This gallery contains 6 photos.
Information acquired by animals from the environment, or from other individuals, reduces uncertainty about the environment, other individuals, or a future event, which allows the animal to act with confidence. Predators who use vision as a main tool of hunting … Continue reading
This gallery contains 2 photos.
Living organisms need to have consistent and reliable methods for procuring food in order to survive any situation. A steady food supply ensures survival not only of an individual organism, but also its offspring, as a healthy individual is more likely … Continue reading
This gallery contains 3 photos.
One of the most interesting aspects of sensory and evolutionary ecology is the concept of mimicry between or within species. Mimicry is when a species has evolved a trait that allows it to imitate the appearance, behavior, scent, or sound … Continue reading
This gallery contains 1 photo.
This semester I am doing fieldwork at the Trevor Zoo and thinking about how zoos are related to behaviour and conservation. The Trevor Zoo is a small but diverse and well-run collection of animals located at the Millbrook School in … Continue reading
This gallery contains 3 photos.
Evolution through natural selection spends on variation of a trait within a species. Variation of a certain trait that has implications for Darwinian fitness within a species can lead to a population level shift towards one phenotypic realization of the trait over … Continue reading
This gallery contains 15 photos.
On May 9th, Dr. Mary Ann Cunningham (from the Earth Science Department) and I headed out to the Vassar Farm and Ecological Preserve to participate in the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Global Big Day (read more about that here). We … Continue reading
This gallery contains 3 photos.
Have you ever wondered what the best way is to get the attention of someone you fancy? Being too subtle could result in that person not noticing you, but being too overt could lead to unwanted attention from other suitors … Continue reading
This gallery contains 2 photos.
Congratulations to Jacob Damsky for presenting his thesis on the effects of anthropogenic noise on mobbing behavior in the tufted titmouse. Jacob was joined by 19 other Vassar Biology Seniors in presenting a wide array of interesting research! Best of … Continue reading
The Gall Lab, in collaboration with Walt Wilczynski at Georgia State University has just published a paper entitled “Hearing conspecific vocal signals alters peripheral auditory sensitivity”. But, what does that mean? Well, many animals (including humans) are exposed to the … Continue reading
This gallery contains 4 photos.
Have you ever asked a friend, “What you want to eat for lunch?” and they replied saying “I heard this place was really good, we should go here!” ?Using the friend’s information about certain restaurants, you are more likely to find … Continue reading
