Centre for the Integrative Study of Animal Behaviour

Research Interests:

I have always been fascinated by communication and social behaviour. Work in my lab explores the structure and function of animal signals, using both controlled experiments and observational studies under natural conditions. This two-pronged strategy combines code-breaking exercises designed to provide insights into cognition with studies of social groups that document variation in reproductive success.

Current ARC-funded projects focus on:

• Multi-modal signals and female mate choice in birds.
• Visual threat displays and opponent assessment in lizards.
  (See my lab web page for details, including sounds and video clips)
  

This work addresses a broad range of theoretical issues and often requires adaptation of existing techniques for novel purposes, or the development of entirely new tools for the study of behaviour. Most of my work is collaborative, involving both postgraduate students and colleagues from other universities.

Selected Publications:

Evans, C.S. & Marler, P. 1994. Food-calling and audience effects in male chickens (Gallus gallus): their relationships to food availability, courtship and social
facilitation. Animal Behaviour, 47, 1159-1170.

Marler, P. & Evans, C.S. 1994. The dynamics of vocal communication in birds. Discussions in Neuroscience, 10, 81-88

Macedonia, J.M., Evans, C.S. & Losos, J.B. 1994. Male Anolis lizards discriminate video-recorded conspecific and heterospecific displays. Animal Behaviour, 47,
1220-1223.

Evans, C.S. & Marler, P. 1995. Language and animal communication: Parallels and contrasts. In: H. Roitblat, & J. Arcady-Meyer (Eds.) Comparative Approaches to Cognitive Science. MIT Press. p 341-382.

Marler, P. & Evans, C.S. 1996. Bird calls: just emotional displays or something more? Ibis, 138, 26-33.

Rosenthal, G.G, Evans, C.S. & Miller, W.L. 1996. Female preference for a dynamic trait in the green swordtail Xiphophorus helleri. Animal Behaviour, 51, 811-820.

Marler, P. & Evans, C.S. 1997. Communication signals of animals: contributions of emotion and reference. In: U. Segerstrale & P. Molnar (Eds.) Nonverbal
Communication: Where Nature Meets Culture. Lawrence Erlbaum Assoc, p 151-170.

Marler, P. & Evans, C.S. 1997. Animal sounds and human faces: do they have anything in common? In: J. A. Russell & J. M. Ferná ndez-Dols (Eds.) The
Psychology of Facial Expression.Cambridge University Press, p 133-157.

Evans, C.S. 1997. Referential signals. Perspectives in Ethology, 12, 99-143.

Hopp, S.L., Owren, M.J & Evans, C.S. 1998. Preface. In: S.L. Hopp, M.J. Owren & C.S. Evans (Eds.) Animal Acoustic Communication: Sound Analysis and
Research Methods. Springer-Verlag, Heidelberg, p v-viii.

Rosenthal, G.G. & Evans, C.S. 1998. Female preference for males with swords reflects a bias for large apparent size. Proceedings of the National Academy of
Sciences, 95, 4431-4436.

Evans, C.S & Evans, L. 1999. Chicken food calls are functionally referential. Animal Behaviour, 58, 307-319.

Ord, T.J., Evans, C.S. & Cooper, D.W. 1999. Nocturnal behaviour of the Parma wallaby Macropus parma (Marsupialia: Macropodoidea). Australian Journal of
Zoology, 47, 155-167.

Blumstein, D.T, Evans, C.S. & Daniel, J.C. 1999. An experimental study of behavioural group size effects in tammar wallabies (Macropus eugenii) Animal
Behaviour, 58, 351-360.

Watt, M.J., Evans, C.S. & Joss, J.M.P. 1999. Use of electroreception during foraging by the Australian lungfish. Animal Behaviour, 58, 1039-1045.

Evans, C.S., Wenderoth, P. & Cheng, K.C. 2000. Detection of bilateral symmetry in complex biological images. Perception, 29, 31-42.

Wood, S.W., Sanderson, K.J. & Evans, C.S. 2000. Perception of terrestrial and aerial alarm calls by honeyeaters and falcons. Australian Journal of Zoology, 48, 127- 134.

Blumstein, D.T, Daniel, J.C., Griffin, A.S. & Evans, C.S. 2000. Insular tammar wallabies (Macropus eugenii) respond to visual but not acoustic cues from predators. Behavioral Ecology, 11, 528-535.

Griffin, A.S., Blumstein, D.T. & Evans, C.S. 2000. Training animals about predators: a critical review and synthesis. Conservation Biology, 14, 1317-1326.

Ord, T.J., Blumstein, D.T. & Evans, C.S. 2001. Intra-sexual selection predicts the evolution of complex signals in lizards. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, Series B, 268, 737-744.

