November 2024

RECOGNITION OF DONALD GRIFFIN AND ANIMAL COGNITION
in Animal Sentience, volume 35, November 2024

His insight that communication is the window on cognition
can now be recognized as correct . . . provided that
the focus is on communication in noise!

In a selection of papers commenting on Ristau's recent biography of
Donald Griffin and his studies of complex behavior and cognition of animals.

June 2023

TWO NEW BOOKS BY WILEY
at amazon.com on 20 June 2023

Noise in the Evolution of Communication and Thought:
How Natural Selection and Noise Shape Human and Animal Minds
extends discussion of the effects of noise on signaling
with consequences for natural selection, development,
communication, language, and consciousness

Lessons Afield: Aventures in Nature
with Students and Other Living Things
recounts adventures while teaching field zoology
near and far afield

MORE INFORMATION ON THE MAIN PAGE

June 2023

LEKKING RUFFS NEAR THE ARCTIC OCEAN IN NORWAY
2 - 4 June 2023

Three leks beside lakes in tundra
with lots of action by males but females still not visiting frequently

Arriving white males immediately approach and bow to black/brown males
all males perform flutter-jumps when females pass but white males jump higher

My thirteenth lekking species observed since 2014!

May 2023

LEKKING GREAT SNIPE ON A MOUNTAINTOP IN SWEDEN
28 May 2023

On mountain tundra at midnight in crepuscular light
lots of action by males and a female or two
despite near-zero (C) temps and a north wind

In hummocky tundra with deep (50-60 cm) troughs
males dart like rodents through the troughs
to encounter rival males and females
with asymmetrical displays that reveal
large white sides of tail and white spots on wings

Bizarre clicking sounds (by rapid bill movements)
were surprising audible above the stiff wind!

My twelfth lekking species observed since 2014!

February 2022

ORCHID POPULATION MONITORING
from May 2020 to present -- central and southeastern North Carolina populations of almost 40 species of orchids monitored regularly --
without disturbance

orchids are nature's great deceivers!
their deception (taking more than they give) extends from
soil fungi (for germination and growth) to pollinators (for reproduction)

their population biology (phenology, predictability, leaf and seed production)
might reveal some general principles of deception in communication

follow the field work on iNaturalist.org -- rhwiley

July 2020

WHY SHOULD WE PAY ATTENTION TO NOISE?
Animal Behavior Society, ABS2020, July 2020

watch a "lightning talk" by Wiley
about why noise matters for the study of behavior --
because it changes how to think about communication,
mate preferences, speciation, social behavior,
as well as human language and cognition!

Why Should We Pay Attention to Noise? -- play or download ABS2020 video

February 2020

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF EVOLUTIONARY PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCES
Springer International, Cham, 2020

publishes a fifth article online by Wiley
on natural selection as an interaction between genes and environment at all levels
of biological organization -- and as the basis for understanding all adaptation by evolution

Natural Selection -- [article] -- [citation]

August 2018

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF EVOLUTIONARY PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCES
Springer International, Cham (2018)

publishes four articles online by Wiley
on how communication and perception in noise
result in the evolution of basic psychological processes
in all animals including humans

Evolution of Communication -- [article] -- [citation]
Design Features of Language -- [article] -- [citation]
Evolution of Self-awareness -- [article] -- [citation]
Evolution of Free Will -- [article] -- [citation]

July 2018

Amazonian birds of the Department of Loreto, Peru

within an area the size of North Carolina stretching from the Andes far into Amazonia
for over 800 kilometers from the base of the Andes eastward to the border of Brazil,
the relief is no more than 165 m (85 to 250 meters above sea level)
in an area transected by enormous rivers (Amazonas, Napo, Ucayali, Maranon and others)

A new bilingual list summarizes the astounding avifauna of this region (>775 species)
and for each species tabulates habitat specialization, migratory status, and limitations by major rivers

Wiley, R. H., J. Diaz-Alvan, and J. Alvarez-Alonso. 2018.
Aves de Loreto Bajo / Birds of Lowland Loreto.
topazapyra press, Carrboro, NC. 22 pages.

[for sale on amazon.com for $3 plus postage] -- or by sending $3 directly to Wiley!

