August 2007

SIGNAL DETECTION AND THE EVOLUTION OF COMMUNICATION

a presentation at the International Ethological Congress in Halifax
presents the first results from a new procedure to calculate
the joint optimum for signaler and receiver performance
with implications for how we view the evolution of communication

[View the presentation]

August 2007

FOUR STUDENTS ARE WRITING THEIR DISSERTATIONS

Lisa Davenport (ecology and behavior of giant otters)

David Luther (adaptations for communication in Amazonian birds)

Matthew McKown (vocalizations of Pterodroma petrels)

Jonathan Micancin (species recognition in mixed choruses of Acris frogs)

November 2006

REVIEW OF SIGNAL DETECTION THEORY AND ANIMAL COMMUNICATION

addresses the generality of the theory and its implications for studying communication
in natural situations
[View the article]

October 2005

FEMALE CARDINALS SING -- ESPECIALLY WHEN THEY ARE YOUNG AND HAVE A NEW MATE AND TERRITORY!

Vondrasek, Joanna R. (2005)
Social factors affect the singing rates of female northern cardinals Cardinalis cardinalis.
Journal of Avian Biology.
[View the article]

October 2005

RECOGNITION OF NEIGHBORS CHANGES WITH THE SEASON ...
and presumably the changing social scene!

Hyman, Jeremy (2005)
Seasonal variation in response to neighbors and strangers by a territorial songbird.
Ethology 111: 951-961.
[Download (.pdf file)]

September 2005

RECOGNITION OF REAL ENEMIES BY A COLONIAL SEABIRD?
Audubon's Shearwaters illustrate the
need-to-know principle in the evolution of individual recognition

Mackin, Will (2005)
Neighbor-stranger discrimination in Audubon's shearwater (Puffinus l. lherminieri) explained by a "real enemy" effect.
Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology.
[Download (.pdf file)]

A selection from the past!

January 2002

PREDICTIONS OF SIGNAL DETECTION THEORY
confirmed for animal communication!

Wollerman, L., and R. H. Wiley. 2002. Background noise from a natural chorus alters female discrimination of male calls in a Neotropical frog. Animal Behaviour 63: 15-22.
[Abstract]