Ilany Lab

Publications

Our papers, newest first. See Google Scholar.

2026

  1. Taub M., Arnon I., Ilany A., Knörnschild M., Ram Y. & Yovel Y. The challenge of decoding animal communication using AI. Current Biology 36(16): R900–R901.
  2. Bordes C., Ammeter M., Lu C., Beukeboom R., Goll Y., Bourdiol J. & Ilany A. Social network dynamics under experimental manipulations of predation risk and food abundance in wild rock hyraxes. Journal of Animal Ecology 95(8): 1339–1357.
  3. Brotier H., Alba-González P., Kannan P., Geffen E., Ilany A. & Koren L. Developing objective tools to study rock hyrax (Procavia capensis) behaviour in the field. PLOS ONE 21(2): e0343302.

2025

  1. Demartsev V., Geva Y., Alba-González P., Koren L., Ilany A. & Geffen E. Alerting components in animal vocalization. Animal Behaviour 230: 123373.
  2. Atzeni L., Cushman S. A., Ilany A., Geffen E. & Macdonald D. W. Using spatially explicit individual-based modelling to evaluate the ecological feasibility of big cat reintroduction: the example of the Arabian leopard. Ecological Modelling 511: 111356.
  3. Albery G. F., Becker D. J., Firth J. A. et al. (incl. Ilany A.) Density-dependent network structuring within and across wild animal systems. Nature Ecology & Evolution 9(11): 2002–2013.

2024

  1. Frère C. H., Class B., Potvin D. A. & Ilany A. Social inheritance of avoidances shapes the structure of animal social networks. Behavioral Ecology 35(1): arad088.
  2. Ilany A. What can the animals teach us about social relationships? Frontiers for Young Minds 12.
  3. Davidovich U., Wachtel I., Halevi R. et al. (incl. Ilany A.) Leopard traps in the Judean Desert reveal long-term impact of humans on top predator populations. Quaternary Science Reviews 333: 108667.
  4. Atzeni L., Ilany A., Geffen E., Cushman S. A., Kaszta Ż. M. & Macdonald D. W. Reviving the Arabian leopard: harnessing historical data to map habitat and pave the way for reintroduction. Biological Conservation 291: 110440.

2023

  1. Goll Y., Bordes C., Weissman Y. A., Schnitzer I., Beukeboom R., Ilany A., Koren L. & Geffen E. The interaction between cortisol and testosterone predicts leadership within rock hyrax social groups. Scientific Reports 13: 14857.
  2. Demartsev V., Haddas-Sasson M., Ilany A., Koren L. & Geffen E. Male rock hyraxes that maintain an isochronous song rhythm achieve higher reproductive success. Journal of Animal Ecology 92(8): 1520–1531.

2022

  1. Bordes C., Beukeboom R., Goll Y., Koren L. & Ilany A. High-resolution tracking of hyrax social interactions highlights nighttime drivers of animal sociality. Communications Biology 5: 1378.
  2. Hemelrijk C. K., Seex L., Pederboni M., Ilany A., Geffen E. & Koren L. Adult sex ratios and partial dominance of females over males in the rock hyrax. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 10.
  3. Dragić N., Keynan O. & Ilany A. Protocol to record multiple interaction types in small social groups of birds. STAR Protocols 3(4): 101814.
  4. Aloni I. & Ilany A. Maladaptive evolution or how a beneficial mutation may get lost due to nepotism. Communications Biology 5: 965.
  5. Goll Y., Bordes C., Weissman Y. A., Schnitzer I., Beukeboom R., Ilany A., Koren L. & Geffen E. Sex-associated and context-dependent leadership in the rock hyrax. iScience 25(4): 104063.
  6. Zemah-Shamir Z., Mourier J., Ilany A., Bigal E., Scheinin A. P. & Tchernov D. Preliminary insights of a mixed-species shark aggregation: a case study of two carcharhinids from the Mediterranean Sea. Environmental Biology of Fishes 105(5): 623–634.

2021

  1. Ilany A., Holekamp K. E. & Akçay E. Rank-dependent social inheritance determines social network structure in spotted hyenas. Science 373(6552): 348–352.
  2. Dragić N., Keynan O. & Ilany A. Multilayer social networks reveal the social complexity of a cooperatively breeding bird. iScience 24(11): 103336.
  3. Bentzur A., Ben-Shaanan S., Benichou J. I. C., Costi E., Levi M., Ilany A. & Shohat-Ophir G. Early life experience shapes male behavior and social networks in Drosophila. Current Biology 31(3): 486–501.
  4. Kershenbaum A., Demartsev V., Gammon D. E., Geffen E., Gustison M. L., Ilany A. & Lameira A. R. Shannon entropy as a robust estimator of Zipf's Law in animal vocal communication repertoires. Methods in Ecology and Evolution 12(3): 553–564.

2020

  1. Weissman Y. A., Demartsev V., Ilany A., Barocas A., Bar-Ziv E., Koren L. & Geffen E. A crescendo in the inner structure of snorts: a reflection of increasing arousal in rock hyrax songs? Animal Behaviour 166: 163–170.

2019

  1. Demartsev V., Gordon N., Barocas A., Bar-Ziv E., Ilany T., Goll Y., Ilany A. & Geffen E. The “Law of Brevity” in animal communication: sex-specific signaling optimization is determined by call amplitude rather than duration. Evolution Letters 3(6): 623–634.
  2. Koren L., Weissman Y. A., Schnitzer I. et al. (incl. Ilany A.) Sexually opposite effects of testosterone on mating success in wild rock hyrax. Behavioral Ecology 30(6): 1611–1617.
  3. Weissman Y. A., Demartsev V., Ilany A., Barocas A., Bar-Ziv E., Geffen E. & Koren L. Social context mediates testosterone's effect on snort acoustics in male hyrax songs. Hormones and Behavior 114: 104535.
  4. Demartsev V., Kershenbaum A., Ilany A., Barocas A., Weissman Y. A., Koren L. & Geffen E. Lifetime changes in vocal syntactic complexity of rock hyrax males are determined by social class. Animal Behaviour 153: 151–158.
  5. Weissman Y. A., Demartsev V., Ilany A., Barocas A., Bar-Ziv E., Schnitzer I., Geffen E. & Koren L. Acoustic stability in hyrax snorts: vocal tightrope-walkers or wrathful verbal assailants? Behavioral Ecology 30(1): 223–230.
  6. Ilany A. Complex societies, simple processes: a comment on Shizuka and Johnson. Behavioral Ecology.

2017

  1. Demartsev V., Ilany A., Kershenbaum A. et al. The progression pattern of male hyrax songs and the role of climactic ending. Scientific Reports 7: 2794.
  2. Fisher D. N., Ilany A., Silk M. J. & Tregenza T. Analysing animal social network dynamics: the potential of stochastic actor-oriented models. Journal of Animal Ecology 86(2): 202–212.

2016

  1. Ilany A. & Akçay E. Social inheritance can explain the structure of animal social networks. Nature Communications 7: 12084.
  2. Ilany A. & Akçay E. Personality and social networks: a generative model approach. Integrative and Comparative Biology 56(6): 1197–1205.
  3. Demartsev V., Ilany A., Barocas A., Bar-Ziv E., Schnitzer I., Koren L. & Geffen E. A mixed strategy of counter-singing behavior in male rock hyrax vocal competitions. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 70(12): 2185–2193.
  4. Bar-Ziv E., Ilany A., Demartsev V., Barocas A., Geffen E. & Koren L. Individual, social, and sexual niche traits affect copulation success in a polygynandrous mating system. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 70(6): 901–912.
  5. Kershenbaum A., Blumstein D. T., Roch M. A. et al. (incl. Ilany A.) Acoustic sequences in non-human animals: a tutorial review and prospectus. Biological Reviews 91(1): 13–52.

2015

  1. Ilany A., Booms A. S. & Holekamp K. E. Topological effects of network structure on long-term social network dynamics in a wild mammal. Ecology Letters 18(7): 687–695.
  2. Chen S., Ilany A., White B. J., Sanderson M. W. & Lanzas C. Spatial-temporal dynamics of high-resolution animal networks: what can we learn from domestic animals? PLOS ONE 10(6): e0129253.

2014

  1. Chen S., White B. J., Sanderson M. W., Amrine D. E., Ilany A. & Lanzas C. Highly dynamic animal contact network and implications on disease transmission. Scientific Reports 4: 4472.
  2. Demartsev V., Kershenbaum A., Ilany A., Barocas A., Bar-Ziv E., Koren L. & Geffen E. Male hyraxes increase song complexity and duration in the presence of alert individuals. Behavioral Ecology 25(6): 1451–1458.

2013

  1. Ilany A., Barocas A., Koren L., Kam M. & Geffen E. Structural balance in the social networks of a wild mammal. Animal Behaviour 85(6): 1397–1405.
  2. Ilany A., Barocas A., Kam M., Ilany T. & Geffen E. The energy cost of singing in wild rock hyrax males: evidence for an index signal. Animal Behaviour 85(5): 995–1001.
  3. Pienaar J., Ilany A., Geffen E. & Yom-Tov Y. Macroevolution of life-history traits in passerine birds: adaptation and phylogenetic inertia. Ecology Letters 16(5): 571–576.

2012

  1. Kershenbaum A., Ilany A., Blaustein L. & Geffen E. Syntactic structure and geographical dialects in the songs of male rock hyraxes. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 279(1740): 2974–2981.

2011

  1. Ilany A., Barocas A., Koren L., Kam M. & Geffen E. Do singing rock hyraxes exploit conspecific calls to gain attention? PLOS ONE 6(12): e28612.
  2. Barocas A., Ilany A., Koren L., Kam M. & Geffen E. Variance in centrality within rock hyrax social networks predicts adult longevity. PLOS ONE 6(7): e22375.
  3. Yoktan K., Geffen E., Ilany A., Yom-Tov Y., Naor A. & Leader N. Vocal dialect and genetic subdivisions along a geographic gradient in the orange-tufted sunbird. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 65(7): 1389–1402.

2007

  1. Ilany A. & Eilam D. Wait before running for your life: defensive tactics of spiny mice (Acomys cahirinus) in evading barn owl (Tyto alba) attack. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 62(6): 923–933.