FOR PROF. GANNDHI -- please don't spam !!

LING 123 / Donlay

Essay 1: Frogs and Birds

Due 3/14/2017 before midnight

25 Points

Essay 1: Frogs and Birds

TOPIC

Compare and contrast the mating signals of two very different vertebrate orders: anurans (frogs

and toads) and passerines (songbirds). What features do the anuran and passerine mating

vocalizations share in common? What features are different? Discuss the mating signals

themselves (acoustic structure, including elements and complexity), as well as how (anatomy and

physiology) and why (sociology) those particular vocalizations are produced (by speaker) and

preferred (by listener). This discussion should include comparison of the physical and social

environments in which frogs and songbirds live and what kinds of socio-ecological problems

each is required to solve. Your analysis should address each of Tinbergen's four perspectives

on animal behavior: adaptation, mechanism, ontogeny, and phylogeny.

GUIDELINES

Essays are assessed not only for content, but also for grammar, clarity, conciseness, and

coherence. Strive to make your essays accurate, relevant, and organized, and use academic

English. Your writing should demonstrate an understanding of key scientific terms related to

sound and communication, with accurate use of technical terms such as amplitude, spectrum,

conspecific, heterospecific, etc. You might think of this as writing a short article directed towards

an educated layperson, and it should read as a prose essay, not a lab report outlining

observations. The purpose is to assess your writing skills in addition to your understanding of the

material presented in class.

For source material, you may draw on a mix of course lectures, videos, and assigned

readings, but to earn full credit, you must include material from (and cite) at least two

articles from the relevant course readings. No further outside sources are required, though you

are certainly welcome to draw on other research materials if you like. There is no need to provide

citations for material you draw from lectures, unless the material originated from one of the

readings or videos. Properly cite these and any other data drawn from course readings and

videos. (You may use the formal citation style of your choice, so long as you are consistent and

the source and page number of the material is made clear. If you do use additional sources, be

sure to cite them and provide full bibliographical entries.) Otherwise, as with any academic

writing, your work must be your own and in your own words.

FORMATTING AND SUBMISSION

 Provide your own original, descriptive title for your essay. (Do not simply copy and paste “Frogs and Birds”.)

 Your essay must be a minimum of 1500 words long, but no longer than 1700 words. Include the word count at end of the document in square brackets [ ].

 Document formatting should use a 12 pt. font, have 1-inch margins on all sides, and be saved as either a .doc/.docx or .pdf format.

 Your document should include your name, course name and section at the top of the document. The name of the document itself should also include this information, e.g. Jones R

L123-06 E1, Smith Y L123-08 E1, etc. Documents that are not properly named will not be

accepted.

 The essay must be submitted in two ways. One copy should be emailed directly to me by the due date and time in either .doc/.docx or .pdf format. The other should be uploaded to

Turnitin via Canvas. The essay will be considered late if it is not sent to both places before

the deadline.

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