In review
Hardie JL, Cooney CR (In review) Social and ecological factors predict avian brain size.
He Y, Cooney CR, Varley ZK, Nouri LO, Moody CJA, Jardine MD, Maddock S, Thomas GH (In review) Segmenting biological specimens from photos to understand the evolution of UV plumage in passerine birds.
Babarovic F, Cooney CR, Varley ZK, Nouri L, Nadeau N, Thomas GH (In review) The effects of ecology and behaviour on the evolution of colouration in Coraciiformes.
Accepted
Price PD, Palmer Droguett DP, Taylor JA, Kim DW, Place ES, Rogers TF, Mank JE, Cooney CR*, Wright AE* (Accepted) Detecting signatures of selection on gene expression. Nature Ecology and Evolution. (* Joint senior authors)
2022
Cooney CR, He Y, Varley ZK, Nouri LO, Moody CJA, Jardine MD, Liker A, Székely T, Thomas GH (2022) Latitudinal gradients in avian colourfulness. Nature Ecology and Evolution. Link
— Associated 'News & Views' article: A colourful tropical world
— Associated 'The Conversation' article: Why are tropical birds more colourful?
— Selected media coverage: The Economist, The Times, The Telegraph, Daily Mail, New Scientist, Popular Science, NHM
Hughes EC, Edwards DP, Bright JA, Capp EJR, Cooney CR, Varley ZK, Thomas GH (2022) Global biogeographic patterns of avian morphological diversity. Ecology Letters 25, 598-610. Link
Tobias JA et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographic data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25, 581-597. Link
Rombaut LMK, Capp EJR, Cooney CR, Hughes EC, Varley, ZK, Thomas GH (2022) Allometric conservatism in the evolution of bird beaks. Evolution Letters 6, 83-91. Link
2021
Cooney CR, Mank JE, Wright AE (2021) Constraint and divergence in the evolution of male and female recombination rates in fishes. Evolution 75, 2857-2866. Link
Cooney CR, Thomas GH (2021) Heterogeneous relationships between rates of speciation and body size evolution across vertebrate clades. Nature Ecology and Evolution 5, 101-110. Link
— Scientific American article
2020
Chira AM, Cooney CR, Bright JA, Capp JR, Hughes EC, Moody CJA, Nouri LO, Varley ZK, Thomas GH (2020) The signature of competition in ecomorphological traits across the avian radiation. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 287, 20201585. Link
Cooney CR, Sheard C, Clark AD, Healy SD, Liker A, Street SE, Troisi CA, Thomas GH, Székely T, Hemmings N, Wright AE (2020) Ecology and allometry predict the evolution of avian developmental durations. Nature Communications 11, 2383. Link
— Media coverage: The Guardian
— Associated 'Behind the Paper' blogpost
Yusuf L, Heatley M, Palmer JPG, Barton HJ, Cooney CR*, Gossmann TI* (2020) Noncoding regions underpin avian bill shape diversification at macroevolutionary scales. Genome Research 30, 553-565. (* Joint corresponding authors) Link
Navalon G, Bright JA, Marugán-Lobón J, Cooney CR, Rayfield EJ (2020) The consequences of craniofacial integration for the adaptive radiations of Darwin's finches and Hawaiian honeycreepers. Nature Ecology and Evolution 4, 270-278. Link
— 'Behind the Paper' blogpost
2019
Cooney CR, Varley ZK, Nouri LO, Moody CJA, Jardine MD, Thomas GH (2019) Sexual selection predicts the rate and direction of colour divergence in a large avian radiation. Nature Communications 10, 1773. Link
Wright AE, Rogers T, Fumagalli M, Cooney CR, Mank, J (2019) Phenotypic sexual dimorphism is associated with genomic signatures of resolved sexual conflict. Molecular Ecology 28, 2860-2871. Link
Marki PZ, Kennedy JD, Cooney CR, Rahbek C, Fjeldså J (2019) Adaptive radiation and the evolution of nectarivory in a large songbird clade. Evolution 73, 1226-1240. Link
