- Public lectures in UK, USA, Canada, New Zealand and Europe
- Invited Participant, The World Economic Forum
- Interviews with BBC Radio 3, 4, BBC Regional Radio, International press coverage
- Featured in New Scientist, Discovery, National Geographic
- TED Talk
Mark Pagel
-
+44 (0) 118 378 8900
-
Professor
Areas of interest
- Evolution
- Computational biology
- Language evolution
- Phylogeny
- Markov chain Monte Carlo
Research centres and groups
International Collaborators
- Professor Richard Foster, Yale University
- Professor Russell Gray, University of Auckland, New Zealand
- Dr Tanmoy Bhattacharya, The Santa Fe Institute and Los Alamos Laboratory, USA
- Dr Daniel Hrushka, University of Arizona
- Dr Chris Organ, University of Montana
National Collaborators
- Dr Mark Beaumont, University of Bristol
Research projects
- Funding from ERC and BBSRC
- Molecular phylogenetics and Bayesian Statistical methods for comparative data
- The evolution of human languages
- Human cultural and technological evolution
- Speciation
- Rate and mode of evolution
Background
Esteem Factors
- Fellow of the Royal Society, 2011
- Coordinator of European Research Council Advanced Investigator Award (£2 million)
- External Professor, the Santa Fe Institute, USA
- Plenary Speaker to Human Behaviour and Evolution Society meetings
Websites/blogs
New Scientist Article
Impact, Enterprise and Outreach
Publications
- Meade, A. and Pagel, M. (2022) Ancestral state reconstruction using Bayes traits. In: Luo, H. , (eds.) Environmental Microbial Evolution: Methods and Protocols. Methods in Molecular Biology Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.) pp. 255-266. ISSN: 1940-6029 ISBN: 9781071626900 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-2691-7_12
-
Pagel, M.
ORCID: 0000-0001-7287-8865
,
O’Donovan, C.
ORCID: 0000-0003-4770-4227
,
Meade, A.
(2022)
General statistical model shows that macroevolutionary patterns and processes are consistent with Darwinian gradualism.
Nature Communications
, 13
(1).
pp
0.
ISSN:
2041-1723
|
doi:
https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-28595-z
- Pagel, M. (2021) You are not as clever as you think. In: Almqvist, K. and Hessérus, M. , (eds.) Knowledge and information: the potential and peril of human intelligence. Stolpe Publishing , Sweden. pp. 15-23. ISBN: 9789189069619
-
Baker, J.
ORCID: 0000-0003-4904-6934
,
Meade, A.
,
Pagel, M.
,
Venditti, C.
(2021)
Nothing wrong with the analysis of clades in comparative evolutionary studies.
Systematic Biology
, 70
(1).
pp.
197-201.
ISSN:
1063-5157
|
doi:
https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/sysbio/syaa067
- Zhang, H. , Ji, T. , Pagel, M. , Mace, R. (2020) Dated phylogeny suggests early neolithic origin of sino-tibetan languages. Scientific Reports , 10 ISSN: 2045-2322 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-77404-4
- Calude, A. , Miller, S. , Pagel, M. (2020) Modelling loanword success – a sociolinguistic quantitative study of Māori loanwords in New Zealand English. Corpus Linguistics and Linguistic Theory , 16 (1). pp. 29-66. ISSN: 1613-7027 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1515/cllt-2017-0010
- Sibly, R. , Pagel, M. , Curnow, R. , Edwards, J. (2019) How phenotypic matching based on neutral mating cues enables speciation in locally adapted populations. Ecology and Evolution , 9 (23). pp. 13506-13514. ISSN: 2045-7758 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.5806
- Pagel, M. , Beaumont, M. , Meade, A. , Verkerk, A. , Calude, A. (2019) Dominant words rise to the top by positive frequency-dependent selection. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America , 116 (15). pp. 7397-7402. ISSN: 1091-6490 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1816994116
- Dibble, J. , Prelorendjos, A. , Romice, O. , Zanella, M. , Strano, E. , Pagel, M. , Porta, S. (2019) On the origin of spaces: morphometric foundations of urban form evolution. Environment and Planning B: Urban Analytics and City Science , 46 (4). pp. 707-730. ISSN: 2399-8091 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1177/2399808317725075
- Pagel, M. and Meade, A. (2018) The deep history of the number words. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B-Biological Sciences , 373 (1740). ISSN: 0962-8436 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2016.0517
- Pagel, M. (2017) Q&A: What is human language, when did it evolve and why should we care?. BMC Biology , 15 (1). ISSN: 1741-7007 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12915-017-0405-3
- Pagel, M. (2017) Darwinian perspectives on the evolution of human languages. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review , 24 (1). pp. 151-157. ISSN: 1069-9384 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.3758/s13423-016-1072-z
- Pagel, M. (2016) Animal behaviour: lethal violence deep in the human lineage. Nature , 538 pp. 180-181. ISSN: 1476-4687 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature19474
- Baker, J. , Meade, A. , Pagel, M. , Venditti, C. (2016) Positive phenotypic selection inferred from phylogenies. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society , 118 (1). pp. 95-115. ISSN: 0024-4066 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/bij.12649
-
Baker, J.
ORCID: 0000-0003-4904-6934
,
Meade, A.
,
Pagel, M.
,
Venditti, C.
(2015)
Adaptive evolution toward larger size in mammals.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
, 112
(16).
pp.
5093-5098.
ISSN:
0027-8424
|
doi:
https://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1419823112
- Grollemund, R. , Branford, S. , Bostoen, K. , Meade, A. , Venditti, C. , Pagel, M. (2015) Bantu expansion shows that habitat alters the route and pace of human dispersals. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America , 112 (43). pp. 13296-13301. ISSN: 0027-8424 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1503793112
- Hruschka, D. , Branford, S. , Smith, E. , Wilkins, J. , Meade, A. , Pagel, M. , Bhattacharya, T. (2015) Detecting regular sound changes in linguistics as events of concerted evolution. Current Biology , 25 (1). pp. 1-9. ISSN: 0960-9822 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2014.10.064
- Venditti, C. and Pagel, M. (2014) Plenty of room for punctuational change. Trends in Ecology & Evolution , 29 (2). pp. 71-72. ISSN: 0169-5347 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2013.12.002
- Altschuler, E. , Calude, A. , Meade, A. , Pagel, M. (2013) Linguistic evidence supports date for Homeric epics. Bioessays , 35 (5). pp. 417-420. ISSN: 0265-9247 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1002/bies.201200165
- Pagel, M. , Atkinson, Q. , Calude, A. , Meade, A. (2013) Ultraconserved words point to deep language ancestry across Eurasia. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America , 110 (21). pp. 8471-8476. ISSN: 0027-8424 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1218726110
- Venditti, C. , Meade, A. , Pagel, M. (2011) Multiple routes to mammalian diversity. Nature , 479 pp. 393-396. ISSN: 0028-0836 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature10516
- Gomes, N. , Ryder, O. , Houck, M. , Charter, S. , Walker, W. , Forsyth, N. , Austad, S. , Venditti, C. , Pagel, M. , Shay, J. , Wright, W. (2011) Comparative biology of mammalian telomeres: hypotheses on ancestral states and the roles of telomeres in longevity determination. Aging cell , 10 (5). pp. 761-768. ISSN: 1474-9718 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1474-9726.2011.00718.x
- Wilson Sayres, M. , Venditti, C. , Pagel, M. , Makova, K. (2011) Do variations in substitution rates and male mutation bias correlate with life-history traits? A study of 32 mammalian genomes. Evolution , 65 (10). pp. 2800-2815. ISSN: 1558-5646 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1558-5646.2011.01337.x
- Venditti, C. and Pagel, M. (2010) Speciation as an active force in promoting genetic evolution. Trends in Ecology & Evolution , 25 (1). pp. 14-20. ISSN: 0169-5347 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2009.06.010
- Venditti, C. , Meade, A. , Pagel, M. (2010) Phylogenies reveal new interpretation of speciation and the Red Queen. Nature , 463 (7379). pp. 349-352. ISSN: 0028-0836 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature08630
- Pagel, . (2009) Natural selection 150 years on. Nature , 457 (7231). pp. 808-811. ISSN: 0028-0836 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature07889
- Pagel, . (2009) Human language as a culturally transmitted replicator. Nature Reviews Genetics , 10 (6). pp. 405-415. ISSN: 1471-0056 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nrg2560
- Pagel, . (2009) Insight overview: natural selection 150 years on. Nature , 457 (7231). pp. 808-811. ISSN: 0028-0836 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature07889
- Organ, . , Janes, . , Meade, . , Pagel, . (2009) Genotypic sex determination enabled adaptive radiations of extinct marine reptiles. Nature , 461 (7262). pp. 389-392. ISSN: 0028-0836 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature08350
- Venditti, . , Meade, . , Pagel, . (2008) Phylogenetic mixture models can reduce node-density artifacts. Systematic Biology , 57 (2). pp. 286-293. ISSN: 1063-5157 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10635150802044045
- Venditti, . and Pagel, . (2008) Model misspecification not the node-density artifact. Evolution , 62 (8). pp. 2125-2126. ISSN: 0014-3820 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1558-5646.2008.00407.x
- Venditti, . and Pagel, . (2008) Evolution in fits and starts. The Biologist , 55 (3). pp. 140-146.
- Pagel, . (2008) Rise of the digital machine. Nature , 452 (7188). pp. 699-699. ISSN: 0028-0836 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/452699a
- Pagel, . and Atkinson, . (2008) The potential for genetic adaptations to language. Behavioral and Brain Sciences , 31 (5). pp. 529-+. ISSN: 0140-525X | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0140525x08005207
- Pagel, . and Meade, . (2008) Modelling heterotachy in phylogenetic inference by reversible-jump Markov chain Monte Carlo. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B-Biological Sciences , 363 (1512). pp. 3955-3964. ISSN: 0962-8436 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2008.0178
- Pagel, . and Pomiankowski, . (2008) The organismal prospect. In: M., . and Pomiankowski, . , (eds.) Evolutionary Genomics and Proteomics. Sinauer , Sunderland MA. pp. 1-10. ISBN: 9780878936540
- Meade, . and Pagel, . (2008) A phylogenetic mixture model for heterotachy. In: Pontarotti, . , (eds.) Evolutionary Biology from Concept to Application. Springer Verlag , Heidelberg. pp. 29-41 . ISBN: 9783642009518
- Freckleton, . , Phillimore, . , Pagel, . (2008) Relating traits to diversification: A simple test. American Naturalist , 172 (1). pp. 102-115. ISSN: 0003-0147 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1086/588076
- Atkinson, . , Meade, . , Venditti, . , Greenhill, . , Pagel, . (2008) Languages evolve in punctuational bursts. Science , 319 (5863). pp. 588-588. ISSN: 0036-8075 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1149683
- Atkinson, . , Meade, . , Venditti, . , Greenhill, . , Pagel, . (2008) Parsing the evolution of language - Response. Science , 320 (5875). pp. 446-446. ISSN: 0036-8075
- Venditti, . and Pagel, . (2008) Speciation and bursts of evolution. Evolution: Education and Outreach , 1 (3). pp. 274-280. ISSN: 1936-6426 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12052-008-0049-4
- Sibly, . , Barker, . , Hone, . , Pagel, . (2007) On the stability of populations of mammals, birds, fish and insects. Ecology Letters , 10 (10). pp. 970-976. ISSN: 1461-023X | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1461-0248.2007.01092.x
- Pagel, . , Atkinson, . , Meade, . (2007) Frequency of word-use predicts rates of lexical evolution throughout Indo-European history. Nature , 449 (7163). pp. 717-U7. ISSN: 0028-0836 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature06176
- Pagel, . , Meade, . , Scott, . (2007) Assembly rules for protein networks derived from phylogenetic-statistical analysis of whole genomes. Bmc Evolutionary Biology , 7 pp. 11. ISSN: 1471-2148 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1471-2148-7-s1-s16
- Organ, . , Shedlock, . , Meade, . , Pagel, . , Edwards, . (2007) Origin of avian genome size and structure in non-avian dinosaurs. Nature , 446 (7132). pp. 180-184. ISSN: 0028-0836 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature05621
- Barker, . , Meade, . , Pagel, . (2007) Constrained models of evolution lead to improved prediction of functional linkage from correlated gain and loss of genes. Bioinformatics , 23 (1). pp. 14-20. ISSN: 1367-4803 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/bioinformatics/btl558
- Venditti, . , Meade, . , Pagel, . (2006) Detecting the node-density artifact in phylogeny reconstruction. Systematic Biology , 55 (4). pp. 637-643. ISSN: 1063-5157 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10635150600865567
- Sibly, . , Barker, . , Denham, . , Hone, . , Pagel, . (2006) Response to comments on "On the regulation of populations of mammals, birds, fish, and insects". Science , 311 (5764). pp. 1. ISSN: 0036-8075 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1121565
- Sibly, . , Barker, . , Denham, . , Hone, . , Pagel, . (2006) Response to comment on "On the regulation of populations of mammals, birds, fish, and insects". Science , 313 (5783). pp. 45. ISSN: 0036-8075
- Pagel, . and Meade, . (2006) Bayesian analysis of correlated evolution of discrete characters by reversible-jump Markov chain Monte Carlo. American Naturalist , 167 (6). pp. 808-825. ISSN: 0003-0147 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1086/503444
- Pagel, . (2006) Darwinism and its discontents. Nature , 443 (7107). pp. 31-31. ISSN: 0028-0836 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/443031b
