Postdoctoral fellow

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

I completed my PhD at the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna within the Fusanilab, where I investigated the elaborate courtship displays of golden-collared manakins (Manacus vitellinus). Using novel video technologies and markerless 3D motion capture, I studied how these birds produce their highly coordinated courtship dances and how variation in performance influences behaviour and sexual selection.

After my PhD, I spent more than four years as a postdoctoral researcher in the United States and Germany, studying locomotion and biomechanics in wild primates. Working across field sites in Uganda, Madagascar, and Tanzania, I applied advanced motion-capture techniques to understand how animals move through complex natural environments and gained extensive experience in developing new methods for movement analysis in the wild.

Current FWF-funded project: Evolution of elaborate multicomponent courtship displays

For my current project I have returned to continue and expand the research that began during my PhD. Using an updated 3D motion-capture system, I compare courtship displays across different species of Manacus sp. and populations throughout Central and South America, including French Guiana, Costa Rica, Brazil, Ecuador and Panama. By combining detailed analyses of display performance with muscle physiology and genomic approaches, including muscle biopsies and DNA analyses, we aim to understand how complex courtship displays evolve and diversify across species.

Google scholar

judith.janisch@vetmeduni.ac.at