Publications
Sensory exploitation University of Antwerp
Non-breeding song rate reflects nutritional condition rather than body condition University of Antwerp
Numerous studies have focused on song in songbirds as a signal involved in mate choice and intrasexual competition. It is expected that song traits such as song rate reflect individual quality by being dependent on energetic state or condition. While seasonal variation in bird song (i.e., breeding versus non-breeding song) and its neural substrate have received a fair amount of attention, the function and information content of song outside the ...
Darwin in de supermarkt University of Antwerp
Carotenoid supplementation positively affects the expression of a non-visual sexual signal University of Antwerp
Carotenoids are a class of pigments which are widely used by animals for the expression of yellow-to-red colour signals, such as bill or plumage colour. Since they also have been shown to promote immunocompetence and to function as antioxidants, many studies have investigated a potential allocation trade-off with respect to carotenoid-based signals within the context of sexual selection. Although an effect of carotenoids on non-visual (e.g. ...
Sensory exploitation and cultural transmission: the late emergence of iconic representations in human evolution University of Antwerp
Iconic representations (i.e., figurative imagery and realistic art) only started to appear consistently some 45,000 years ago, although humans have been anatomically modern since 200,000160,000 years ago. What explains this? Some authors have suggested a neurocognitive change took place, leading to a creative explosion, although this has been contested. Here, we examine the hypothesis that demographic changes caused cultural cumulative adaptive ...
Lineage based differences in grandparental investment: evidence from a large British cohort study University of Antwerp
Evolutionary theory suggests that maternal grandparents will invest more in their grandchildren than paternal grandparents, due to the difference between the certainty of maternity and the uncertainty of paternity. Most tests of this prediction have tended to use retrospective ratings by grandchildren rather than examining grandparental behaviour. Using a large-scale data set from the UK (n>7000), significant differences are shown between ...
Complex modulation of singing behavior by testosterone in an open-ended learner, the European starling University of Antwerp
In many temperate zone songbird species males only produce song during the breeding season, when plasma testosterone (T) levels are high. Males of some species sing throughout the year, even when T levels are low, indicating a dissociation between high T levels and song rate. Given that few studies have taken advantage of these species, we compare here song traits expressed under high versus low T concentrations and we study the role of ...