What are the behavioral and evolutionary consequences for organisms with imperfect or incomplete environmental information?

Professor, Zoology; Kellogg Biological Station

My research focuses on the role of information in various aspects of animal behavior, including: predator-prey interactions, territorial and cooperative behavior, habitat and mate choice and the maintenance of phenotypic plasticity. I have often used signal detection theory to approach these phenomena as discrimination problems. Most of my empirical work has been with birds and mammals but my students' projects have included insects, spiders, fish and plants, as well. Recently, I have been working on the problem of reliable signalling by approaching signals as life history traits.

Getty, T. 1998. Handicap signalling: When viability and fecundity do not add up. Animal Behavior 56:127-130.

Getty, T. 1998. Reliable signalling need not be a handicap. Animal Behavior 56:253-255.

Getty, T. 1998. What do experimental studies tell us about group selection in nature? American Naturalist. In press.

Getty, T. 1998. Chase away sexual selection as noisy reliable signalling. Evolution. In press.