Signalling need: costly signals and animal welfare assessment
If animals signal their level of need for certain resources, scientists should be able to use these signals in assessing animal well-being. Theoretical models show that, under certain conditions, natural selection can favour the evolution of “honest” signalling systems, where vocal and other natural signals provide reliable indicators of the signaller’s needs. These conditions include […]
Taking the sensory approach: how individual differences in sensory perception can influence mate choice
Many male signallers convey information to female receivers in multimodal courtship displays. While much is known about how males vary in terms of signalling, variation in female detection of these multimodal signals is relatively unexplored. We suggest that there is a critical, albeit underdeveloped, link between multimodal sensory reception and individual variation in mate choice. […]