August 2016 / February 2017

HOW NOISE DETERMINES THE EVOLUTION OF COMMUNICATION

Wiley, R. H. 2017. How noise determines the evolution of communication.
Animal Behaviour 124: 307-313   (online, 13 August 2016)

Wiley's essay highlights 12 principles for the evolution of communication
and clarifies two ways that novel signals and responses can evolve

The essay emphasizes the wide application of noise for
understanding the evolution of communication.

May 2016

reviews of Wiley's book "NOISE MATTERS: THE EVOLUTION OF COMMUNICATION"

are posted on his Author's page at amazon.com

May 2015

Wiley's new book "NOISE MATTERS: THE EVOLUTION OF COMMUNICATION"

is now being shipped to bookstores and amazon.com.

For the latest news . . . http://rhwiley.bio.unc.edu/noise_matters/index.html

December 2013

Henrik Brumm's edited book, Animal Communication and Noise (Springer)

includes an introductory chapter by Wiley . . .

Wiley, R. H. 2014. Signal detection, noise, and the evolution of communication. In H. Brumm, editor. Animal communication and noise. Springer.

. . . an introduction to the evolution of communication in noise . . .

a subject about which this site should have more to say before long!!

July 2013

in honor of R. H. Wiley and his many students

SPECIAL ISSUE of the journal BEHAVIOUR (Vol. 150, Nos. 9-10)

EVOLUTION OF ANIMAL COMMUNICATION
http://booksandjournals.brillonline.com/content/1568539x/150/9-10O

edited by Wiley's former students Marc Naguib and Jordan Price
and including articles by other former students, graduate and undergraduate,
and by other colleagues ...

also Wiley's mathematical analysis of ...

A receiver-signaler equilibrium in the evolution of communication in noise.
Behaviour 150: 957-993.

May 2013

INFORMATION IN ANIMAL COMMUNICATION
a clarification of some theoretical issues

a chapter in ...

Communication as a transfer of information: measurement, mechanism, and meaning.
In U. Stegmann, editor.   Animal communication theory: information and influence.
Cambridge Univ. Press.   Pp. 113-129. [Summary]

January 2013

AN OVERVIEW OF THREE DECADES OF RESEARCH ON INDIVIDUAL RECOGNITION
conducted by many members of the Wiley lab

with emphasis on the crucial importance of individual recognition
for the evolution of social behavior

published in Biological Reviews

December 2012

SIXTEENTH EXPEDITION TO LORETO, PERU

Wiley returned with another set of standardized samples of bird songs in Amazonian rainforests -- this time replicating previous sets from north and south of the Rio Amazonas east of the Rio Napo.

June 2012

ANIMAL BEHAVIOR SOCIETY SYMPSIUM:   EVOLUTION OF COMMUNICATION
organized by Marc Naguib and Jordan Price

12 June 2012 -- Albuquerque NM

to recognize the contributions all members of the Wiley lab have made
to studying animal communication over the past four decades!

Publication of contributions is planned for a special issue of Behaviour in 2013

July 2011

WILEY RETIRES -- TO FOCUS ON WRITING AND RESEARCH

effective 1 July 2011 ... after 40 years of teaching

April 2011

110TH OVERNIGHT FIELD TRIP WITH UNDERGRADS

Wiley just completed his 110th overnight field trip (since 1989) with an undergraduate class ...
without major mishap.
Highlights this time included three Common Eiders on the NC coast in April and from the same spot displaying Sandwich Terns and nesting Wilson's Plovers!

December 2010

NEW LIGHT ON THE LARGEST COLLECTION OF AVIAN SPECIMENS FROM THE PERUVIAN AMAZON

a major publication corrects misunderstandings about the extensive collections
of Amazonian birds in Peru by Alfonso and Ramon Olalla in 1925-28 ...

Bulletin 343 from the American Museum of Natural History

PERCEPTION OF SONGS HAS GREATER SCOPE THAN SONG PRODUCTION

confirming a prediction for signal detection in noisy environments ...
and introducing the first experiments with morphed birdsongs!

... read all about it in Biology Letters

... and see a related publication in Biology Letters in the preceding year.

Also relevant ...

A CONCISE REVEIW OF SIGNAL TRANSMISSION IN NATURAL ENVIRONMENTS

an article in the new Encyclopedia of Neuroscience