Matching colours: lizards prefer mates with similar colours

by Whiting | Nov 8, 2012 | Behaviour, Lab news, Publications, Science news, Sexual selection

Guillem Pérez i de Lanuza, Enrique Font and Pau Carazo have just published their work on colour assortative mating in the polymorphic lizard Podarcis muralis in Behavioral Ecology. Pau has previously spent time in our lab and works with us on a number of projects. The...

Sex and the single (yellow) frog

by Whiting | Sep 13, 2012 | Behaviour, Frog, Lab news, Sexual selection

Dynamic (physiological) colour change in the context of sexual selection is almost unstudied in frogs. The whirring tree frog (Litoria revelata) is one of several Australian frogs which use colour during sexual advertisement. Grant Webster’s honours project is...

Small-eyed snakes and their aromatic social life

by Whiting | May 13, 2012 | Behaviour, Lab news, Sexual selection

by Mitch Scott The Lizard Lab has experienced a first this past year, with an honours project on the chemical communication in snakes, wrapping up this past April. The project has generated some excitement, both positive and slightly hesitant, with lizard enthusiasts...

Dispatches from the field: spectacular horned lizards, leeches and delicious curries in Sri Lanka

by Whiting | Jan 30, 2012 | Ceratophora tennenttii, Lab news, Lizard ecology, Lizard Lab adventures, Sexual selection, Sri Lanka lizards

I didn’t have internet access in the field, so this dispatch is actually coming from my living-room in Sydney! I have just returned from a field trip with Ruchira Somaweera to the Knuckles Mountain range, which is to the north of Kandy in central Sri Lanka....

Lizard sends ‘invisible’ warning to rivals – Sydney Morning Herald

by Whiting | Sep 16, 2011 | Augrabies flat lizards, Behaviour, Sexual selection, Visual ecology

Take a look at a this article by Max Mason in the Sydney Morning Herlad about Augrabies flat lizards. This is based on new work recently published by Fleishman, Loew and Whiting. It also refers to our previous work on UV-based signals that includes a whole list of...

Best to sleep around to help the kids – if you’re a frog – Sydney Morning Herald

by Whiting | Sep 13, 2011 | Frog, Lab news, Science news, Sexual selection

Here is an article in the Sydney Morning Herald by Max Mason, reporting on work recently published by Phil Byrne and Martin Whiting. Best to sleep around to help the kids – if you’re a...