I am interested in understanding how behavior has evolved and which factors have influenced it, spanning both cultural and evolutionary timescales. I am also interested in the possible macro-evolutionary consequences of these processes. I tackle these questions by studying the communication systems of (mostly neotropical) taxa, making use of ‘single species’ behavioral studies, comparative phylogenetic methods and cutting-edge data analyses.
I also enjoy developing my own computational tools for customizing data analysis. I’m deeply involved in the development of software packages for the analysis of behavioral data. I have created the R package warbleR that provides functions to streamline high-throughput acoustic analysis of animal sounds. I also made available two R packages, Rraven and NatureSounds, that aim to simplify the use of R for bioacoustic research. More recently I released the R packages baRulho, to quantify acoustic signal transmission and degradation, and ohun, to optimize automatic detection. New functions as well as other more elaborated analyses are detailed in my blog coded bioacoustics.
Publications
Software packages
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Mentees
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Jorge Elizondo-Calvo
I’m a third-year undergraduate student majoring in Biology at the University of Costa Rica. My academic journey has been focused on the application of computational tools to deepen our understanding of the ecological roles played by diverse animals, including amphibians, birds, and mammals.
Fabiola Chirino
I am a biologist with experience in ecology and bioacoustics of frogs and acoustic recognition software programming. I have more than five years of experience in field work focused on the observation of frog and mammal species in their habitat.
Marcos Quiroz-Oliva
I’m a Mexican student with a self-motivated and deeply involved in ecology, evolution, and behavior studies utilizing bioacoustic signals, and with a love for open-source analysis languages and tools. In my master’s degree in the University of Costa Rica with the tutorship of Marcelo, we are aiming to identify the mechanisms shaping acoustic structure in the cultural evolution of songs in the lekking Long-billed Hermit hummingbird (Phaethornis longirostris) using 50 years of acoustic data.
Jimena Viquez
I am currently in my forth-year as an undergraduate biology student at the University of Costa Rica. My main focus is in wildlife management, ecology, ecosystem conservation, animal behavior and climate change.
Courses
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