Dr. Paul C. Mundinger

Professor

Ph.D. (Cornell University)

Office: NSB B-336 - Tel: (718) 997-3406

Lab: Razran - 120 - Tel (718) 997 - 3615  

E-mail: paul.mundinger@qc.cuny.edu

Research interests:

My research interests are in the area of vertebrate behavior, and in particular the analysis of avian vocal communication systems (bird calls and songs), and mechanisms of bird song learning. Since songbird songs are culturally transmitted, for over the past decade work in my lab has focused on the cultural component of songbird singing behavior. The cardueline finches, and in particular both domesticated and wild canaries, are used to investigate cultural evolution of song patterns in wild populations, the effect of migration and dispersal on (song) culture change, the genetic basis of song learning predispositions, and the role of social factors on song learning.

The basic approach is that of ethology and behavioral ecology (sociobiology). Laboratory studies utilize rearing newly hatched songbirds in sound chambers to control their tutor experience; and genetic breeding experiments. Field studies in the continental U.S. and in the north Atlantic island range of the wild canary (Canary Islands, Madeira, Azores) focus on song dialect analyses, the role of song in sexual selection, dispersal, colonization, and social organization in local populations. Much of the field data analysis involves comparative analysis of song patterns collected from many different local populations.

The recent focus on my lab had been to contribute both empirical evidence and theory development to the emerging fields of bio-cultural coevolution (which examines the interplay of genes and culture), and cognitive ethology. As a result, anthropology, linguistics, and psychology are important allied fields of interest.

Selected Publications: