Name:  Aaron Rundus
Major Professor:  Donald Owings
Department:  Psychology
Lab Phone:  (530) 752-7718
Email:  asrundus@ucdavis.edu
Web Site:  
BA - University of South Florida, Florida - Experimental Psychology - 1996
Research Interests
My current research interests include animal communication and role of both proximate and ultimate feedback on the evolution and maintenance of communicative systems. Currently I am investigating how the use of an infrared/visual signal called tail-flagging, deployed by California ground squirrels (Spermophilus beecheyi) during encounters with northern Pacific rattlesnakes (Crotalus viridis oreganus), may be used to manage rattlesnake behavior by exploiting the infrared sensitivity of these snakes.
 
Publications Rundus, Aaron S., & Hart, Lynette A. 2002 Animal Communication and the Role of the Physical Environment. Journal of Comparative Psychology, 116(2), 120-122.

Owings, Donald H., Rowe, Matthew P., Rundus, Aaron S. 2002. The Rattling Sound of Rattlesnakes as a communicative Resource for Ground Squirrels and Burrowing Owls. Journal of Comparative Psychology, 116(2), 197-205.

"Sciurid anti-predator signaling: Exploiting biases in predatory assessment systems." Talk presented at the 2000 Animal Behavior Workshop on "Communication: The Animal in the Context of its Environment" Davis, CA, March 2000

"Tail Flagging: Differences Between Rock Squirrels and California Ground Squirrels" Talk presented at the 1998 Animal Behavior Society Annual Conference, Carbondale, IL, July 1998.

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