Introduction

As the head of the Department of Zoology my task is to coordinate the research zoology and biology programs at the University. In addition, I am teaching behavioural ecology, give journal club seminars and organize the zoology as profession course. My main area of interest is the evolution of breeding systems, and especially parental care systems. I conduct my studies on shorebirds and a beetle species.

Main research areas:

• Evolution of mating systems and parental care
• Cooperation and conflict between parents over parental care
• Studying the behaviour, ecology and conservation of the Kentish plover
• Life history consequences of nest site selection in shorebirds
• Evolution of sex roles
• Breeding behaviour of the beetle Lethrus apterus

Thesis supervision

PhD students: 3

MSc students: 1

TDK theses: 1

Thesis topics

The relationship between animal personalities and nest site selection

Sexual conflict over nest site selection

The influence of social environment on parental behaviour

Progress

2025   Doctor of Science (DSc)

2018 – present Associate Professor, Head of the Department of Zoology, University of Veterinary Medicine

2017 – 2018 Associate Professor, Department of Ecology, University of Veterinary Medicine

2015 – 2016 Senior Research Fellow, Department of Ecology, University of Veterinary Medicine

2015   Habilitation

2014 – 2015 Biologist, Department of Ecology, ÁOTK, Szent István University

2012 – 2014 Scientific associate, MTA-DE “Lendület” Behavioural Ecology Research Group

2011 – 2012 Research associate, Department of Ethology, Eötvös Loránd University

2007 – 2010 Zoltán Magyary Postdoctoral Scholarship Holder

2005 – 2007 Postdoctoral Associate, Department of Biology and Biochemistry, University of Bath, UK

2004 – 2005 Royal Society/NATO Postdoctoral Fellow

2003   PhD

2002 – 2004 Part-time lecturer, Department of Evolutionary Zoology and Human Biology, University of Debrecen

1996 – 1999 PhD student, Department of Evolutionary Zoology and Human Biology, University of Debrecen

Publications (Top10)  MTMT | Google Scholar | ORCID

Fresneau, N., Pipoly, I., Gigler, D., Kosztolányi, A., Székely, T., Liker, A., 2024. The evolution of sex roles: the importance of ecology and social environment. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 121, e2321294121. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2321294121

McDonald, G.C., Cuthill, I.C., Székely, T., Kosztolányi, A., 2023. Remating opportunities and low costs underlie maternal desertion. Evolution, 77, 97–109. https://doi.org/10.1093/evolut/qpac020

Eberhart-Phillips, L.J., Küpper, C., Carmona-Isunza, M.C., Vincze, O., Zefania, S., Cruz-López, M., Kosztolányi, A., Miller, T.E.X., Barta, Z., Cuthill, I.C., Burke, T., Székely, T., Hoffman, J.I., Krüger, O., 2018. Demographic causes of adult sex ratio variation and their consequences for parental cooperation. Nature Communications, 9, 1651. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-03833-5

Rosa, M.E., Barta, Z., Fülöp, A., Székely, T., Kosztolányi, A., 2017. The effects of adult sex ratio and density on parental care in Lethrus apterus (Coleoptera, Geotrupidae). Animal Behaviour, 132, 181–188. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2017.07.023

Vincze, O., Kosztolányi, A., Barta, Z., Küpper, C., Alrashidi, M., Amat, J.A., Argüelles-Ticó, A., Burns, F., Cavitt, J., Conway, W.C., Cruz-López, M., Desucre-Medrano, A.E., Dos Remedios, N., Figuerola, J., Galindo-Espinosa, D., García-Peña, G.E., Gómez Del Angel, S., Gratto-Trevor, C., Jonsson, P., Lloyd, P., Montalvo, T., Parra, J.E., Pruner, R., Que, P., Liu, Y., Saalfeld, S.T., Schulz, R., Serra, L., St Clair, J.J.H., Stenzel, L.E., Weston, M.A., Yasué, M., Zefania, S., Székely, T., 2017. Parental cooperation in a changing climate: fluctuating environments predict shifts in care division. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 26, 347–358. https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.12540

Bulla, M., Valcu, M., Dokter, A.M., Dondua, A.G., Kosztolányi, A., Rutten, A.L., Helm, B., Sandercock, B.K., Casler, B., Ens, B.J., … Kempenaers, B., 2016. Unexpected diversity in socially synchronized rhythms of shorebirds. Nature, 540, 109–113. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature20563

Vincze, O., Székely, T., Küpper, C., AlRashidi, M., Amat, J.A., Argüelles-Ticó, A., Burgas, D., Burke, T., Cavitt, J., Figuerola, J., Shobrak, M., Montalvo, T., Kosztolányi, A., 2013. Local environment but not genetic differentiation influences biparental care in ten plover populations. PLoS ONE, 8, e60998. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0060998

Kosztolányi, A., Barta, Z., Küpper, C., Székely, T., 2011. Persistence of an extreme male-biased adult sex ratio in a natural population of polyandrous bird. Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 24, 1842–1846. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1420-9101.2011.02305.x

Kosztolányi, A., Cuthill, I.C., Székely, T., 2009. Negotiation between parents over care: reversible compensation during incubation. Behavioral Ecology, 20, 446–452. https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/arn140

Kosztolányi, A., Székely, T., Cuthill, I.C., Yılmaz, K.T., Berberoğlu, S., 2006. Ecological constraints on breeding system evolution: the influence of habitat on brood desertion in Kentish plover. Journal of Animal Ecology, 75, 257–265. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2656.2006.01049.x

(Updated: February 19, 2026)