Name: Conor Taff
Major Professor: Gail L. Patricelli
Department: Evolution and Ecology (Div Bio Sci)
Lab Phone: 530-754-7837
Email: cctaff@ucdavis.edu
Web Site: http://www.eve.ucdavis.edu/gpatricelli/index.html
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BA -
Skidmore College -
Environmental Studies: Biology Concentration -
2005
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School For International Training -
Coastal Ecology, Tanzania -
2003
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School For Field Studies -
Marine Ecology, Turks & Caicos, BWI -
2004
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Research Interests
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I am interested in communication via elaborate signals in the context of mate choice and sexual selection. I am working with Common Yellowthroat warblers to try to understand mate choice on two fronts. First, why do females attend to male signals at all? If male signals are honest indicators of male quality, what mechanisms maintain that honesty and prevent males from cheating? Second, I am interested in the way that multiple signals (such as plumage ornaments and elaborate song) interract to influence mate choice. Why are multiple signals (often in multiple modalities) better than one signal and what additional benefit do males and females receive by utilizing multiple signals in mate attraction or selection?
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Publications
Freeman-Gallant, CR, Taff, CC, Morin, DF, Dunn, PO, Whittingham, LA, & Tsang, SM 2009. Sexual Selection, multiple male ornaments, and age- and condition-dependent signaling in the common yellowthroat. Evolution. In Press.
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