Dr. Emily H. DuVal

My primary area of interest is behavioral ecology. My research program explores the evolution of social behavior in animals, particularly birds, with an emphasis on cooperation, sexual selection, and reproductive strategies. I combine field studies of behavior, demography, and morphology with genetic analyses of the relationships between individuals to test hypotheses about the forces that create and maintain social complexity. My current projects investigate (1) the adaptive basis of female mate choice in the absence of direct benefits (i.e. territory quality or paternal care); (2) the effects of complex mating strategies on temporal and spatial genetic variation at the population level; (3) the mechanisms of mate choice from both male and female perspectives; and (4) the balance between male competition and female mate choice in determining the opportunity for sexual selection to occur. My present research uses lance-tailed manakins (<i>Chiroxiphia lanceolata</i>) as a model system, but research in my lab is not limited by taxon. I am currently accepting applications from prospective graduate students.

Rivers, P.R.R., P. E. Bolton, C. N. Balakrishnan, E.H. DuVal (under review) Predictors of major histocompatibility complex copy number across the passerine bird radiation. Dietz, S.A., DuVal, E.H., and Cox, J.A. (in revision) Natal habitat preference induction does not explain settlement decisions in Brown-headed Nuthatches. Rivers, P.R. and E.H. DuVal. (2024) Chemical communication in the mating behavior of a highly polygynous bird. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology. 78: 69 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-024-03477-0 DuVal, E.H., C.L. Fitzpatrick, E.A.Hobson, M.R. Servedio. (2023) Inferred Attractiveness: a generalized mechanism for sexual selection that can maintain variation in traits and preferences over time. PLoS Biology 21(10): e3002269. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.30