Ph.D. Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, University of Minnesota (2018)
B.S. Zoology and Biomedical Sciences, University of Oklahoma (2012)
B.A. French, University of Oklahoma (2012)

Research Statement

Across non-human animals, communication mediates interactions that have important fitness consequences for individuals. Many animal species communicate acoustically, such that signalers (often males) produce sounds that receivers (often females) use to detect and discriminate among appropriate mates. Receivers impose selection on signalers through mate choice. My lab is interested in how these communication behaviors evolve by sexual selection in the real world, when signals are multivariate (i.e., they vary within and between signalers in multiple dimensions), signalers behave inconsistently, and communication takes place in noisy, socially complex environments. We work mainly with native treefrogs in East Tennessee.

1. Jaya, FR*, JC Tanner*, MR Whitehead, P Doughty, JS Keogh, CC Moritz, and RC Catullo. Reproductive interference causes reproductive character displacement between populations of Toadlet (Uperoleia: Myobatrachidae: Anura). Molecular Ecology 31(17): 4527-4543. Doi: 10.1111/mec.16597

*Co-first authors

2. Tanner, JC, ER Johnson, and M Zuk. 2022. Is plasticity in field cricket mating behavior mediated by experience of song quality? Animal Behaviour 187: 253-262.
3. Tanner, JC and LW Simmons. 2021. Spoiled for Choice: Number of signalers constrains the expression of female mating preferences for acoustic signals. Behavioral Ecology 33(2): 364-375. https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/arab136
4. Tanner, JC and MA Bee. 2020. Species recognition constrained by chorus noise, but not within-individual variation in signal production, in Cope’s gray treefrog (Hyla chrysoscelis). Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 8:256. Doi: 10.3389/fevo.2020.00256
5. Tanner, JC and MA Bee. 2020. Inconsistent sexual signaling degrades optimal mating decisions in animals. Science Advances 6: eaax3957. Doi: 10.1126/sciadv.aax3957
6. Tanner, JC, J Justison, and MA Bee. 2020. SynSing: a graphical user interface for design of synthetic animal signals in MATLAB. Bioacoustics 29(6): 731-752. Doi: 10.1080/09524622.2019.1674694
7. Tanner, JC, E Swanger, and M Zuk. 2019. Sexual signal loss in field crickets maintained despite strong sexual selection favoring singing males. Evolution 73(7): 1482-1489.
8. Tanner, JC and MA Bee. 2019. Within-individual variation in sexual displays: signal or noise? Behavioral Ecology 30(1): 80-91.
9. Tanner, JC, LM Garbe, and M Zuk. 2019. When virginity matters: age and mating status affect measures of female responsiveness in crickets. Animal Behaviour 147: 83-90.
10. Ditmer, MA, LK Werden, JC Tanner, JB Vincent, PA Iaizzo, TG Laske, and DL Garshelis. 2019. Bears habituate to the repeated exposure of a novel stimulus, unmanned aerial vehicles. Conservation Physiology 7(1): coy067.
11. Tanner, JC, JL Ward, RG Shaw, and MA Bee. 2017. Multivariate phenotypic selection on a sexual signal. Evolution 71(7): 1742-1754.
12. Zuk, M, JC Tanner, E Schmidtman, MA Bee, and S Balenger. 2017. Calls of recently introduced coquí frogs do not interfere with cricket phonotaxis in Hawaii. Journal of Insect Behavior 30(1): 60-69.
13. Ward, JL, EK Love, AT Baugh, NM Gordon, JC Tanner, and MA Bee. 2015. Progesterone and prostaglandin F2α induce species-typical female preferences for male sexual displays in Cope’s gray treefrog (Hyla chrysoscelis). Physiology & Behavior 152(2015): 280-287.
14. Werden, LK, JB Vincent, JC Tanner, and MA Ditmer. 2015. Not quite free yet: clarifying UAV regulatory progress for ecologists. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 13(10): 534-535.
15. Ditmer, MA, JB Vincent, LK Werden, JC Tanner, TG Laske, PA Iaizzo, DL Garshellis, and JR Fieberg. 2015. Bears show a physiological but limited behavioral response to unmanned aerial vehicles. Current Biology 25: 1-6.
16. Makowicz, AM, JC Tanner, E Dumas, and I Schlupp. 2015. Pre-existing biases for swords in mollies (Poecilia). Behavioral Ecology 27(1): 175-184. doi:1093/beheco/arv130