, 2nd Edition (Levin SA, ed.). Elsevier, Volume 6, pp. 571-579. 

Duffy JE, KS Macdonald, KM Hultgren, TCS Chak and DR Rubenstein. 2013. Decline and extinction of Caribbean eusocial shrimp. PLOS ONE 8:e54637. 

Creel S, B Danzter, W Goymann and DR Rubenstein. 2013. The ecology of stress: effects of the social environment. Functional Ecology 27:66-80. 

2012

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

Rubenstein DR. 2012. Sexual and social competition: broadening perspectives by defining females roles. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 367:2248-2252. 

Lovette IJ, BS Arbogast, RL Curry, RM Zink, CA Botero, JP Sullivan, AL Talaba, RB Harris, DR Rubenstein, RE Ricklefs and E Bermingham. 2012. Phylogenetic relationships of the mockingbirds and thrashers (Aves: Mimidae). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 63:219-229. 

Botero CA and DR Rubenstein. 2012. Fluctuating environments, sexual selection and the evolution of flexible mate choice in birds. PLOS ONE 7:e32311. 

2011

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

2010

Rubenstein DR and JA Kealey. 2010. Cooperation, conflict, and the evolution of complex animal societies. Nature Education Knowledge 1:47. 

Blumstein DT, LA Ebensperger, LD Hayes, RA Vásquez, TH Ahern, JR Burger, AG Dolezal, A Dosmann, G González-Mariscal, BN Harris, EA Herrera, EA Lacey, J Mateo, L McGraw, D Olazabal, M Ramenofsky, DR Rubenstein, SA Sakhai, W Saltzman, C Sainz-Borgo, M Soto-Gamboa, ML Stewart, TW Wey, JC Wingfield and LJ Young. 2010. Towards an integrative understanding of social behavior: new models and new opportunities. Frontiers in Neuroscience 4:1-9.    

2009

Rubenstein DR and IJ Lovette. 2009. Reproductive skew and selection on female ornamentation in social species. Nature 462: 786-789. 

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

2008

Rubenstein DR and ME Hauber. 2008. Dynamic feedback between phenotype and physiology in sexually selected traits. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 23:655-658. 

Rubenstein DR, AF Parlow, CR Hutch and LB Martin. 2008. Environmental and hormonal correlates of immune activity in a cooperatively breeding tropical bird. General and Comparative Endocrinology 159:10-15. 

Vitousek MN, K Nelson, DR Rubenstein and M Wikelski. 2008. Are hotshots always hot? A longitudinal study of hormones, behavior, and reproductive success in male marine iguanas. General and Comparative Endocrinology 157:227-232.   

Lovette IJ, BV McCleery, AL Talba and DR Rubenstein. 2008. A complete species-level molecular phylogeny for the “Eurasian” starlings (Sturnidae: Sturnus, Acridotheres, and allies): recent diversification in a highly social and dispersive avian group. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 47:251-260. 

Rubenstein DR, BV McCleery and JE Duffy. 2008. Microsatellite development suggests evidence of polyploidy in the social sponge-dwelling snapping shrimp Zuzalpheus brooksi. Molecular Ecology Resources 8:890-894. 

Martin LB and DR Rubenstein. 2008. Stress hormones in tropical birds: patterns and future directions. Ornitologia Neotropical 19 (Suppl.):207-218. 

2007

Rubenstein DR and IJ Lovette. 2007. Temporal environmental variability drives the evolution of cooperative breeding in birds. Current Biology 17:1414-1419. 

Rubenstein DR. 2007. Territory quality drives intraspecific patterns in extrapair paternity. Behavioral Ecology 18:1058-1064. 

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

Rubenstein DR. 2007. Temporal but not spatial environmental variation drives adaptive offspring sex allocation in a plural cooperative breeder. The American Naturalist 170:155-165. 

Lovette IJ and DR Rubenstein. 2007. A comprehensive molecular phylogeny of the starlings (Aves: Sturnidae) and mockingbirds (Aves: Mimidae): congruent mtDNA and nuclear trees for a cosmopolitan avian radiation. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 44:1031-1056. 

Sachs JL and DR Rubenstein. 2007. The evolution of cooperative breeding; is there cheating? Behavioural Processes 76:13-137. 

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

Vitousek MN, DR Rubenstein and M Wikelski. 2007. The evolution of foraging behavior in the Galápagos marine iguana: natural and sexual selection on body size drives ecological, morphological, and behavioral specialization. In Foraging Behavior in Lizards (Reilly SM, DB Miles and LD McBrayer, eds.). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 491-507. 

