GIL G. ROSENTHAL

Associate Professor
Biology

Department of Biology
Texas A&M University
TAMU 3258
College Station, TX 77843-3258
Office: 204A Butler Hall (map)
Phone: 979.845.3614
Fax: 979.845.2891
E-mail: grosenthal@mail.bio.tamu.edu
Rosenthal Lab
Department Web page

Keywords: Evolution of animal communication

Interests:
My principal research goal is to address the diversity of systems animals use to communicate with one another, both at the level of proximate mechanisms and in an evolutionary sense. Effectively, I am asking how the biotic and abiotic environment shapes the relationship between a communication signal and its receiver. Research in my laboratory takes an integrative approach, combining field observations and measurements of communication parameters with laboratory analyses of behavioral, physiological, and molecular mechanisms. We use a range of techniques in the field and in the lab, including video playback of computer animations, spectroradiometry, and microspectrophotometry. My own primary focus is on visual and olfactory communication in teleost fishes, but students in my laboratory work on a broad range of systems and topics in behavioral ecology.

Selected Publications:
N. J. Fabian, L. B. Albright, G. Gerlach, H. S. Fisher, and G. G. Rosenthal 2007. Humic acid interferes with species recognition in zebrafish (Danio rerio). J. Chem. Ecol. 2090-2096.

G. G. Rosenthal 2007. Spatiotemporal aspects of visual signals in animal communication. Annu. Rev. Ecol. Evol. Syst. 38: 155-178.

H. S. Fisher and G. G. Rosenthal 2007. Male swordtails court with an audience in mind. Biol. Lett. 3: 5-7.

S. W. Coleman and G. G. Rosenthal 2006. Swordtail fry attend to chemical and visual cues in detecting predators and conspecifics. PLoS One 1: e118.

H. S. Fisher and G. G. Rosenthal 2006. Hungry females show stronger mating preferences. Behav. Ecol. 17: 979-981.

H. S. Fisher, B. B. M. Wong, and G. G. Rosenthal 2006. Alteration of the chemical environment disrupts communication in a freshwater fish. Proceedings: Biological Sciences 273: 1187–1193.

B. B. M. Wong and G. G. Rosenthal 2006. Female disdain for swords in a swordtail fish. Am. Nat. 167: 136-140.

B. B. M. Wong, H. S. Fisher, and G. G. Rosenthal 2005. Species recognition by male swordtails via chemical cues. Behav. Ecol. 16: 818-822.

B. B. M. Wong, C. Bibeau, K. Bishop, and G. G. Rosenthal 2005. Response to perceived predation threat in fiddler crabs: trust thy neighbor as thyself? Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 58: 345-350.

G. G. Rosenthal, A. S. Rand, and M. J. Ryan 2004.The vocal sac as a visual cue in anuran communication:an experimental analysis using video playback.Anim. Behav. 68: 55-58.

G. G. Rosenthal, X. F. de la Rosa Reyna, S. Kazianis, M. J. Stephens, D. C. Morizot, M. J. Ryan, and F. J. Garcia de Leon 2003. Dissolution of sexual signal complexes in a hybrid zone between the swordtails Xiphophorus birchmanni and Xiphophorus malinche(Poeciliidae). Copeia 2003: 299-307.

G. G. Rosenthal, T. Y. Flores Martinez, F. J. García de León, and M. J. Ryan 2001. Shared preferences by predators and females for male ornaments in swordtails. Am. Nat. 158: 146-154.

G. G. Rosenthal and C. S. Evans 1998. Female preference for swords in Xiphophorus helleri reflects a bias for large apparent size. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 95: 4431-4436.