SNAPSHOT OF TROY’S
RESEARCH PROGRAM
A natural phenomena that motivates much of my research is that females of many species are elaborately ornamented (e.g., flamingo, blue jay, tropical orioles/tanagers/warblers/hummingbirds).
© 2006 Troy Murphy
The evolution of female ornamentation is intriguing because females do not typically use elaborate signals to attract mates (as do males). Some of my previous and ongoing work provides evidence that females are instead using ornamentation to communicate their dominance or fighting ability