Konrad Lorenz Institute of Ethology, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna

Most of my academic education took place between the University of Bologna and the University of Turin (Italy), from which I graduated in 2017 in Evolution of Animal and Human Behaviour. My biological background has fuelled my deep fascination for the biological foundations of animal behaviour and its ultimate causation. More specifically, I have always been passionate about exaggerated sexual traits and elaborate courtship displays, particularly in birds. My main research questions concern the influence of asocial and social experience on the development of sexual complex displays in an Australian avian species, the spotted bowerbird (Ptilonorhynchus macultus). I am currently investigating whether social interactions between juvenile inexperienced males and sexually mature adult males may result in the acquisition of attractive courtship elements by the former.

Funded by Austrian Science Fund (FWF), Doctoral College Cognition and Communication 2

giovanni.spezie@vetmeduni.ac.at

Find Giovanni’s publications here