Jessie C. Tanner
@jessiectanner.bsky.social
Animal behaviorist interested in acoustic communication. Our lab works on sexual signaling in treefrogs and Orthoptera. General enthusiast. ᏣᎳᎩ ᎦᏬᏂᎯᏍᏗ ᏗᎦᏕᎶᏆᏍᎩ (Cherokee language learner). she/her. #newPI
NSF is touting a dozen new solicitations announced this week as evidence that basic research still rules. But that's not what's really going on. www.science.org/content/arti...
Is NSF’s new call for research proposals good news? Scientists and staffers have doubts
The long-delayed 12 solicitations only cover some disciplines—and promise to give them much less money
science.org
I was interviewed about our latest paper for the CBC program As It Happens, and the interview is supposed to air tonight or tomorrow (looks like it usually broadcasts at 6:30 p.m. across most Canadian timezones). Let me know if you hear it! 👂cbc.ca/asithappens
Home | As It Happens | CBC Radio
CBC Radio's As It Happens' listening experience is like taking a trip around the world. From the complex headlines of the day to the weird and wacky, As It Happens brings you the story behind the story!
cbc.ca
Jessie C. Tanner@jessiectanner.bsky.social · last wk.Treefrogs faced with too many potential mates can't always get what they want. We have a new paper out in iScience distinguishing between the ideas of choice overload and energetic masking in treefrog mate choice using acoustic signals. www.cell.com/iscience/ful...
My Department at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign invites applications from entomologists with research portfolios in which INSECT BIODIVERSITY LOSS is a key element (at the assistant professor level). illinois.csod.com/ux/ats/caree...
Our cutleaf coneflower, ᏐᏣᎾ in ᏣᎳᎩ Cherokee, proving breakfast for ᏩᏓᎦ an American goldfinch. Can you spot him? #nativeplants
We have a new review in the upcoming volume of the Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics. 👀 doi.org/10.1146/annu... #animalcommunication #animalbehavior
Exploding the Dyad: Animal Communication in Multiple Dimensions
Animal communication behaviors are complex, dynamic, conspicuous, and often critically important for individual fitness as well as sociality. For these reasons, animal communication has been of intere...
doi.org
Treefrogs faced with too many potential mates can't always get what they want. We have a new paper out in iScience distinguishing between the ideas of choice overload and energetic masking in treefrog mate choice using acoustic signals. www.cell.com/iscience/ful...
Choice overload constrains mate choice independent of energetic masking
Biological sciences; Evolutionary ecology; Animal behavior
cell.com
We will be featuring our #SICB student awardees weekly over the next several weeks. Meet the Elizabeth Adkins-Regan Awardee for best poster: Trina Chou working with Dr. Jessie Tanner at the University of Tennessee, Congrats Trina!!! & read the image description #amphibians #biology #science
Some Hawaiian cricket populations are losing the ability to sing. Males on Oahu invest more in sperm competition than males on Kauai by making more sperm and packing more proteins to increase sperm viability and slow female remating: @jessiectanner.bsky.social et al. (2025) doi.org/10.1093/jeb/...
Ejaculate investment differs by population, but not wing morph or perceived sperm competition risk, in Pacific field crickets
Abstract. Conspicuous sexual signals are frequently under selection from conflicting sources, such as natural versus sexual selection and precopulatory ver
doi.org
New paper out in Journal of Evolutionary Biology! Using a field cricket undergoing rapid sexual signal loss, we looked at whether seminal fluid proteins could explain differences in paternity success between males capable of sexual signaling and mutant, silent males. academic.oup.com/jeb/advance-...
