Animal communication involves a transfer of information from signaller to receiver through different sensory channels. Effective communication between conspecifics can sometimes require the use of two or more sensory channels, making the communication multimodal. I am interested in understanding the phylogenetic patterns and ecological drivers of multimodal signalling. My study broadly revolves around three aspects of animal communication and signalling: morphology, behaviour, and environment. As a model system, I plan to use seven species of the day gecko, Cnemaspis, all of whom have male-specific throat-colour and femoral gland secretions that are likely used in social and sexual signalling.
My main objectives are to: Compare the signalling morphology of multiple species of Cnemaspis and determine whether there is a trade-off between visual and chemical signals; Quantify behavioural responses of male and female conspecifics to each visual and chemical signal separately and simultaneously and determine the relative importance of the two signals in multimodal communication; and Understand how current microhabitat conditions affect the morphology and behaviour associated with multimodal signalling in multiple species of Cnemaspis.