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I am a Senior Lecturer in Comparative Physiology and Behaviour at Manchester Metropolitan University. I am a Sensory Biologist.
I try to understand how animals move and sense. In particular, my work focusses on facial touch sensors - whiskers in mammals and rictal bristles in birds. My research answers questions in the following areas:
I teach comparative anatomy on the following units: Comparative Anatomy and Physiology, Movement Physiology and Ecology, Vertebrate Evolution.
I teach comparative animal behaviour on the units: Tutorials and Fieldwork, Brain and Behaviour, Practical Techniques and Analysis
I teach video analysis techniques on the units: Practical Techniques and Analysis
I am the unit leader for the MSc Zoos & Conservation Unit, in collaboration with Chester Zoo, and BSc unit Comparative Anatomy and Physiology.
I am also the employability coordinator for Biology and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (HEA)
Employability Coordinator for the Division of Biology and Conservation Ecology
Comparative anatomy and behaviour is great! It's an amazing way to appreciate the patterns of diversity in the natural world, and discover the functional significance of anatomical structures and behaviours.
BSc Biology, Zoology, Animal Behaviour & Conservation
MSc Zoo Conservation Biology, Conservation Biology, Animal Behaviour
Current PhD Students:
Completed PhD Students:
MRes Students
I work really closely with museums, zoos and aquaria to access many, diverse species for my comparative studies. My current main collaborators include:
Museums
Zoos and Aquaria
I also work on many interdisciplinary projects, with engineers, mathematicians, roboticists and neuroscientists. Including:
M. Zatrak, S. Brittain, L. Himmelreich, S. Lovick-Earle, R. Pizzi, et al. KJ. Shaw, RA. Grant, M. Geary. (2023). Factors affecting the survival of harbor (Phoca vitulina) and gray seal (Halichoerus grypus) juveniles admitted for rehabilitation in the UK and Ireland. Marine Mammal Science. 39(2), pp.462-480.
N. Mynett, HL. Mossman, T. Huettner, RA. Grant (2022). Diversity of vibrissal follicle anatomy in cetaceans. The Anatomical Record. 305(3), pp.609-621.
AO. Milne, MN. Muchlinski, LD. Orton, MS. Sullivan, RA. Grant (2022). Comparing vibrissal morphology and infraorbital foramen area in pinnipeds. The Anatomical Record. 305(3), pp.556-567.
RA. Grant, VGA. Goss (2022). What can whiskers tell us about mammalian evolution, behaviour, and ecology?. Mammal Review. 52(1), pp.148-163.
R. Grant, G. Dougill, N. Lepora (2021). Species-specific whisker morphology affects tactile interactions. IEEE Xplore. 2021 IEEE World Haptics Conference (WHC), pp.1149-1149.
T. Prescott, B. Mitchinson, R. Grant Vibrissal behavior and function. Scholarpedia. 6(10), pp.6642-6642.
T. Allen, R. Grant, S. Mohr, J. Shepherd (2020). Measuring behavior in sport and exercise. Sports Engineering. 23(1),
MG. Delaunay, C. Larsen, H. Lloyd, M. Sullivan, RA. Grant (2020). Anatomy of avian rictal bristles in Caprimulgiformes reveals reduced tactile function in open-habitat, partially diurnal foraging species. Journal of Anatomy. 237(2), pp.355-366.
AO. Milne, C. Smith, LD. Orton, MS. Sullivan, RA. Grant (2020). Pinnipeds orient and control their whiskers: a study on Pacific walrus, California sea lion and Harbor seal. Journal of Comparative Physiology A. 206(3), pp.441-451.
R. Grant, A. Wong, E. Fertan, R. Brown (2020). Whisker exploration behaviours in the 5xFAD mouse are affected by sex and retinal degeneration. Genes, Brain and Behavior. 19(3), pp.e12532-e12532.
G. Riedel, R. Grant, M. Sullivan, A. Spink (2020). Preface: Special issue on Measuring Behaviour 2018. Journal of Neuroscience Methods. 337, pp.108681-108681.
EL. Starostin, RA. Grant, G. Dougill, GHM. van der Heijden, VGA. Goss (2020). The Euler spiral of rat whiskers. Science Advances. 6(3), pp.eaax5145-eaax5145.
MN. Muchlinski, JR. Wible, I. Corfe, M. Sullivan, RA. Grant (2020). Good Vibrations: the evolution of whisking in small mammals. Anatomical Record: Advances in Integrative Anatomy and Evolutionary Biology. 303(1), pp.89-99.
AM. Barbera, MG. Delaunay, G. Dougill, RA. Grant (2019). Paw Morphology in the Domestic Guinea Pig (Cavia porcellus) and Brown Rat (Rattus norvegicus). Anatomical Record. 302(12), pp.2300-2310.
U. Simanaviciute, J. Ahmed, RE. Brown, N. Connor-Robson, TD. Farr, et al. E. Fertan, N. Gambles, H. Garland, AJ. Morton, JF. Staiger, EA. Skillings, RC. Trueman, R. Wade-Martins, NI. Wood, AA. Wong, RA. Grant. (2019). Recommendations for measuring whisker movements and locomotion in mice with sensory, motor and cognitive deficits. Journal of Neuroscience Methods. 331, pp.108532-108532.
L. Taraborrelli, R. Grant, M. Sullivan, S. Choppin, J. Spurr, et al. S. Haake, T. Allen. (2019). Materials have driven the historical development of the Tennis Racket. Applied Sciences (Switzerland). 9(20),
D. Gillespie, MH. Yap, BM. Hewitt, H. Driscoll, U. Simanaviciute, et al. EF. Hodson-Tole, RA. Grant. (2019). Description and validation of the LocoWhisk system: Quantifying rodent exploratory, sensory and motor behaviours. Journal of Neuroscience Methods. 328, pp.108440-108440.
ROS. Khayat, KJ. Shaw, G. Dougill, LM. Melling, GR. Ferris, et al. G. Cooper, RA. Grant. (2019). Characterizing wing tears in common pipistrelles (Pipistrellus pipistrellus): investigating tear distribution, wing strength, and possible causes. Journal of Mammalogy. 100(4), pp.1282-1294.
L. Taraborrelli, R. Grant, M. Sullivan, S. Choppin, J. Spurr, et al. S. Haake, T. Allen. (2019). Recommendations for estimating the moments of inertia of a tennis racket. Sports Engineering. 22(11), pp.1-9.
RA. Grant, V. Breakell, TJ. Prescott (2018). Whisker touch sensing guides locomotion in small, quadrupedal mammals. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 285(1880),
H. Garland, NI. Wood, EA. Skillings, PJ. Detloff, AJ. Morton, et al. RA. Grant. (2017). Characterisation of progressive motor deficits in whisker movements in R6/2, Q175 and Hdh knock-in mouse models of Huntington's disease. Journal of Neuroscience Methods. 300, pp.103-111.
BM. Hewitt, MH. Yap, EF. Hodson-Tole, AJ. Kennerley, PS. Sharp, et al. RA. Grant. (2017). A novel automated rodent tracker (ART), demonstrated in a mouse model of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Journal of Neuroscience Methods. 300, pp.147-156.
RA. Grant, MG. Delaunay, S. Haidarliu (2017). Mystacial whisker layout and musculature in the guinea pig (Cavia porcellus): a social, diurnal mammal. Anatomical Record. 300(3), pp.527-536.
RA. Grant, N. Cielen, K. Maes, N. Heulens, G. Galli, et al. W. Janssens, G. Gayan-Ramirez, H. Degens. (2016). The effects of smoking on whisker movements: a quantitative measure of exploratory behaviour in rodents. Behavioural Processes. 128, pp.17-23.
R. Kendall, L. Howard, N. Master, RA. Grant (2016). THE IMPACT OF ELEPHANT ENDOTHELIOTROPIC HERPESVIRUS ON THE CAPTIVE ASIAN ELEPHANT (ELEPHAS MAXIMUS) POPULATION OF THE UNITED KINGDOM AND IRELAND (1995-2013). Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine.
B. Hewitt, MH. Yap, RA. Grant (2016). Manual Whisker Annotator (MWA): A Modular Open-Source Tool. Journal of Open Research Software. 4(1), pp.e16-e16.
RA. Grant, PS. Sharp, AJ. Kennerley, J. Berwick, A. Grierson, et al. T. Ramesh, TJ. Prescott. (2014). Abnormalities in whisking behaviour are associated with lesions in brain stem nuclei in a mouse model of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Behav Brain Res. 259, pp.274-283.
RA. Grant, PM. Itskov, RB. Towal, TJ. Prescott (2014). Active touch sensing: finger tips, whiskers, and antennae. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience. 8,
RA. Grant, S. Haidarliu, NJ. Kennerley, TJ. Prescott (2013). The evolution of active vibrissal sensing in mammals: evidence from vibrissal musculature and function in the marsupial opossum Monodelphis domestica. J Exp Biol. 216(Pt 18), pp.3483-3494.
R. Grant, S. Wieskotten, N. Wengst, T. Prescott, G. Dehnhardt (2013). Vibrissal touch sensing in the harbor seal (Phoca vitulina): How do seals judge size?. Journal of Comparative Physiology A: Neuroethology, Sensory, Neural, and Behavioral Physiology. 199(6), pp.521-533.
RA. Grant, B. Mitchinson, TJ. Prescott (2012). The development of whisker control in rats in relation to locomotion. Dev Psychobiol. 54(2), pp.151-168.
RA. Grant, AL. Sperber, TJ. Prescott (2012). The role of orienting in vibrissal touch sensing. Front Behav Neurosci. 6,
B. Mitchinson, RA. Grant, K. Arkley, V. Rankov, I. Perkon, et al. TJ. Prescott. (2011). Active vibrissal sensing in rodents and marsupials. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 366(1581), pp.3037-3048.
RA. Grant, B. Mitchinson, CW. Fox, TJ. Prescott (2009). Active touch sensing in the rat: anticipatory and regulatory control of whisker movements during surface exploration. J Neurophysiol. 101(2), pp.862-874.
B. Mitchinson, CJ. Martin, RA. Grant, TJ. Prescott (2007). Feedback control in active sensing: rat exploratory whisking is modulated by environmental contact. Proc Biol Sci. 274(1613), pp.1035-1041.
TJ. Prescott, N. Lepora, B. Mitchinson, M. Pearson, U. Martinez-Hernandez, et al. R. Grant. (2020). Active touch sensing in mammals and robots. In: The Senses: A Comprehensive Reference. Academic Press,
MN. Muchlinski, HW. Hemingway, R. Grant, AM. Burrows (2020). Have Lorisids moved beyond touch?. In: Evolution, Ecology and Conservation of Lorises and Pottos. Cambridge University Press,
TJ. Prescott, N. Lepora, B. Mitchinson, M. Pearson, U. Martinez-Hernandez, et al. RA. Grant. (2020). Active Touch Sensing in Mammals and Robots. In: The Senses: A Comprehensive Reference. Elsevier, pp.79-109.
RA. Grant, KP. Arkley (2016). Matched Filtering in Active Whisker Touch. In: The Ecology of Animal Senses. Springer International Publishing, pp.59-82.
G. Dougill, E. Starostin, G. van der Heijden, G. Goss, R. Grant (2019). Mammalian Whiskers and the Euler Spiral. In: Supplement: International Congress of Vertebrate Morphology (ICVM). Prague, 21/7/2019.
TB. Allen, R. Grant, M. Sullivan, L. Taraborrelli, S. Choppin, et al. J. Spurr, S. Haake. (2018). Recommendations for Measuring Tennis Racket Parameters. In: Proceedings ISEA 2018. Queensland, Australia, 26/3/2018.
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