2018
Cooney CR, MacGregor HEA, Seddon N, Tobias JA (2018) Multimodal signal evolution in birds: re-examining a standard proxy for sexual selection. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 285, 20181557 Link
— Media coverage: New Scientist, IFL Science, Daily Mail
— F1000Prime recommended
Chira AM, Cooney CR, Bright JA, Capp EJR, Hughes EC, Moody CJA, Nouri LO, Varley ZK, Thomas GH (2018) Correlates of rate heterogeneity in avian ecomorphological traits. Ecology Letters 21, 1505-1515 Link
Afanasyeva A, Bockwoldt M, Cooney CR, Heiland I, Gossmann TI (2018) Human long intrinsically disordered protein regions are frequent targets of positive selection. Genome Research 28, 975-982 Link
Wright AE, Fumagalli M, Cooney CR, Bloch NI, Vieira FG, Buechel SD, Kolm N, Mank JE (2018) Male-biased gene expression resolves sexual conflict through the evolution of sex-specific genetic architecture. Evolution letters 2, 52-61 Link
— Evolution Letters Editors' pick
2017
Thomas GH, Cooney CR, Bright JA (2017) Crowd-sourcing bird evolution. Cell Systems 4, 252 Link
Cooney CR, Tobias JA, Weir JT, Botero CA, Seddon N (2017) Sexual selection, speciation, and constraints on geographical range overlap in birds. Ecology Letters 20, 863-871 Link
Cooney CR*, Bright JA*, Capp EJR, Chira AM, Hughes EC, Moody CJA, Nouri LO, Varley ZK, Thomas GH (2017) Mega-evolutionary dynamics of the adaptive radiation of birds. Nature 542, 344-347 (* Joint first authors) Link
— News coverage: BBC, New York Times, Audubon, NHM
— Radio: BBC World Service, BBC Inside Science
Earlier
Cooney CR, Seddon N, Tobias JA (2016) Widespread correlations between climatic niche evolution and species diversification in birds. Journal of Animal Ecology 85, 869-878 Link
Brulez K, Mikšík I, Cooney CR, Hauber ME, Lovell PG, Maurer G, Portugal SJ, Russell D, Reynolds SJ, Cassey P (2016) Eggshell pigment composition covaries with phylogeny but not with life history or with nesting ecology traits of British passerines. Ecology and Evolution 6, 1637-1645 Link
Horváthová T*, Cooney CR*, Fitze PS, Oksanen TA, Jelić D, Ghira I, Uller T, Jandzik D (2013) Length of activity season drives geographic variation in body size of a widely distributed lizard. Ecology and Evolution 3, 2424-2442 (* Joint first authors) Link
Salisbury CL, Seddon N, Cooney CR, Tobias JA (2012) The latitudinal gradient in dispersal constraints: ecological specialisation drives diversification in tropical birds. Ecology Letters 15, 847-855 Link
Hardie JL, Cooney CR (In review) Social and ecological factors predict avian brain size.
He Y, Cooney CR, Varley ZK, Nouri LO, Moody CJA, Jardine MD, Maddock S, Thomas GH (In review) Segmenting biological specimens from photos to understand the evolution of UV plumage in passerine birds.
Babarovic F, Cooney CR, Varley ZK, Nouri L, Nadeau N, Thomas GH (In review) The effects of ecology and behaviour on the evolution of colouration in Coraciiformes.
Accepted
Price PD, Palmer Droguett DP, Taylor JA, Kim DW, Place ES, Rogers TF, Mank JE, Cooney CR*, Wright AE* (Accepted) Detecting signatures of selection on gene expression. Nature Ecology and Evolution. (* Joint senior authors)
2022
Cooney CR, He Y, Varley ZK, Nouri LO, Moody CJA, Jardine MD, Liker A, Székely T, Thomas GH (2022) Latitudinal gradients in avian colourfulness. Nature Ecology and Evolution. Link
— Associated 'News & Views' article: A colourful tropical world
— Associated 'The Conversation' article: Why are tropical birds more colourful?