- Pagel, . , Venditti, . , Meade, . (2006) Large punctuational contribution of speciation to evolutionary divergence at the molecular level. Science , 314 (5796). pp. 119-121. ISSN: 0036-8075 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1129647
- Pagel, . (2006) Darwinian cultural evolution rivals genetic evolution. Behavioral and Brain Sciences , 29 (4). pp. 360. ISSN: 0140-525X
- Pagel, . and Meade, . (2006) Estimating rates of lexical replacement on phylogenetic trees of languages. In: Forster, . and Renfrew, . , (eds.) Phylogenetic methods and the prehistory of languages. McDonald institute Monographs pp. 173-182. ISBN: 9781902937335
- Pagel, . (2006) Editorial: evolution, bioinformatics, and EBO. Evolutionary Bioinformatics Online , 2 pp. 357-358. ISSN: 1176-9343
- Lumbsch, . , Schmitt, . , Barker, . , Pagel, . (2006) Evolution of micromorphological and chemical characters in the lichen-forming fungal family Pertusariaceae. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society , 89 (4). pp. 615-626. ISSN: 0024-4066 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1095-8312.2006.00696.x
- Lester, . , Meade, . , Pagel, . (2006) The slow road to the eukaryotic genome. Bioessays , 28 (1). pp. 57-64. ISSN: 0265-9247 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1002/bies.20344
- Sibly, . , Barker, . , Denham, . , Hone, . , Pagel, . (2005) On the regulation of populations of mammals, birds, fish, and insects. Science , 309 (5734). pp. 607-610. ISSN: 0036-8075 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1110760
- Pagel, . and Meade, . (2005) Bayesian estimation of correlated evolution across cultures: a case study of marriage systems and wealth transfer at marriage. In: Mace, . , Holden, . , Shennan, . , (eds.) The Evolution of Cultural Diversity: a phylogenetic approach. University College London Press , London. pp. 235-256. ISBN: 9781844720651
- Pagel, . and Meade, . (2005) Mixture models in phylogenetic inference. In: Gascuel, . , (eds.) Mathematics of Evolution and Phylogeny. Oxford University Press pp. 121-142. ISBN: 9780198566106
- Barker, . and Pagel, . (2005) Predicting functional gene links from phylogenetic-statistical analyses of whole genomes. PLoS Computational Biology , 1 (1). pp. 24-31. ISSN: 1553-734X | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.0010003
- Webster, . , Payne, . , Pagel, . (2004) Response to comments on "Molecular phylogenies link rates of evolution and speciation". Science , 303 (5655). pp. 2. ISSN: 0036-8075 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1091131
- Pagel, . and Mace, . (2004) The cultural wealth of nations. Nature , 428 (6980). pp. 275-278. ISSN: 0028-0836 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/428275a
- Pagel, . (2004) Limpets break Dollo's law. Trends in Ecology & Evolution , 19 (6). pp. 278-280. ISSN: 0169-5347 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2004.03.020
- Pagel, . and Meade, . (2004) A phylogenetic mixture model for detecting pattern-heterogeneity in gene sequence or character-state data. Systematic Biology , 53 (4). pp. 571-581. ISSN: 1063-5157 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10635150490468675
- Pagel, . , Meade, . , Barker, . (2004) Bayesian estimation of ancestral character states on phylogenies. Systematic Biology , 53 (5). pp. 673-684. ISSN: 1063-5157 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10635150490522232
- Pagel, . and Bodmer, . (2004) The evolution of human hairlessness: cultural adaptations and the ectoparasite hypothesis. In: Wasser, . , (eds.) Evolutionary Theory and Processes: Modern Horizons (papers in honour of Eviatar Nevo). Kluwer Academic Publishers. , London. pp. 329-336. ISBN: 140201693X
- Webster, . , Payne, . , Pagel, . (2003) Molecular phylogenies link rates of evolution and speciation. Science , 301 (5632). pp. 478-478. ISSN: 0036-8075 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1083202
- Pagel, . (2003) Evolutionary biology: polygamy and parenting. Nature , 424 (6944). pp. 23-24. ISSN: 0028-0836 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/424023a
- Pagel, . and Bodmer, . (2003) A naked ape would have fewer parasites. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B-Biological Sciences , 270 (Suppl 1). pp. S117-S119. ISSN: 0962-8452 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2003.0041
- Freckleton, . , Harvey, . , Pagel, . (2003) Bergmann's rule and body size in mammals. American Naturalist , 161 (5). pp. 821-825. ISSN: 0003-0147 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1466-8238.2007.00363.x