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Dr Luke Rendell is a Reader in Biology at the University of St Andrews. He is affiliated with the Scottish Oceans Institute, the Sea Mammal Research Unit, the Centre for Biological Diversity, the Centre for Social Learning and Cognitive Evolution, and the Institute of Behavioural and Neural Sciences. His research interests centre on the evolution of learning, behaviour and communication, with a particular emphasis on marine mammals. He has conducted extensive studies on sperm whale society and ecology, examining their communication, social structures and the cultural transmission of vocal dialects within long-lasting social groups. This work includes involvement in projects such as the Balearics Sperm Whale Project and collaboration on the Dominica Sperm Whale Project.
Rendell has also investigated culture in whales and dolphins more broadly, exploring complex communication systems and evidence for social learning as a form of culture in wild cetaceans. Additional research areas include learning and shooting behaviour in archerfish as a model for visual cognition, experimental studies of human social learning and decision-making, and evolutionary simulation models of social learning, cooperation and niche construction. He is the co-author of the book The Cultural Lives of Whales and Dolphins. His recent publications include studies on the diffusion of cooperative and solo bubble net feeding in Canadian Pacific humpback whales and confirmed vocal activity of Mediterranean monk seals.
University of St Andrews researchers capture first footage of sperm whales headbutting, confirming historical accounts and unveiling insights into their social aggression and anatomy.
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