HCS 7372-001

Seminar in Cognition and Neuroscience: Animal Communication

Course: HCS 7372 - 001
 Room: GR 2.816
Semester: Fall 2000 Class time: Tues 2:00-4:45 pm 
Office: GR 4.126 Office Hours: Wed 2:00-3:00 pm 
Instructor: Dr. Peter Assmann Tel: 972 / 883-2435
Email: assmann@utdallas.edu Web: http://www.utdallas.edu/~assmann/ancom.html

Course Description. Animal Communication is a graduate-level seminar course on animal behavior and communication processes. Animals use a variety of methods to communicate with each other, including visual gestures and displays, vocal calls and songs, chemical signals and odor trails. This course surveys the diverse forms of communication used throughout the animal kingdom, including insects, frogs, birds, bats, cetaceans, monkeys, apes and humans. We will consider the design features that characterize communication systems, and unique adaptations that are exploited in different environmental settings. Sensory and neural mechanisms that underlie the production and perception of communication signals will be studied, as well as the evolutionary and ecological forces that have shaped these systems in their natural environments.

Required Text:
 
Bradbury, J.W. and Vehrencamp, S.L. (1998). Principles of Animal Communication. Sinauer.
Class readings

Books on animal communication
Animal communication web pages


 

Topics covered: Class requirements: