Professor Jacob C Dunn

Jake Dunn is a behavioural ecologist, broadly interested in the biology and evolution of communication systems in humans and other animals (mostly primates). He is the Principal Investigator of the Primate Evolution and Ecology Research (PEER) Group.

[email protected]

BlueSky: @jacobcdunn.bsky.social‬

Phone: +44 (0) 1223 69822

www.thepeergroup.org.uk

For the most up to date information about Jake’s research, please visit his Primate Evolution and Ecology Research Group website.

Background

Jake Dunn is the Principal Investigator of the Primate Evolution and Ecology Research (PEER) Group and the Director of the Behavioural Ecology Research Group at Anglia Ruskin University. He is also a Visiting Professor in Bioacoustics at the University of Lyon and a Senior Research Fellow in Cognitive Biology at the University of Vienna.

Jake joined the School of Life Sciences at ARU as a Senior Lecturer in July 2016 and was promoted to Reader (Associate Professor) in 2020 and Full Professor in 2025. From 2012–2016, he was a Lecturer in Biological Anthropology at the University of Cambridge.

Jake is a behavioural ecologist, broadly interested in the biology and evolution of communication systems in humans and other animals (mostly primates). His research takes a broad comparative perspective, ranging from detailed descriptions of vocal anatomy, through to recording animal sounds, carrying out playback experiments, and using macroevolutionary analyses to test evolutionary hypotheses.

He collaborates closely with the Fitch Lab in the Department of Cognitive Biology at the University of Vienna, and the Reby Lab at ENES Bioacoustics Research Lab at the University of Saint Etienne.

Spoken Languages

• Spanish
• English

Research interests

• Bioacoustics
• Vocal production
• Evolution of language
• Evolutionary biology
• Sexual selection
• Behavioural ecology
• Functional morphology
• Eco-physiology
• Primatology
• Ecoacoustics

Areas of research supervision

Jacob welcomes enquiries from prospective PhD students and Postdocs in the areas of his research interests.

Current Postdocs:

Tainara Sobroza – Visiting Postdoctoral Fellow

Current PhD Students:

2025 – Marie Rose-Møller, Behavioural Ecology Research Group, School of Life Sciences, Anglia Ruskin University (Supervisor) – 'The evolution of speech: insights from the comparative anatomy of the mammalian larynx' (Sedgwick Studentship, Cambridge Philosophical Society)

2024 – Jasmine Qureshi, Global Sustainability Institute, Anglia Ruskin University (2nd Supervisor) - 'Queering ecology: a transdisciplinary exploration of LGBTQIA+ perspectives and engagements with nature and ecological science' (funded by ESRC)

2024 – Claudia Silver, School of Psychology and Sports Science, Anglia Ruskin University (2nd Supervisor) - 'Identifying risk factors for hyper-arousal in response to infant distress' (funded by ARU Vice-Chancellor’s Scholarship).

2023 – Evie Carter, Behavioural Ecology Research Group, School of Life Sciences, Anglia Ruskin University (2nd Supervisor) – ‘Understanding the roles of admixture and natural selection in phenotypic diversity of the people of Madagascar’ (funded by Cambridge Philosophical Society)

2021 – Ryan Rothman, Smaers Lab, Department of Anthropology, Stony Brook University (Co-Supervisor – 1st Supervisor Jeroen Smaers) – ‘The coevolution of brain and behavior: A case for causal heterogeneity among primates and other mammalian clades’

2021 – Sophie Orme, Behavioural Ecology Research Group, School of Life Sciences, Anglia Ruskin University (1st Supervisor) – ‘A morpho-functional and biomechanical analysis of the primate knee’

2021 – Sam Reynolds, Behavioural Ecology Research Group, School of Life Sciences, Anglia Ruskin University (2nd Supervisor) – ‘Vocal communication in corvids’

Teaching

BSc (Hons) Zoology

BSc (Hons) Animal Behaviour

BSc (Hons) Ecology and Conservation

Qualifications

• PhD Primate Behavioural Ecology, Universidad de Barcelona
• MSc Primatology & Anthropology, Universidad de Barcelona
• BSc (Hons) Zoology, University of Edinburgh

Memberships, editorial boards

• Affiliated Lecturer in Biological Anthropology – Division of Biological Anthropology, University of Cambridge
• Visiting Professor – ENES Bioacoustics Lab, University of Saint Etienne, France
• Director of the Harrison Collection, Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge
• Affiliated Scholar – McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge
• Honorary Senior Research Fellow, Department of Cognitive Biology, University of Vienna
• Member – Primate Society of Great Britain, International Primatological Society, Association of Tropical Biology and Conservation, Mexican Primatological Society, IUCN Conservation Assessment and Management Team for Mesoamerican Primates

Research grants, consultancy, knowledge exchange

Recent research grants (from a total of >£1,500,000 in research funding):

2025 – 2028 Principal Investigator (Co-PIs – Dr Emma Pomeroy, Dr Thomas O’Mahoney) Anglia Ruskin University. Project title: The comparative anatomy of the mammalian larynx. Funding: Cambridge Philosophical Society (£85,000)

2024 – 2028 Principal Investigator (Co-PIs – Dr Liz Kirk, Dr Matt Bristow) Anglia Ruskin University. Project title: The physiological and psychological correlates of infant crying among adults. Funding: ESRC, Vice Chancellor’s PhD Scholarship (£174,000)

2024 – 2025 Principal Investigator (Co-Is – Dr Caglar Akcay, Prof. Victor Arroyo-Rodriguez) Anglia Ruskin University. Project title: Acoustic restoration of degraded tropical rainforests. Funding: Life Sciences Impact Development Fund & Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico (£14,000)

2024 – 2025 Principal Investigator (Co-PIs – Prof. David Reby, Prof. Nicholas Mathevon) Anglia Ruskin University. Project title: Mammalian vocal production mechanisms – from form to function. Funding: Saint Etienne University, Visiting Professor Research Fund (£8,000)

2024 – 2028 Member (Chair – Dr Tom Smulders) Anglia Ruskin University. Project title: An Evolutionary View to Understanding Affective States across Species (AFFECT-EVO). Funding: European Union Cost Action

2024 – 2028 Co-Principal Investigator (Co-PIs – Dr Sarah Royston, Dr Claudia Wascher) Anglia Ruskin University. Project title: Queering ecology: a transdisciplinary exploration of LGBTQIA+ perspectives and engagements with nature and ecological science. Funding: ESRC (£85,000)

2023 – 2025 Principal Investigator (Co-PI – Dr Stefano Vaglio; Co-I – Dr Colin Dubreuil) Anglia Ruskin University. Project title: Multimodal communication in callitrichid primates. Funding: Higher Education Innovation Funding & University of Wolverhampton (£105,000)

2023 – 2026 Co-Principal Investigator (Co-PIs – Prof. Andrea Manica, Dr Jason Hodgson) Anglia Ruskin University. Project title: Population history and evolution of the Malagasy. Funding: Sedgwick Scholarship – Cambridge Philosophical Society (£85,000)

2023 – 2024 Principal Investigator (Co-PI – Dr Liz Kirk, Dr Matt Bristow) Anglia Ruskin University. Project title: The physiological and psychological correlates of infant crying among adults. Funding: Health, Performance and Wellbeing Strategic Priority Funding (£35,000)

2021 – 2023 Principal Investigator (Co-I – Claudia Wascher) Anglia Ruskin University. Project title: The impacts of anthropogenic noise on animal welfare and conservation. Funding: QR Next Steps Fund (£65,000)

2020 – 2024 Principal Investigator (Co-PIs – Dr Dannielle Green & Dr Bas Boots) Anglia Ruskin University. Project title: Developing a carbon capture device based upon animal gaseous exchange. Funding: Hydrophis Gas (£340,000)

2019 – 2020 Principal Investigator Anglia Ruskin University. Project title: The evolution of speech: insight from variation in primate laryngeal anatomy. Funding: Anglia Ruskin University (£66,000)

2018 – 2019 Principal Investigator Anglia Ruskin University. Project title: The evolution of speech: insight from variation in primate laryngeal anatomy. Funding: Royal Society (£20,000)

Selected recent publications

Publications below are selected papers only – for a full list of please see Google Scholar. PDFs may be available via the Primate Evolution and Ecology Research Group website.