Ejaculate investment differs by population, but not wing morph or perceived sperm competition risk, in Pacific field crickets
Abstract. Conspicuous sexual signals are frequently under selection from conflicting sources, such as natural versus sexual selection and precopulatory ver
academic.oup.com
New work from our lab out today in Ecology & Evolution! Trina Chou led this study testing the hypothesis that sexual signals reflect infection. She worked with spring peepers 🐸 naturally infected with Bd, the pathogen that causes chytridiomycosis (#chytrid). onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Do I Sound Sick? Condition‐Dependent Advertisement Signals in Naturally Infected Frogs
To understand whether infection has negative, sublethal effects on frog courtship behaviors, we conducted an observational field study of the effects of infection on spring peepers (Pseudacris crucif...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
New paper today in ProcB! We measured sexual selection on temporally emergent properties of treefrog calls – call rate and regularity – and found that while ♀ prefer fast & regular calls, selection weakens changes shape as the number of choices increases. royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
Complex choice environments shelter unattractive signallers from sexual selection | Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
For many animals, options abound when choosing a mate in socially complex environments like a breeding chorus or lek. In such environments, receivers often choose their mate based on individual differ...
royalsocietypublishing.org
If you're out and about in the evenings, keep an eye out for tree crickets performing their incredible signaling behavior! Ashlesh could use some #communityScience help investigating its evolution. #newPI #animalBehavior #citizenScience #behavioralEcology
Ashlesh Pattanaik@orthopterizzt.bsky.social · last yr.Tree crickets build megaphones, called "baffles", by chewing holes in leaves to attract mates. For my PhD, I am studying the evolution of baffling. Lil bit of phylogenetics, lil bit of citizen science. Follow the link to my new project on @inaturalist.bsky.social www.inaturalist.org/projects/baf...
I never remember to bring a tripod and my camera work is shaky, but look at this little guy calling his lungs out. Cope's gray treefrog recorded in East Tennessee in May of this year.
My new paper with Claire Hemingway is officially out today in Trends in Cognitive Sciences, with page numbers and everything. We review what's known about choice overload in non-humans, and discuss its possible ecological & evolutionary consequences. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Choice overload and its consequences for animal decision-making
Animals routinely make decisions with important consequences for their survival and reproduction, but they frequently make suboptimal decisions. Here,…
sciencedirect.com
Bioacoustics fans, here's an opportunity to help fund a cool web tool to teach about sounds: www.indiegogo.com/projects/sou...
SoundLab: A free web app for exploring sounds
Help us open up the world of sound for teachers, students, and acoustics nerds everywhere! | Check out 'SoundLab: A free web app for exploring sounds' on Indiegogo.
indiegogo.com
Here is a write up from the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Tennessee about my recent paper with Claire Hemingway.
Choice Overload - College of Arts and Sciences
Does it get overwhelming? UT faculty team investigates how animals react to overwhelming options. Humans can have a lot to consider when working out the best choices for their needs: buying a car, cho...
artsci.utk.edu
Academics, how many student dissertation committees are you on right now?
I know it's small in the whole scheme of things, but the bloodbath at NPS in Hawaii is almost certainly going to lead directly to the extinctions of no fewer than 4 native Hawaiian songbirds in the next 4-5 years.
ᏩᎶᏏ ᏓᎾᎵᎪᎲᏍᎨᏍᏗ. ᏥᏈᏍᏗ ᏧᏓᎴᏅᏓ ᎠᏆᏛᏁᏗ ᏄᏍᏗ ᎠᏆᏛᏁᎢᏍᏙᏗ.* *The frogs will be getting together soon. There are a lot of things I need to do to get ready. (Also, @bsky.app lacks a Cherokee language option in the list, so they should get on that??)
Claire Hemingway and I have a new paper in Trends in Cognitive Sciences about choice overload and its ecological and evolutionary consequences in non-human animals. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... #behavioralEcology #behavioralEconomics #newPI
Choice overload and its consequences for animal decision-making
Animals routinely make decisions with important consequences for their survival and reproduction, but they frequently make suboptimal decisions. Here,…
sciencedirect.com
Big nerd for tiny animals; accurate.
c0nc0rdance@c0nc0rdance.bsky.social · 2y agoIn the forests of Southern Madagascar, three frog species were discovered in 2019 that represent the very lower limit of vertebrate size: < 9 mm long. The genus was named "Mini", and the three species are: Mini mum Mini ature Mini scule (scientists are nerds, okay?)
I feel like it might be a bad sign that I'm now thinking of my to-do list less like an agenda and more like a trolley problem
