Jeffrey Podos

Research Interests

Mechanisms and Evolution of Vertebrate Behavior; Bioacoustics

My research addresses the interface of animal behavior, organismal biology, and evolutionary biology. I am particularly interested in a question first articulated by the ethologist Niko Tinbergen: How do proximate mechanisms of behavior, such as biomechanics, physiological performance, and development, shape the evolutionary diversification of behavior? My work focuses on vocal behavior and evolution in vertebrates, especially songbirds.

Laboratory work aims to characterize the influences of acoustic experience and production mechanics on vocal expression in songbirds. Experimental studies of vocal learning in hand-reared sparrows are used to assess how limits on vocal proficiency constrain the evolution of vocal frequency, timing, and syntax features. Complementary laboratory activities include quantitative surveys of vocal diversity using bioacoustic analyses, characterization of vocal motor patterns through high-speed video analyses, and experimental manipulation of vocal tract function. Many of these studies are conducted in collaboration with Stephen Nowicki and Susan Peters of Duke University.

Field work is conducted in the eastern United States, Brazil, and the Galápagos Islands. Local field studies address questions of song function and perception in birds. Studies in Brazil, conducted largely in collaboration with researchers from Brazilís Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, aim to document vocal behavior in poorly-known vertebrate taxa including river dolphins, arboreal rats, and poison-dart frogs. Work in the Galápagos asks how, in Darwinís finches, the evolutionary diversification of vocal tract morphology has shaped the evolution of vocal proficiency and song structure. The characterization of functional links between vocal tract morphology and song, together with field playback studies, is providing insight into relationships between morphological adaptation, vocal diversification, and reproductive isolation.

Representative Publications

Podos, J. 2001. Correlated evolution of morphology and vocal signal structure in Darwin's finches. Nature   409: 185-188.

Hoese, W.J., Podos, J., Boetticher, N.C., and Nowicki, S. 2000. Vocal tract function in birdsong production: experimental manipulation of beak movements. Journal of Experimental Biology  203: 1845-1855.

Podos, J., Nowicki, S., and Peters, S. 1999. Permissiveness in the learning and development of song syntax in the swamp sparrow. Animal Behavior   58: 93-103.

Nowicki, S., Peters, S., and Podos, J. 1998. Song leaning, early nutrition, and sexual selection in songbirds. American Zoologist   38: 179-190.

Podos, J. 1997. A performance constraint on the evolution of trilled vocalizations in a songbird family (Passeriformes: Emberizidae). Evolution   51: 537-551.