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Full-Text Articles in Animal Sciences
The Role Of Song In Reproductive Isolation In A New Secondary Contact Zone Of White-Crowned Sparrows (Zonotrichia Leucophrys), William Brooks
The Role Of Song In Reproductive Isolation In A New Secondary Contact Zone Of White-Crowned Sparrows (Zonotrichia Leucophrys), William Brooks
Summer Research
Within the past thirty years, two formerly isolated subspecies of white-crowned sparrows (Zonotrichia leucophrys) have formed an overlap in geographic range. This creates a natural experiment in speciation and reproductive isolation. Understanding how song acts as a reproductive barrier in this overlap can contribute to our understanding of behavioral isolation. We preformed playback experiments on territorial males to measure subspecific vocal discrimination. Additionally, we looked to see if hybridization was occurring. In the playback experiments we found that Z. l. pugetensis discriminates more strongly between songs, while Z. l. gambelii demonstrates little to no difference in response. We …
Striped Plateau Lizards (Sceloporus Virgatus) Do Not Exhibit Behavioral Syndromes In Exploratory And Anti-Predator Contexts, Alisa Wallace
Striped Plateau Lizards (Sceloporus Virgatus) Do Not Exhibit Behavioral Syndromes In Exploratory And Anti-Predator Contexts, Alisa Wallace
Summer Research
Some animals exhibit certain behavior types consistently between contexts and/or across time. This phenomenon is known as a behavioral syndrome, or personality. Behavioral syndromes have important evolutionary implications because there are times when consistently behaving in a particular way results in fitness constraints, and we are still trying to understand why some animals have them but others don’t. For my work, I sought to determine whether the striped plateau lizard (Sceloporus virgatus), a small lizard native to the Chiricahua Mountains of Arizona, demonstrated behavioral syndromes. I collected 14 male lizards and observed their responses to three behavioral assays: …