Joe Macedonia

Research Interests: Effects of interplay between natural selection and sexual selection on signal evolution, signal perception and recognition, information conveyed with signals, visual ecology.

My general research interest lies in the design and evolution of animal signals and color patterns. Factors such as predator pressure, details of sensory systems, prey choice, and sexual selection are among the many forces – collectively termed ‘sensory drive’ – that influence the direction of signal evolution. For the most part I have used lemurs and lizards as my model systems for the study of vocal and visual signals, respectively.
My research on lemurs vocal signals in the 1980’s covered topics such individual variation, alarm call meaning, and the use of vocal and other signals in phylogenetic analysis. My work on visual signals in anoles (Anolis sp.) during the 1990’s included comparative studies of their headbobbing motion signals, determination of structural and pigment-based dewlap colors, and assessment of relationships between dewlap coloration and habitat light.


Since 2000 I have been studying the effects of sensory drive on coloration in collared lizards (Crotaphytus sp). Males in some species are extremely variable in body coloration, and this variation appears to stem from tradeoffs brought about by the influences of natural and sexual selection at the scale of local populations. As collared lizards and their lizard prey possess essentially identical visual systems, a balance must be struck between the advantages of cryptic coloration for predation success (as well as avoiding predation) and the advantages of conspicuous coloration for female mate choice and male-male competition.


Here at ASU I work with members of the Rutowski Lab on detailing the mechanisms underlying pigmentary and structural coloration in butterflies, as well as the reproductive consequences of this coloration.
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