Category Archives: What’s New in Sensory Ecology?

A New Phenomenon: African Elephants Know Who You Are From Your Voice and Language!

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Do you remember seeing a picture of a massive animal with big ears in your fifth grade biology class? This picture was probably an African elephant! In class you discovered that African elephants are the largest land animals on Earth, … Continue reading

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The Need to Deceive: Flexible Alarm Mimicry in an African Bird

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As humans, we have all experienced deception at some point in life.  When my sister was six, she tried cutting her bangs to look more like “Belle” from Beauty and the Beast.  Failing miserably, she was left to explain to … Continue reading

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Associative Learning of Color Cues as a Foraging Strategy in the Amethyst Sunbird

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In order to maintain sufficient energy levels, it is necessary for animals to acquire food in effective and efficient ways. For nectarivorous birds, this means being able to obtain enough energy through feeding to balance and surpass the energy expended … Continue reading

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Wind Advisory In Effect For Anna’s Hummingbirds: High Energy Costs And Compensatory Flight Changes

Ever wonder how birds are able to control their flight direction on windy days? As humans, we are much heavier than birds and yet on windy days even we sometimes have trouble walking and have to push ourselves forward. We … Continue reading

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Elevation Levels the Playing Field for Fiddler Crab Males

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    How tall is too tall? For the fiddler crab (Uca mjoebergi), a simple change in elevation can dramatically override a female’s preference for a male, as a new study by researchers at the Australian National University shows. Male … Continue reading

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Showing off stamina during courtship has its costs

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  We all know that courtship is the best time to highlight our best qualities. But for male Mediteranean field crickets (gryllus bimaculatus), saying “Look! I have stamina!” comes with a price, suggests researcher Sophie Mowles from the University of … Continue reading

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Complex Mating Signals Can Lead to Predation!

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Signal detection theory states that animals will use their own set of signals (courtship signals) to attract a mate by standing out from background interference. These set of signals can be implemented at the same time to produce complex signals. … Continue reading

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In the case of the fly, smarter males get the ladies.

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As a male amongst a crowd of receptive and unreceptive females, finding a mate to woo and carry your offspring is hard work! The common fruit fly (Figure 1), Drosophila melanogaster, must deal with this complex social scenario in addition … Continue reading

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Tu(co) Stressed?

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Let’s be honest: no one likes feeling stressed. We all know that stress can lead to the rapid ingestion of entire boxes of Oreos, unexpected emotional outbursts, and a handful of other negative consequences. But humans are not the only … Continue reading

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Do snakes have a better sense of direction than you?

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The ability to navigate our world is a skill that some people may take for granted. Imagine being abducted from your home, driven 15-20 miles away to a location you have never seen before, and being dumped on the side … Continue reading

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