Blumstein, D.T, Daniel, J.C. & Evans, C.S. 2001. Yellow-footed rock-wallaby (Petrogale xanthopus) group size effects reflect a trade-off. Ethology, 107, 655-664.

Griffin, A.S., Evans, C.S. & Blumstein, D.T. 2001. Learning specificity in antipredator training. Animal Behaviour, 62, 577-589.

Evans, C.S. 2002. Cracking the code: communication and cognition in birds. In: Bekoff, M, Allen, C. & Burghardt, G. (Eds.) The Cognitive Animal MIT Press. p
315- 322.

Blumstein, D.T., Mari, M., Daniel, J.C., Ardron, J.G., Griffin, A.S. & Evans, C.S. 2002. Olfactory predator recognition: wallabies may have to learn to be wary.
Animal Conservation,5, 87-93.

Ord, T.J., Peters, R.A., Evans, C.S. & Taylor A.J. 2002. Digital video playback and visual communication in lizards Animal Behaviour, 63, 879-890.

Ord, T.J. & Evans, C.S. 2002. Interactive video playback and opponent assessment in lizards. Behavioural Processes, 59, 55-65.

Peters, R.A., Clifford, C.W.G. & Evans, C.S. 2002. Measuring the structure of dynamic visual signals. Animal Behaviour, 64, 131-146.

Ord, T.J., Blumstein, D.T. & Evans, C.S. 2002. Ecology and signal evolution in lizards. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 77, 127-148.

Blumstein, D.T., Ardron, J.G. & Evans, C.S. 2002. Kin discrimination in a macropod marsupial. Ethology, 108, 815-823.

Blumstein, D.T., Daniel, J.C., Schnell, M.R. Ardron, J.G & Evans, C.S. 2002. Antipredator behaviour of red-necked pademelons: a factor contributing to species
survival? Animal Conservation, 5, 325-331.

Blumstein, D.T, Daniel, J.C., Ardron, J.G. & Evans, C.S. 2002. Does feeding competition influence tammar wallaby time allocation? Ethology, 108, 937-945.

Griffin, A.S., Evans, C.S. & Blumstein, D.T. 2002. Selective learning in a marsupial. Ethology, 108, 1103-1114.

Griffin, A.S. & Evans, C.S. 2003. The role of differential reinforcement in predator avoidance learning. Behavioural Processes, 61, 87-94.

Bayly, K.L. & Evans, C.S. 2003. Dynamic changes in alarm call structure: a strategy for reducing conspicuousness to avian predators? Behaviour, 140, 353-369.

Peters, R.A. & Evans, C.S. 2003. Design of the Jacky dragon visual display: signal and noise characteristics in a complex moving environment. Journal of Comparative Physiology A, 189, 447-459.

Griffin, A.S. & Evans, C.S. 2003. Social learning of antipredator behaviour in a marsupial. Animal Behaviour, 66, 485-492.

Peters, R.A. & Evans, C.S. 2003. Introductory tail-flick of the Jacky dragon visual display: signal efficacy depends upon duration. Journal of Experimental Biology, 206, 4293-4307.

Ord, T.J. & Evans, C.S. 2003. Display rate and opponent assessment in the Jacky dragon: an experimental analysis. Behaviour, 140, 1495-1508.

Göth, A. & Evans, C.S. 2004. Social responses without early experience: Australian brush-turkey chicks use specific visual cues to aggregate with conspecifics. Journal of Experimental Biology, 207, 2199-2208.

Evans, C.S. 2004. Calling others to food. In: P. Marler & H. Slabbekoorn (Eds.) Nature's Music: The Science of Birdsong. Elsevier Science. 156.

Göth, A. & Evans, C.S. 2004. Egg size in Australian brush-turkey Alectura lathami hatchlings predicts motor performance and postnatal weight gain. Canadian Journal of Zoology, 82, 972-979.

Göth, A. & Evans, C.S. 2005. Life-history and social learning: megapode chicks fail to acquire feeding preferences from conspecifics. Journal of Comparative Psychology, 119, 381-386.

Bayly, K.L. & Evans, C.S. 2006. Measuring social status: a comparison of eight dominance indices. Behavioral Processes, 73, 1-12

Carlile, P.A., Peters, R.A. & Evans, C.S. In Press. Detection of a looming stimulus by the Jacky dragon (Amphibolurus muricatus): selective sensitivity to characteristics of an aerial predator. Animal Behaviour. Accepted 7/9/05. 

Van Dyk, D. A. & Evans, C.S. In Press. Familiar - unfamilar discrimination based on visual cues in the Jacky dragon, Amphibolurus muricatus. Animal Behaviour. Accepted 17/10/05