Mechanisms, function, and evolution of avian visual signals

动物皮毛、羽毛、鳞片或皮肤的颜色和图案产生的视觉信号为研究进化生物学提供了一个复杂而多样的框架。我的研究计划的中心目标是使用动物视觉信号作为模型系统来研究自然选择和性选择对动物适应特征进化的影响。在接下来的五年里，我的研究团队将专注于理解鸟类视觉信号的机制、发育、功能和进化之间的联系。特别是，我和我的学生将测试有关虹彩羽毛的机制、功能和进化的新假设，雌性选择和雄性社会组织对羽绒交配鸟类羽毛颜色的影响，以及自然选择和性选择之间的相互作用对雌性羽毛颜色进化的影响。我们将使用创新的方法和最先进的技术来检验这些假设。我们的研究将涵盖从温带和热带鸟类的种内研究到涉及多物种的广泛比较分析的范围。这项研究将丰富我们对进化生态学基本原理的理解，同时为动物交流领域提供重大进展。我的研究项目将着重培养一大批研究生、本科生、研究技术人员和博士后，使他们掌握广泛的创新研究方法，为他们在加拿大从事科学事业做好准备。

Visual signals produced by the colour and patterning of animals' fur, feathers, scales, or skin offer a complex and diverse framework within which to study evolutionary biology. The central objective of my research program is to use animal visual signals as a model system for investigating the influence of natural and sexual selection on the evolution of adaptive traits in animals. Over the next five years, my research team will specifically focus on understanding the connections between mechanisms, development, function, and evolution of visual signals in birds. In particular, my students and I will test novel hypotheses relating to the mechanisms, function, and evolution of iridescent plumage, the influence of female choice and male social organization on plumage colouration in a lek-mating bird, and the interaction between natural and sexual selection on the evolution of female plumage colouration. We will test these hypotheses using innovative approaches and state-of-the-art technologies. Our studies will cover a range of scales from intraspecific studies of temperate and tropical birds to broad comparative analyses involving multiple species. This research will enrich our understanding of fundamental principles in evolutionary ecology while providing significant advances in the field of animal communication. My research program will emphasize the training of a large group of graduate students, undergraduate students, research technicians, and postdoctoral fellows in a broad array of innovative research methodologies, providing them with technical expertise that will prepare them for careers in the sciences in Canada.