Event Category

Master's Exit Seminar

Date

September 11, 2026

Time

11:00 am

Location

Earth Sciences Centre, ESC 2144

While early research in evolutionary ecology focused on the adaptive functions of static colouration, new studies on dynamic colour change have suggested that its role in signaling and communication may be more widespread than previously thought.

The Trinidadian guppy (Poecilia reticulata) has long been used as a model system to investigate the origins and signalling functions of elaborate colour patterns. Early depictions of this species describe males using dynamic colour change as a courtship display, but little is known about the underlying function of this behaviour.

Turner ran a series of behavioural trial experiments under differing social and environmental contexts to begin unravelling the predictors and potential functions of colour-change displays. Her results suggest that male colour change may function dually as an energetically expensive display of condition and as a means of plastically adjusting the conspicuousness of colour patterns to better balance the trade-offs between female preference for bold patterns and avoiding predation through crypsis.

Supervisor: Helen Rodd

Committee chair: Njall Rollinson