Noa Danthony - PhD Student 2024/2027

Supervised by Francesco Bonadonna (CEFE-CNRS) and Leonida Fusani (University of Vienna)

In cotutelle with Vienna (Austria)

Contact

CNRS - CEFE UMR5175, 1919 Route de Mende, 34283 Montpellier

Aile B Etage 2 Office 206

Biologiezentrum der Universität Wien, Djerassipl. 1, 1030 Wien, Austria

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CV

• 2022-2024 Master in Ethology and Ecology, Université Jean Monnet – Saint Etienne
  • 2^nd year Master thesis: Vocal properties in alarm calls related to mobbing behavior in lapwings (Vanellus sp.), University of South Bohemia, Ceske Budejovice (Czech Republic)- supervised by Guillaume Dillenseger
  • 1^st year Master thesis: Assortative learning in pairs tends to reduce individual variation in performance: an experiment with zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata), University of Montreal (Canada) - supervised by Frédérique Dubois
• 2019-2022 Bachelor in Biology of Organism and Population, Université Jean Monnet – Saint Etienne

Research interests

I am interested in animal communication, a subject that explores the many ways animals exchange information with one another. This research allows me to deepen our understanding of social interactions, reproductive behaviors, and species' adaptation strategies. More recently, my focus has shifted specifically toward mate choice in animals, a crucial aspect of species survival and evolution. In particular, I am interested in courtship displays—those complex and often spectacular behaviors that play a key role in sexual selection.

Project

In this project, I aim to understand how the different components of the courtship display in King Penguins are functionnally integrated. The King Penguin is a monomorphic species, where both sexes perform complex displays to attract potential mates. A courtship display, in the case of King Penguins, can involve several types of signaling such as postures, vocalizations, colorful ornamentations (such as ear patches, beak and breast), and sometimes even olfactory cues, making this a multimodal courtship. By studying these signals in an integrated way, I hope to gain a better understanding of their specific and combined roles in the process of sexual selection. This research involves taking videos and audio recordings of the courtship displays, as well as spectrographic data of plumage coloration, to explore the functional relationships between the different signals involved in mate attraction.