Welcome to the sensory ecology lab at the University of Windsor!
We study how animals use sound and vibrations to find food, avoid predators, and reproduce. Most of our research explores the acoustic world of bats and their insect prey. We address research questions using an interdisciplinary approach combining physiological, behavioural, ecological, and phylogenetic data, obtained both in the lab and in the field.
Click on the links above to learn more about our research and our team.
We study how animals use sound and vibrations to find food, avoid predators, and reproduce. Most of our research explores the acoustic world of bats and their insect prey. We address research questions using an interdisciplinary approach combining physiological, behavioural, ecological, and phylogenetic data, obtained both in the lab and in the field.
Click on the links above to learn more about our research and our team.
Research
Finding foodBats use echolocation to avoid obstacles and find insect prey while flying in the dark. Echolocation involves producing loud sounds (echolocation calls) and listening for the calls to reflect off objects in the animal's surroundings. The echoes provide information about the distance, direction, and nature of nearby objects.
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Avoiding PredatorsMany insects can have ears that can detect the echolocation calls of bats. When these insects hear bats, they perform evasive maneuvers, such as flying away from the bat or diving towards the ground. We study how sensory systems and behaviour coevolve to give animals adaptive antipredator defences.
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Finding matesMany insects, such as crickets and katydids, produce sounds to attract potential mates. Their calling songs, however, can also attract predators, such as gleaning bats. We study how communication in animals is influenced by the conflicting pressures of needing to attract mates while avoiding predators.
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Hannah ter Hofstede
Assistant Professor Department of Integrative Biology University of Windsor Windsor, Ontario, Canada |
Contact me:
hannahth(at)uwindsor.ca Office: Biology Building Room 32 Lab: Biology Building Room 33 |