Professor Gavin Thomas

School of Biosciences

Professor of Macroevolution

gavin.thomas@sheffield.ac.uk
B2 207, Alfred Denny Building

Full contact details

Professor Gavin Thomas
School of Biosciences
B2 207
Alfred Denny Building
Western Bank
Sheffield
S10 2TN
Profile
  • Senior Research Fellow & Royal Society Research Fellow, School of Biosciences, University of Sheffield, UK (2015-present)
  • Royal Society University Research Fellow, School of Biosciences, University of Sheffield, UK (2013-present)
  • NERC Postdoctoral Fellow, Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, UK (2012-2013)
  • NERC Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Bristol, UK (2010-2012)
  • Postdoctoral Associate, Centre for Population Biology, Imperial College London, UK (2006-2010)
  • Postdoctoral Research Assistant, University of Birmingham, UK (2005-2006)
  • PhD, University of Bath, UK (2001-2005)
  • MSc Palaeobiology, University of Bristol, UK (2001)
  • BSc (Hons) Ecology, Cardiff University, Wales (1998)
Research interests

Phylogeny, diversification and trait evolution

My research focuses on modelling the diversification of species and traits at a macroevolutionary scale. I am particularly interested in how we can use information on the phylogenetic relationships among species to infer how present day biodiversity has arisen over time and ask:

  • How and why do lineages and traits diversify?
  • What are the consequences of varying tempo and mode of lineage and trait evolution for temporal and spatial patterns of diversity?

My research group works closely with the Natural History Museum and we have collected extensive data bill shapes and plumage colours from all extant bird species (~10,000 species) using museum study skins (mainly the NHM at Tring and also the University of Manchester Museum).

You can get involved with this ERC-funded project with our Bird bill citizen science project at markmybird.org and with plumage evolution at projectplumage.org.

Publications

Show: Featured publications All publications

Journal articles

  • Cooney CR, Varley ZK, Nouri LO, Moody CJA, Jardine MD & Thomas GH (2019) . Nature Communications, 10.
  • Chira AM, Cooney CR, Bright JA, Capp EJR, Hughes EC, Moody CJA, Nouri LO, Varley ZK & Thomas GH (2018) . Ecology Letters, 21(10), 1505-1514.
  • Cooney CR, Bright JA, Capp EJR, Chira AM, Hughes EC, Moody CJA, Nouri LO, Varley ZK & Thomas GH (2017) . Nature, 542, 344-347.
  • Jetz W, Thomas GH, Joy JB, Redding DW, Hartmann K & Mooers AO (2014) . Curr Biol, 24(9), 919-930.
  • Puttick MN, Thomas GH & Benton MJ (2014) . Evolution, 68(5), 1497-1510.
  • Thomas GH, Hartmann K, Jetz W, Joy JB, Mimoto A & Mooers AO (2013) . METHODS IN ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION, 4(11), 1011-1017.
  • Jetz W, Thomas GH, Joy JB, Hartmann K & Mooers AO (2012) . Nature.
  • Thomas GH, Meiri S & Phillimore AB (2009) . Evolution, 63(8), 2017-2030.
  • Thomas GH (2008) . Proc Biol Sci, 275(1647), 2077-2083.
  • Thomas GH, Orme CDL, Davies RG, Olson VA, Bennett PM, Gaston KJ, Owens IPF & Blackburn TM (2008) . GLOBAL ECOL BIOGEOGR, 17(3), 340-351.
  • Thomas GH, Freckleton RP & Székely T (2006) . Proc Biol Sci, 273(1594), 1619-1624.

All publications

Books

  • Thomas GH, Székely T & Reynolds JD (2007) . Elsevier.

Journal articles

  • He Y, Cooney CR, Maddock S & Thomas GH (2025) . Journal of Evolutionary Biology.
  • Lansley T, Crowe O, Butchart SHM, Edwards DP & Thomas GH (2025) . Conservation Biology.
  • Slavenko A, Cooper N, Meiri S, Murali G, Pincheira-Donoso D & Thomas GH (2025) . Nature Ecology & Evolution, 9(3), 464-473.
  • Johnson TF, Beckerman AP, Childs DZ, Webb TJ, Evans KL, Griffiths CA, Capdevila P, Clements CF, Besson M, Gregory RD , Thomas GH et al (2024) . Nature, 628, 788-794.
  • Guillerme T, Bright JA, Cooney CR, Hughes EC, Varley ZK, Cooper N, Beckerman AP & Thomas GH (2023) . Science Advances, 9(43).
  • Babarović F, Cooney CR, Varley ZK, Nouri LO, Nadeau NJ & Thomas GH (2023) . Behavioral Ecology, 34(3), 387-398.
  • He Y, Cooney CR, Maddock S & Thomas GH (2023) . PLoS Computational Biology, 19(2).
  • He Y, Varley Z, Moody C, Nouri L, Jardine M, Maddock S, Thomas G & Cooney C (2022) . Nature Communications, 13.
  • Hughes EC, Edwards DP & Thomas GH (2022) . Current Biology, 32(17), 3830-3837.
  • Cooney CR, He Y, Varley ZK, Nouri LO, Moody CJA, Jardine MD, Liker A, Székely T & Thomas GH (2022) . Nature Ecology & Evolution, 6(5), 622-629.
  • Hughes EC, Edwards DP, Bright JA, Capp EJR, Cooney CR, Varley ZK & Thomas GH (2022) . Ecology Letters, 25(3), 598-610.
  • Gonzalez‐Voyer A, Thomas GH, Liker A, Krüger O, Komdeur J & Székely T (2022) . Ecology Letters, 25(3), 647-660.
  • Tobias JA, Sheard C, Pigot AL, Devenish AJM, Yang J, Sayol F, Neate‐Clegg MHC, Alioravainen N, Weeks TL, Barber RA , Walkden PA et al (2022) . Ecology Letters, 25(3), 581-597.
  • Rombaut LMK, Capp EJR, Hughes EC, Varley ZK, Beckerman AP, Cooper N & Thomas GH (2022) . Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 289(1967).
  • Rombaut LMK, Capp EJR, Cooney CR, Hughes EC, Varley ZK & Thomas GH (2022) . Evolution Letters, 6(1), 83-91.
  • Simpson KJ, Jardine EC, Archibald S, Forrestel EJ, Lehmann CER, Thomas GH & Osborne CP (2021) . New Phytologist, 230(2), 832-844.
  • Jardine EC, Thomas GH & Osborne CP (2021) . Ecology and Evolution, 11(6), 2669-2680.
  • Cooney CR & Thomas GH (2021) . Nature Ecology & Evolution, 5(1), 101-110.
  • Chira AM, Cooney CR, Bright JA, Capp EJR, Hughes EC, Moody CJA, Nouri LO, Varley ZK & Thomas GH (2020) . Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 287(1938).
  • Chira AM, Cooney CR, Bright JA, Capp EJR, Hughes EC, Moody CJA, Nouri LO, Varley ZK & Thomas GH (2020) . Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 287(1938).
  • Guillerme T, Cooper N, Brusatte SL, Davis KE, Jackson AL, Gerber S, Goswami A, Healy K, Hopkins MJ, Jones MEH , Lloyd GT et al (2020) . Biology Letters, 16(7).
  • Hughes EC, Edwards DP, Sayer CA, Martin PA & Thomas GH (2020) . Journal of Applied Ecology, 57(7), 1351-1362.
  • Cooney CR, Sheard C, Clark AD, Healy SD, Liker A, Street SE, Troisi CA, Thomas GH, Szekely T, Hemmings N & Wright AE (2020) . Nature Communications, 11.
  • Jardine EC, Thomas GH, Forrestel EJ, Lehmann CER & Osborne CP (2020) . Journal of Biogeography, 47(3), 553-565.
  • Puttick MN, Ingram T, Clarke M & Thomas GH (2020) . Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 11(3), 464-471.
  • Cooney CR, Varley ZK, Nouri LO, Moody CJA, Jardine MD & Thomas GH (2019) . Nature Communications, 10.
  • Pigot AL, Dyer EE, Redding DW, Cassey P, Thomas GH & Blackburn TM (2018) . Global Ecology and Biogeography, 27(9), 1080-1092.
  • Chira AM, Cooney CR, Bright JA, Capp EJR, Hughes EC, Moody CJA, Nouri LO, Varley ZK & Thomas GH (2018) . Ecology Letters, 21(10), 1505-1514.
  • Cooney CR, Bright JA, Capp EJR, Chira AM, Hughes EC, Moody CJA, Nouri LO, Varley ZK & Thomas GH (2017) . Nature, 552(7685), 430-430.
  • Puttick MN, Kriwet J, Wen W, Hu S, Thomas GH & Benton MJ (2017) . Palaeontology, 60(5), 727-741.
  • Cooney CR, Bright JA, Capp EJR, Chira AM, Hughes EC, Moody CJA, Nouri LO, Varley ZK & Thomas GH (2017) . Nature, 542, 344-347.
  • Clarke M, Thomas GH & Freckleton RP (2017) . The American Naturalist, 189(2), 121-137.
  • Chira AM & Thomas GH (2016) . Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 29(12), 2502-2518.
  • Cooper N, Thomas GH, Venditti C, Meade A & Freckleton RP (2016) . Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 118(1), 64-77.
  • Puttick MN, Thomas GH & Benton MJ (2016) . Evolution, 70(4), 873-886.
  • Simpson KJ, Ripley BS, Christin P-A, Belcher CM, Lehmann CER, Thomas GH & Osborne CP (2016) . Journal of Ecology, 104(1), 138-148.
  • Puttick MN & Thomas GH (2015) . Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 282(1821).
  • Thomas GH (2015) . Nature, 526(7574), 516-517.
  • Edwards DP, Gilroy JJ, Thomas GH, Medina Uribe CA & Haugaasen T (2015) . Current Biology, 25(18), 2384-2391.
  • Sanchez-Baracaldo P & Thomas GH (2014) . PLoS ONE, 9(10).
  • Portugal SJ, Maurer G, Thomas GH, Hauber ME, Grim T & Cassey P (2014) . Journal of Experimental Biology, 217(18), 3326-3332.
  • Jetz W, Thomas GH, Joy JB, Redding DW, Hartmann K & Mooers AO (2014) . Curr Biol, 24(9), 919-930.
  • Puttick MN, Thomas GH & Benton MJ (2014) . Evolution, 68(5), 1497-1510.
  • Thomas GH, Hartmann K, Jetz W, Joy JB, Mimoto A & Mooers AO (2013) . METHODS IN ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION, 4(11), 1011-1017.
  • Ezard THG, Thomas GH & Purvis A (2013) . METHODS IN ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION, 4(8), 745-753.
  • Jetz W, Thomas GH, Joy JB, Hartmann K & Mooers AO (2012) . Nature.
  • Davies TJ, Cooper N, Felizola Diniz-Filho JA, Thomas GH & Meiri S (2012) . ECOLOGY, 93(8), S44-S51.
  • Cassey P, Thomas GH, Portugal SJ, Maurer G, Hauber ME, Grim T, Lovell PG & Miksik I (2012) . BIOLOGICAL JOURNAL OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY, 106(3), 657-672.
  • Jenkins T, Thomas GH, Hellgren O & Owens IPF (2012) . Evolution, 66(3), 740-751.
  • Thomas GH & Freckleton RP (2012) . METHODS IN ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION, 3(1), 145-151.
  • McInnes L, Baker WJ, Barraclough TG, Dasmahapatra KK, Goswami A, Harmon LJ, Morlon H, Purvis A, Rosindell J, Thomas GH , Turvey ST et al (2011) . Biol Lett, 7(5), 644-646.
  • Kuhn TS, Mooers AO & Thomas GH (2011) . METHODS IN ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION, 2(5), 427-436.
  • Garcia-Pena GE, Thomas GH, Reynolds JD & Szekely T (2009) . BEHAVIORAL ECOLOGY, 20(5), 1026-1033.
