biology

Graeme Ruxton

Graeme Ruxton is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Graeme Ruxton rather than just read about it. In short: Graeme Douglas Ruxton is a zoologist known for his research into behavioural ecology and evolutionary ecology. Life and work Ruxton received his PhD in Statistics and Modelling Science in 1992 from the University of Strathclyde.

Key takeaways

Graeme Ruxton belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Graeme Ruxton to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Graeme Ruxton from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Graeme Douglas Ruxton is a zoologist known for his research into behavioural ecology and evolutionary ecology.

Life and work Ruxton received his PhD in Statistics and Modelling Science in 1992 from the University of Strathclyde. His studies focus on the evolutionary pressures on aggregation by animals, and predator-prey aspects of sensory ecology. He researched visual communication in animals at the University of Glasgow, where he was professor of theoretical ecology. In 2013 he became professor at the University of St Andrews, Scotland.

Publications Ruxton has published numerous papers on antipredator adaptations, along with contributions to textbooks. His book Living in Groups has been cited over 2300 times. His textbook Avoiding Attack. The Evolutionary Ecology of Crypsis, Warning Signals and Mimicry has been cited over 1150 times. His paper "Collective memory and spatial sorting in animal groups" has been cited over 1300 times, while his paper on the use of statistics in behavioural ecology, "The unequal variance t-test is an underused alternative to Student's t-test and the Mann–Whitney U test", has been cited over 850 times.

Honours and awards In 2012 Ruxton was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

References

External links University of Glasgow bio of Ruxton

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Graeme Ruxton

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Graeme Ruxton claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Graeme Ruxton before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Graeme Ruxton ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Graeme Ruxton

In research: Graeme Ruxton appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Graeme Ruxton in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Graeme Ruxton is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics British ecologists, Camouflage researchers, Evolutionary biologists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Graeme Ruxton outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Graeme Ruxton in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Graeme Ruxton means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Graeme Ruxton out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Graeme Ruxton in simple terms?

Graeme Douglas Ruxton is a zoologist known for his research into behavioural ecology and evolutionary ecology. Life and work Ruxton received his PhD in Statistics and Modelling Science in 1992 from the University of Strathclyde.

Why does Graeme Ruxton matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Graeme Ruxton?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Graeme Ruxton.