Research areas
My broad research interests include animal culture, social learning, bioacoustics, and behavioural ecology. My main research focuses on cetaceans, and in particular the cultural transmission, vocal learning, and function of humpback whale song. I am also interested in vocal sequence analysis techniques, and using similarity in vocal displays to define population structures for conservation management.
PhD supervision
- Jeanne Merindol
Selected publications
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Introduction
Croft, D., Foote, A., Garland, E. & King, S., 12 Jan 2026, The Evolution of Cetacean Societies: Uncovering the Social Complexity of Whales and Dolphins. University of Chicago PressResearch output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
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Vocal Cultures in Cetaceans
Hersh, T., Filatova, O. & Garland, E., 12 Jan 2026, The Evolution of Cetacean Societies: Uncovering the Social Complexity of Whales and Dolphins. Chicago: University of Chicago PressResearch output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
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Open access
Animal culture: conservation in a changing world
Brakes, P., Aplin, L., Carroll, E. L., Greggor, A. L., Whiten, A. & Garland, E. C., 1 May 2025, In: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 308, 1925, p. 1-15 15 p., 20240127.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Open access
Culture and conservation in baleen whales
Garland, E. C., Corkeron, P., Noad, M. J., Abrahms, B., Allen, J. A., Constantine, R., Rendell, L., Sousa-Lima, R. S., Stafford, K. M. & Carroll, E. L., 1 May 2025, In: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 380, 1925, p. 1-11 11 p., 20240133.Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review
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Open access
Humpback whale song complexity and evolution on a North-western Pacific breeding ground: Okinawa, Japan
Marwood, E. M., Eichenberger, F., Kobayashi, N., Okabe, H., Ozawa, S., Rendell, L. E. & Garland, E. C., Feb 2025, In: Royal Society Open Science. 12, 2, 15 p., 241388.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Open access
Patterns of paternity: insights into mating competition and gene flow in a recovering population of humpback whales
Eichenberger, F., Garrigue, C., Steele, D., Bonneville, C. D., Rendell, L. E. & Garland, E. C., 8 Jan 2025, In: Royal Society Open Science. 12, 1, 20 p., 241424.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Open access
Whalesong patterns follow a universal law of human language, new research finds
Allen, J., Garland, E. C., Arnon, I. & Kirby, S., 6 Feb 2025, The Conversation.Research output: Contribution to specialist publication › Article
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Open access
Whale song shows language-like statistical structure
Arnon, I., Kirby, S., Allen, J. A., Garrigue, C., Carroll, E. L. & Garland, E. C., 7 Feb 2025, In: Science. 387, 6734, p. 649 - 653 5 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Open access
A pan-cetacean MHC amplicon sequencing panel developed and evaluated in combination with genome assemblies
Heimeier, D., Garland, E. C., Eichenberger, F., Garrigue, C., Vella, A., Baker, C. S. & Carroll, E. L., 23 Mar 2024, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Molecular Ecology Resources. Early View, 19 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Culture in cetaceans
Garland, E. C. & Rendell, L. E., 22 May 2024, (E-pub ahead of print) The Oxford handbook of cultural evolution. Tehrani, J. J., Kendal, J. & Kendal, R. (eds.). Oxford: Oxford University Press, 20 p.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter