Mark Elgar

Mark Adrian Elgar (25 July 1957 – 9 August 2025) was an Australian behavioural and evolutionary ecologist, based at the University of Melbourne since 1991. He established his reputation with research on bird foraging strategies and sexual cannibalism in spiders, but later explored a variety of evolutionary questions around sexual selection, social behaviour and chemical communication. From 1982 to 1985, he undertook his PhD research at Cambridge University under Nick Davies, studying the flocking and foraging strategies of house sparrows. where he became a professor in 2005.

Elgar served as President of the Australasian Evolution Society and Councillor for the International Society for Behavioral Ecology.

In 2021, Elgar opined that an increase in wasp numbers in residential areas may be due to bushfires destroying their nests in natural environments.

Personal life In the final years of his life, Elgar was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer. He died on 9 August 2025, and was survived by his two daughters.