— Selected media coverage: The Economist, The Times, The Telegraph, Daily Mail, New Scientist, Popular Science, NHM
Hughes EC, Edwards DP, Bright JA, Capp EJR, Cooney CR, Varley ZK, Thomas GH (2022) Global biogeographic patterns of avian morphological diversity. Ecology Letters 25, 598-610. Link
Tobias JA et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographic data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25, 581-597. Link
Rombaut LMK, Capp EJR, Cooney CR, Hughes EC, Varley, ZK, Thomas GH (2022) Allometric conservatism in the evolution of bird beaks. Evolution Letters 6, 83-91. Link
2021
Cooney CR, Mank JE, Wright AE (2021) Constraint and divergence in the evolution of male and female recombination rates in fishes. Evolution 75, 2857-2866. Link
Cooney CR, Thomas GH (2021) Heterogeneous relationships between rates of speciation and body size evolution across vertebrate clades. Nature Ecology and Evolution 5, 101-110. Link
— Scientific American article
2020
Chira AM, Cooney CR, Bright JA, Capp JR, Hughes EC, Moody CJA, Nouri LO, Varley ZK, Thomas GH (2020) The signature of competition in ecomorphological traits across the avian radiation. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 287, 20201585. Link
Cooney CR, Sheard C, Clark AD, Healy SD, Liker A, Street SE, Troisi CA, Thomas GH, Székely T, Hemmings N, Wright AE (2020) Ecology and allometry predict the evolution of avian developmental durations. Nature Communications 11, 2383. Link
— Media coverage: The Guardian
— Associated 'Behind the Paper' blogpost
Yusuf L, Heatley M, Palmer JPG, Barton HJ, Cooney CR*, Gossmann TI* (2020) Noncoding regions underpin avian bill shape diversification at macroevolutionary scales. Genome Research 30, 553-565. (* Joint corresponding authors) Link
Navalon G, Bright JA, Marugán-Lobón J, Cooney CR, Rayfield EJ (2020) The consequences of craniofacial integration for the adaptive radiations of Darwin's finches and Hawaiian honeycreepers. Nature Ecology and Evolution 4, 270-278. Link
— 'Behind the Paper' blogpost
2019
Cooney CR, Varley ZK, Nouri LO, Moody CJA, Jardine MD, Thomas GH (2019) Sexual selection predicts the rate and direction of colour divergence in a large avian radiation. Nature Communications 10, 1773. Link
Wright AE, Rogers T, Fumagalli M, Cooney CR, Mank, J (2019) Phenotypic sexual dimorphism is associated with genomic signatures of resolved sexual conflict. Molecular Ecology 28, 2860-2871. Link
Marki PZ, Kennedy JD, Cooney CR, Rahbek C, Fjeldså J (2019) Adaptive radiation and the evolution of nectarivory in a large songbird clade. Evolution 73, 1226-1240. Link
2018
Cooney CR, MacGregor HEA, Seddon N, Tobias JA (2018) Multimodal signal evolution in birds: re-examining a standard proxy for sexual selection. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 285, 20181557 Link
— Media coverage: New Scientist, IFL Science, Daily Mail
— F1000Prime recommended
Chira AM, Cooney CR, Bright JA, Capp EJR, Hughes EC, Moody CJA, Nouri LO, Varley ZK, Thomas GH (2018) Correlates of rate heterogeneity in avian ecomorphological traits. Ecology Letters 21, 1505-1515 Link
Afanasyeva A, Bockwoldt M, Cooney CR, Heiland I, Gossmann TI (2018) Human long intrinsically disordered protein regions are frequent targets of positive selection. Genome Research 28, 975-982 Link
Wright AE, Fumagalli M, Cooney CR, Bloch NI, Vieira FG, Buechel SD, Kolm N, Mank JE (2018) Male-biased gene expression resolves sexual conflict through the evolution of sex-specific genetic architecture. Evolution letters 2, 52-61 Link
— Evolution Letters Editors' pick
2017
Thomas GH, Cooney CR, Bright JA (2017) Crowd-sourcing bird evolution. Cell Systems 4, 252 Link
Cooney CR, Tobias JA, Weir JT, Botero CA, Seddon N (2017) Sexual selection, speciation, and constraints on geographical range overlap in birds. Ecology Letters 20, 863-871 Link
Cooney CR*, Bright JA*, Capp EJR, Chira AM, Hughes EC, Moody CJA, Nouri LO, Varley ZK, Thomas GH (2017) Mega-evolutionary dynamics of the adaptive radiation of birds. Nature 542, 344-347 (* Joint first authors) Link
— News coverage: BBC, New York Times, Audubon, NHM
— Radio: BBC World Service, BBC Inside Science
Earlier
Cooney CR, Seddon N, Tobias JA (2016) Widespread correlations between climatic niche evolution and species diversification in birds. Journal of Animal Ecology 85, 869-878 Link
Brulez K, Mikšík I, Cooney CR, Hauber ME, Lovell PG, Maurer G, Portugal SJ, Russell D, Reynolds SJ, Cassey P (2016) Eggshell pigment composition covaries with phylogeny but not with life history or with nesting ecology traits of British passerines. Ecology and Evolution 6, 1637-1645 Link
Horváthová T*, Cooney CR*, Fitze PS, Oksanen TA, Jelić D, Ghira I, Uller T, Jandzik D (2013) Length of activity season drives geographic variation in body size of a widely distributed lizard. Ecology and Evolution 3, 2424-2442 (* Joint first authors) Link
Salisbury CL, Seddon N, Cooney CR, Tobias JA (2012) The latitudinal gradient in dispersal constraints: ecological specialisation drives diversification in tropical birds. Ecology Letters 15, 847-855 Link