Publications [#229890] of Stephen Nowicki
search PubMed.Papers Published
- Nowicki, S; Westneat, M; Hoese, W, Birdsong: motor function and the evolution of communication,
Seminars in Neuroscience, vol. 4 no. 6
(January, 1992),
pp. 385-390, Elsevier BV [doi] .
(last updated on 2024/08/25)Abstract:
Communication differs from other behaviors in the potential for an arbitrary relationship between a signal's function and the motor patterns used to produce it. Also, signals often incorporate motor patterns that have been co-opted from non-signal behaviors, resulting in a linkage between communication and other behaviors using the same functional systems. We examine possible evolutionary consequences of these attributes of communication, using birdsong as a focus. Syringeal function provides a case where co-adaptation with other behaviors is weak. By contrast, functional systems of the vocal tract have evolved in response to competing influences of divergent selective pressures. © 1992.