  • Thomas GH, Meiri S & Phillimore AB (2009) . Evolution, 63(8), 2017-2030.
  • Grenyer R, Orme CDL, Jackson SF, Thomas GH, Davies RG, Davies TJ, Jones KE, Olson VA, Ridgely RS, Rasmussen PC , Ding T-S et al (2009) . Nature, 458(7235), 238-238.
  • Thomas GH (2009) . Mol Ecol, 18(6), 1027-1029.
  • Olson VA, Davies RG, Orme CDL, Thomas GH, Meiri S, Blackburn TM, Gaston KJ, Owens IPF & Bennett PM (2009) . ECOL LETT, 12(3), 249-259.
  • Thomas GH (2008) . Proc Biol Sci, 275(1647), 2077-2083.
  • Phillimore AB, Orme CDL, Thomas GH, Blackburn TM, Bennett PM, Gaston KJ & Owens IPF (2008) . AM NAT, 171(5), 646-657.
  • Thomas GH, Orme CDL, Davies RG, Olson VA, Bennett PM, Gaston KJ, Owens IPF & Blackburn TM (2008) . GLOBAL ECOL BIOGEOGR, 17(3), 340-351.
  • Cooper N, Bielby J, Thomas GH & Purvis A (2008) . Global Ecology and Biogeography, 17(2), 211-221.
  • Grenyer R, Orme CDL, Davies TJ, Jackson SF, Davies RG, Olson VA, Jones KE, Gaston KJ, Blackburn TM, Thomas GH , Bennett PM et al (2007) . Nature, 450(7171), E20.
  • Szekely T, Kosztolanyi A, Kupper C & Thomas GH (2007) . JOURNAL OF ORNITHOLOGY, 148, S211-S217.
  • Meiri S & Thomas GH (2007) . Global Ecology and Biogeography, 16(6), 689-693.
  • Gaston KJ, Davies RG, Orme CDL, Olson VA, Thomas GH, Ding T-S, Rasmussen PC, Lennon JJ, Bennett PM, Owens IPF & Blackburn TM (2007) . Proc Biol Sci, 274(1618), 1567-1574.
  • Davies RG, Orme CDL, Storch D, Olson VA, Thomas GH, Ross SG, Ding T-S, Rasmussen PC, Bennett PM, Owens IPF , Blackburn TM et al (2007) . Proc Biol Sci, 274(1614), 1189-1197.
  • Grenyer R, Orme CDL, Jackson SF, Thomas GH, Davies RG, Davies TJ, Jones KE, Olson VA, Ridgely RS, Rasmussen PC , Ding TS et al (2006) . NATURE, 444(7115), 93-96.
  • Storch D, Davies RG, Zajicek S, Orme CDL, Olson V, Thomas GH, Ding TS, Rasmussen PC, Ridgely RS, Bennett PM , Blackburn TM et al (2006) . ECOL LETT, 9(12), 1308-1320.
  • Szekely T, Thomas GH & Cuthill IC (2006) . BIOSCIENCE, 56(10), 801-808.
  • Orme CDL, Davies RG, Olson VA, Thomas GH, Ding TS, Rasmussen PC, Ridgely RS, Stattersfield AJ, Bennett PM, Owens IPF , Blackburn TM et al (2006) . PLOS BIOL, 4(7), 1276-1283.
  • Davies RG, Orme CDL, Olson V, Thomas GH, Ross SG, Ding T-S, Rasmussen PC, Stattersfield AJ, Bennett PM, Blackburn TM , Owens IPF et al (2006) . Proc Biol Sci, 273(1598), 2127-2133.
  • Thomas GH, Lanctot RB & Szekely T (2006) . ANIMAL CONSERVATION, 9(3), 252-258.
  • Thomas GH, Freckleton RP & Székely T (2006) . Proc Biol Sci, 273(1594), 1619-1624.
  • Lislevand T & Thomas GH (2006) . Biology Letters, 2(2), 206-208.
  • Thomas GH & Székely T (2005) Evolutionary pathways in shorebird breeding systems: sexual conflict, parental care, and chick development.. Evolution, 59(10), 2222-2230.
  • Thomas GH & Székely T (2005) . Evolution, 59(10), 2222-2222.
  • Thomas GH, Wills MA & Székely T (2004) . BMC Evol Biol, 4, 28.
  • Thomas GH, Wills MA & Székely T (2004) . Mol Phylogenet Evol, 30(3), 516-526.
  • Cowell D & Thomas G (1999) A key to the guard hairs of British canids and mustelids. British Wildlife, 11(2), 118-119.
  • Slavenko A, Cooper N, Meiri S, Murali G, Pincheira-Donoso D & Thomas GH () . Nature Ecology & Evolution, 9(3), 525-525.

Book chapters

  • Thomas GH (2011) (pp. 379-403). Wiley

Conference proceedings

  • Cooper N, Thomas GH & FitzJohn RG (2016) . Methods in Ecology and Evolution, Vol. 7 (pp 693-699). London, UK / Calgary, Canada

Preprints

  • Babarovic F, Cooney CR, Zinn T, Drobniak SM, Janas K, Kennedy JD, Nadeau NJ, Parnell AJ, Thomas GH & Burg S (2023) , Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
  • Babarovic F, Cooney CR, Guillerme T, Nadeau NJ & Thomas GH (2023) , Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
  • Johnson TF, Beckerman AP, Childs DZ, Griffiths CA, Capdevila P, Clements CF, Besson M, Gregory RD, Delmas E, Thomas G , Evans K et al (2022) , Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
  • Guillerme T, Bright JA, Cooney CR, Hughes EC, Varley ZK, Cooper N, Beckerman AP & Thomas GH (2022) , Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
  • (2015) , Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
  • Thomas GH, Cooper N, Venditti C, Meade A & Freckleton RP (2014) , Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
Research group

Research group

  • Dr Chris Cooney (Leverhulme Trust Early Career Fellow)
  • Dr Jon Kennedy (Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellow)
  • Dr Alex Slavenko (Royal Society postdoc, starting Jan 2020)

PhD students

  • Louie Rombaut (ACCE PhD - starting October 2019)
  • Frane Babarovic (Royal Society PhD - started 2018)
  • Emma Hughes (ACCE PhD - started 2016)
  • Yichen He (Leverhulme CABM/self PhD - started 2016)

Lab alumni

  • Dr Angela-Marie Chira (PhD completed 2018, now postdoc at University of Washington, St Louis)
  • Dr Emma Jardine (PhD completed 2017, now postdoc at German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research - iDiv, Jena)
  • Dr Kim Simpson (PhD completed 2018, now postdoc with Prof Colin Osborne in APS)
  • Dr Magnus Clarke (PhD completed 2018)
  • Dr Jen Bright (ERC postdoc, now Assistant Professor at the University of South Florida, USA)
  • Dr Thanh-Lan Gluckman (ERC postdoc, moved to The College de France)
  • Mark Puttick (completed PhD at University of Bristol, UK, in 2016, now Royal Commission 1851 Fellow at the University of Bath)
  • Chris Moody (Research Assistant, now CAD technician for GTC)
  • Zoë Varley (Research Assistant, now curator at the NHM)
  • Lara Nouri (Research Assistant, biological technician at Royal Holloway)
  • Elliot Capp (Research Assistant, now primary school teacher)
  • Michael Jardine (Research Assistant, now PhD student at UCL)
Teaching activities

My research interests are reflected in my teaching. I currently lecture on biogeography and macroecology in , phylogenies and diversification in  and . At level 4, I supervise Research Projects () that typically address core themes of the lab: how and why do species and their traits diversify? Recent projects have asked how occupancy of isolated islands influences divergence in bill morphology in finches, what factors predict the diversity of colour among bird species, and whether egg laying (oviparity) versus live-bearing (viviparity) determines the rate of speciation in snakes.

I lead a masters-level module on Biodiversity in Space and Time as part of our Biodiversity and Conservation MSc.

Professional activities and memberships
  • Scientific Associate at the Natural History Museum