1. Acoustic communication in shorebirds

I am interested in structure, variation, repertoire organization, geographic variation, phylogeny, and evolutionary trends in bird sounds, especially shorebirds. Some current work is on geographic variation and differentiation in Scolopacidae (sandpipers, snipe, etc.) and Charadriidae (plovers, lapwings, etc.).

 

A current project is analysis of the vocal repertoire of the endangered Spoon-billed Sandpiper. This work will be submitted in March 2024. Collaborators are Pavel Tomkovich (Zoological Museum, M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University), Vladimir Arkhipov (Experimental Biophysics, Russian Academy of Sciences), and Gerrit Vyn (Gerrit Vyn Photography).

 

Other current scolopacid projects are on snipe. One is a phylogenetic study of the World's snipe (Coenocorypha; Gallinago) incorporating acoustic and molecular analyses. Collaborators on the acoustic analyses include Nacho Areta (Instituto de Bio y Geociencias del Noroeste Argentino) and Colin Miskelly (Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa). The other snipe study is a comparative analysis of vocal and non-vocal sounds in the sister species Common Snipe (Gallinago gallinago) and Wilson's Snipe (G. delicata). Collaborators are Tiago Rodrigues and David Gonçalves (both at Departamento de Biologia, Universidade do Porto), and Dave Wilson (Psychology Department, Memorial University). A spin-off from the latter project is analysis of geographic variation in Wilson's Snipe (same collaborators, plus Yolanda Wiersma (Biology Department, Memorial University).  

 

 

2. Vocal-tract anatomy of non-passerine birds

Vocal-tract anatomy in non-passerine groups has been pretty well described but only at a general level. Some current projects concern sexual dimorphism and allometry of vocal-tract size in raptors and phylogenetic patterns of morphology in sandpipers.

 

 

3. Dentition and cranial morphology of Carnivora

Skulls and dentition of Carnivora have been studied extensively but many microevolutionary questions remain. Two current projects are on cranial distinctiveness and sexual dimorphism in endemic Carnivora of insular Newfoundland and tooth variation and allometry in pinnipeds.