My lab is interested in exploring the basis for this seemingly absent acoustic response. These questions are explored in part through anatomical analyses, but also through a sophisticated computer system which allows us to record, quantify, modify, and play back any sound. Recently we have been using a variety of techniques to investigate the neural basis of hearing in snakes. Cloacal popping in snakes. Functional morphology of behavior.
Vertebrates exhibit a wide array of defensive behaviors.
Often similar defensive behaviors are observed in distantly related species, providing a good system to explore such issue as constructional plasticity and parallel evolution. The techniques my lab employs to study behavior vary enormously depending on the particular behavior. Recent studies have used Hall effect sensors to measure the spread of a snake's head, thin layer chromatograhpy to examine chemical messenger substances, and gel electrophoresis to study the venom spat by spitting cobras. The functional morphology of a defensive behavior.