Charles Paxton's Homepage

Homepage of Charles Paxton

I am a fisheries ecologist/statistician at the University of St.Andrews, Scotland. My published work includes such subjects as schooling in fishes, the behaviour of ostriches and South American geology.

However it is my work on the science behind stories of sea monsters that receives most media attention. Details of some of my thoughts on this topic can be found here.

My research interests are in the ecology and evolution of large aquatic organisms, behavior and ecology of fish (especially shoaling), fisheries ecology, the macroevolution of aquatic ecosystems over "deep time" and the philosophy of science. I have a very strong commitment to the public understanding of science and welcome the opportunity to aid such endeavours. I am especially interested in the question "How do we know, what to know?"

Scientific publications
Paxton, C.G.M., Winfield, I.J., George, G.L. & Hewitt, D.P. Abiotic and biotic influences on the recruitment of Windermere perch (Perca fluviatilis). (submitted Journal of Fish Biology)

Cotter, J., Burt, M. L., Paxton, C.G.M., Fernandez, C., Buckland, S.T, & Pan, J-X. Are stock assessment methods too complicated? A critical review centred on North Sea demersal stocks. (submitted Reviews in Fish Biology & Fisheries)

Paxton, C.G.M. & Holland, R. (2004) Was Steenstrup Right? A new interpretation of the 16th century sea monk of the Øresund. Steenstrupia (in press)

Paxton, C.G.M., Knatterud, E. & Hedley, S.L. (2004) Cetaceans, Sex & Sea Serpents: An analysis of the Egede Accounts of A "Most Dreadful Monster" Seen off the Coast of Greenland in 1734. (in press Archives of Natural History)

Johnston, I.A, Manthri, S., Alderson, R., Smart, A., Campbell, P., Nickell, D., Robertson, B., Paxton, C.G.M. & Burt, M.L. (2003) Freshwater environment affects growth rate and muscle fibre recruitment in sea water stages of the Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) Journal of Experimental Biology 206, 1337-1351.

Paxton, C.G.M. & Winfield, I.J. (2000) Some statistical aspects of the long-term gill net monitoring programme for pike Esox lucius in Windermere (English Lake District). Freshwater Forum14, 35-50.

Paxton, C.G.M. & Willoughby, L.G. (2000) Resistance of perch eggs to attack by aquatic fungi. Journal of Fish Biology 57, 562-570

Paxton, C.G.M., Fletcher, J.M. & Hewitt, D.P. (1999) Sex ratio changes in the long term Windermere pike and perch monitoring programme. Ecology of Freshwater Fish 8, 78-84.

Paxton, C.G.M. (1998) A cumulative species description curve for large open water marine animals. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the UK 78, 1389-1391.

Bubier, N.E., Paxton, C.G.M., Bowers, P. & Deeming, D.C. (1998) Courtship behaviour of ostriches (Struthio camelus) towards humans under farming conditions in Britain. British Poultry Science 39, 477-481. **Ig Nobel Prize Winner 2002**

Paxton, C.G.M. (1997) Shoaling and activity levels in Corydoras catfish (Siluriformes: Callichthyidae) Journal of Fish Biology 51, 496-502.

Paxton, C.G.M., Bubier, N.E. & Deeming, D.C. (1997) Feeding and pecking behaviour in ostrich (Struthio camelus) chicks in captivity. British Poultry Science 38, 151-155.

Paxton, C.G.M. (1996) Isolation and the development of shoaling in two populations of the guppy, Poecilia reticulata. Journal of Fish Biology 49, 514-520.

Magurran, A.E., Paxton, C.G.M., Seghers, B.H., Shaw, P.W., & Carvalho, G.R. (1996) Genetic divergence, female choice and male mating success in Trinidadian guppies. Behaviour 133, 503-517.

Paxton, C.G.M., Crampton, W.G.C. & Burgess, P. (1996) Miocene deposits in the Amazonian foreland basin. Science 273, 123.

Paxton, C.G.M. & Magurran, A.E. (1994) Brightly coloured schools and red herrings: a reply to Roccanova. Animal Behaviour 48, 1459-1460.

Paxton, C.G.M., Magurran, A.E. & Zschokke, S. (1994) Caudal eyespots on fish predators influence the inspection behaviour of Trinidadian guppies, Poecilia reticulata. Journal of Fish Biology 44, 175-177.

Popular Articles

Paxton, C.G.M. (2002) In search of monsters? A defence of cryptozoology. The Skeptic 15(3), 14-17.

Paxton, C.G.M. (2001) Predicting pelagic peculiarities. Cryptos Dracontology Special 1, 60-65.

Winfield, I. J. & Paxton, C. G. M. (1998).The Windermere long-term pike monitoring programme. Pikelines 81, 19-21.

Books

I am currently writing a book entitled Sea Monster: Science and Unknown Aquatic Animals a scientific, open minded but sceptical look at the probabilities of discovering large unknown aquatic animals.

Links

My other pages and some links can be found here.