2006

Rubenstein DR, DI Rubenstein, PW Sherman and TA Gavin. 2006. Pleistocene Park: does re-wilding North America represent sound conservation for the 21st century? Biological Conservation 132:232-238. 

Lovette IJ, DR Rubenstein and WN Watetu. 2006. Provisioning of fledgling conspecifics by males of the brood-parasitic cuckoos Chrysococcyx klaas and C. caprius. The Wilson Journal of Ornithology 118:99-101. 

2005

Rubenstein DR. 2005. Isolation and characterization of polymorphic microsatellite loci in the plural cooperatively breeding superb starling, Lamprotornis superbus. Molecular Ecology Notes 5:739-744. 

Rubenstein DR and M Wikelski. 2005. Steroid hormones and aggression in female Galápagos marine iguanas. Hormones and Behavior 48:329-341. 

McRae SB, ST Emlen, DR Rubenstein and SM Bogdanowicz. 2005. Polymorphic microsatellite loci in a plural breeder, the grey-capped social weaver (Pseudonigrita arnaudi), isolated with an improved enrichment protocol using fragment size-selection. Molecular Ecology Notes 5:16-20. 

2004

Royle JA and DR Rubenstein. 2004. The role of species abundance in determining breeding origins of migratory birds with stable isotopes. Ecological Applications 14:1780-1788. 

Rubenstein DR and KA Hobson. 2004. From birds to butterflies: animal movement patterns and stable isotopes. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 19:256-263.

2003

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

2002

Rubenstein DR, CP Chamberlain, RT Holmes, MP Ayres, JR Waldbauer, GR Graves and NC Tuross. 2002. Linking breeding and wintering ranges of a migratory songbird using stable isotopes. Science 295:1062-1065. 

1995

Rittschof D, J Sarrica and DR Rubenstein. 1995. Shell dynamics and microhabitat selection by striped legged hermit crabs, Clibanarius vittatus (Bosc). Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 192:157-172. 

other articles

Rubenstein DR. 2026. Birds of a feather flock together (Book Review). Current Biology 36:R116-R118. 

Rubenstein DR and GG Carter. 2025. Superb starlings swap helper and breeder roles with kin and non-kin. Nature. 

Rubenstein DR. 2021. Social evolution. Henry Stewart Talks. 

Rubenstein DR. 2021. Darwinian puzzles: from natural to sexual to kin selection. AMNH Seminars on Science. 

Rubenstein DR and DI Rubenstein. 2016. From Pleistocene to trophic rewilding: a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 113:E1. 

Rubenstein DR, H Hofmann, E Akçay, S Alonzo, E Archie, A Beery, R Calisi-Rodríguez, K Carleton, B Chow, J Dubnau, C Grozinger, E Ketterson, A Leifer, T Linksvayer, M MacManes, L Martin, K McGraw, L McGraw, T Mendelson, L O'Connell, A Ophir, L Remage-Healey, S Renn, T Roth, J Tung and S Woolley. 2014. New frontiers for the integrative study of animal behavior. National Science Foundation White Paper. 

Rubenstein DR. 2012. The Flexible Phenotype: A Body-Centered Integration of Ecology, Physiology, and Behaviour (Book Review). The Quarterly Review of Biology 87:264. 

Rubenstein DR and JE Duffy. 2012. Scientists at work: notes from the field in Belize. The New York Times July 18-27, 2012. 

Rubenstein DR. 2011. From the big city to the bush. Mpala Memos July:7. 

Rubenstein DR. 2010. Evolutionary Behavioral Ecology (Book Review). The Quarterly Review of Biology 85:504. 

Rubenstein DR. 2010. Scientists at work: notes from the field in Kenya. The New York Times July 12-28, 2010. 

Rubenstein DR. 2009. The secret lives of starlings. Natural History 118:28-33. 

Rubenstein DR. 2009. Why I do science: the freedom to explore. SEED 21:34. 

Rubenstein DR, PW Sherman, DI Rubenstein and TM Caro. 2007. Rewilding rebuttal. Scientific American October:12. 

Rubenstein DR. 2006. Searching for starlings. Travel News April:58. 

Rubenstein DR. 2006. Chasing starlings, chased by a lion. Living Bird 26:26-32. 

Rubenstein DR. 2005. The uncommon lifestyle of the superb starling. BirdScope 19:20. 

Rubenstein DR. 2001. The places you can go. Dartmouth Alumni Magazine May/June:24-25. 

edited volumes

Rubenstein DR and HA Hofmann. 2015. New frontiers for the integrative study of animal behavior. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences 6:1-182. 

Rubenstein DR, RO Prum and M Levandowsky. 2012. Sexual selection, social conflict and the female perspective. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 367:2248-2375.