Kershenbaum, A., Akçay, Ç., Babu-Saheer, L., Barnhill, A., Best, P., Cauzinille, J., Clink, D., Dassow, A., Dufourq, E., Growcott, J., Markham, A., Marti-Domken, B., Marxer, R., Muir, J., Reynolds, S., Root-Gutteridge, H., Sadhukhan, S., Schindler, L., Smith, B.R., Stowell, D., Wascher, C.A.F., Dunn, J.C., (2025). Automatic detection for bioacoustic research: a practical guide to the state of the art and future directions. Biological Reviews.

Herbst, C., Tokuda, I., Nishimura, T., Ternström, S., Osio, V., Levy, M., Fitch, W.T., Dunn, J.C., (2025). “Monkey yodels” – frequency jumps in New World primate vocalisations greatly surpass human vocal register transitions. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, B.

Muir, J., Herbst, C., Hawes, J., O’Mahoney, T., Dunn J.C., (2025). Nonlinear phenomena in mammalian vocal communication: an introduction and scoping review. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, B.

Nishimura, T., Tokuda, I.T., Miyachi, S., Dunn J.C., Herbst, C., Ishimura, K., Kaneko, A., Kinoshita, Y., Koda, H., Saers, J.P., Imai, H., Matsuda, T., Larsen, O.N., Jürgens, U., Hirabayashi, H., Kojima, S., Fitch, T.W., (2022). Evolutionary loss of complexity in human vocal anatomy as an adaptation for speech. Science.

Smaers, J.B., Rothman, R.S., Hudson, D.R., Balanoff, A.M., Beatty, B., Dechmann, D.K.N., deVries, D., Dunn, J.C., Fleagle, J.G., Gilbert, C.C., Goswami, A., Iwaniuk, A.N., Jungers, W., Kerney, M., Ksepka, D.T., Manger, P.R., Mongle, C.S., Rohlf, F.J., Smith, N.A., Soligo, C., Weisbecker, V. & Safi, K (2021). The evolution of mammalian brain size. Science Advances.

Bowling, D., Hoeschelle, M., Dunn, J.C., (2021). Progress without exclusion in the search for an evolutionary basis of music. Behavioural and Brain Sciences.

Bowling, D. L.*, Dunn, J. C.*, Smaers, J., Garcia, M., Kerney, M., Stewart, A., Hanke, G., Kitchener, A., Handschuhe, S., Dengg, S., Gumpenberger, M., Fitch, W. T. S. (2020). Rapid evolution of the primate larynx. PLOS Biology.

Garcia, M., Dunn, J. C., (2020). No evidence that maximum fundamental frequency reflects selection for signal diminution in bonobos. Current Biology.

Dunn, J. C., Halenar, L., Davies, T., Cristóbal-Azkarate, J., Fitch, T., Knapp, L., 2015. Evolutionary trade off between vocal tract and testes dimensions in howler monkey, Current Biology.

Recent presentations and conferences

For a full list of papers in preparation and review, research projects and funding, honours and awards, invited lectures, conference participation, popular science papers, etc., please see CV.

Media experience

Jacob is active in scientific outreach and has been interviewed about his research by the media on many occasions – some examples, below:

Print: Science – BBC News – New Scientist – Discover Magazine – New York Times – Washington Post – The Telegraph – The Daily Mail – Newsweek – The Independent – The Australian – Reuters – The Conversation – Discover – Motherboard – The Onion – Slate

Audio: BBC Radio 5 live – BBC Radio World Service – BBC Radio Cambridgeshire – BBC Radio 2 News - The Naked Scientists – Scientific American

Video: Discovery Channel – Cambridge University You Tube Channel – Channel 4