Publications

Full list of peer-reviewed articles, preprints, and conference proceedings. See also Google Scholar.

Preprints & Manuscripts in Review

Zebra finch females flexibly communicate with each other and with AI-driven acoustic interaction models

James LS*, Hoffman B*, Liu J-Y*, Miron M, Alizadeh M‡, Fernandez E‡, Geist M‡, Kim D‡, Raskin A‡, Sakata JT, Chemla E†, Pietquin O†, Woolley SC† *co-first authors, †co-supervising authors, ‡listed alphabetically

bioRxiv (submitted)

bioRxiv Preprint

Humans share acoustic preferences with other animals

James LS, Woolley SC, Sakata JT, Hilton CB, Ryan MJ, Mehr SA

bioRxiv (accepted)

bioRxiv Preprint

Pervasive patterns in the songs of passerine birds resemble human music universals

James LS, Oudyk K, Wall EM, Chen Y, Pearse WD, Sakata JT

bioRxiv (resubmitted)

bioRxiv Preprint

Peer-Reviewed Publications

25

A dopamine agonist affects the social decision-making of calling male túngara frogs

James LS, Woolley SC*, Ryan MJ* (2025) *co-supervising authors

Hormones and Behavior

DOI
24

Temporal organization of song modulates vocal learning

James LS, Ruge O, Sakata JT (2025)

iScience

DOI
iScience journal cover featuring a zebra finch
23

The ontogeny of decision-making in an eavesdropping predator

James LS, O’Mara MT, Touchon JC, Ryan MJ, Bernal XE*, Page RA* (2025) *co-supervising authors

Proceedings of the Royal Society B

DOI National Geographic Nature The Washington Post NPR Short Wave
22

Consistent decisions of a predator facing potentially poisonous prey

Galletta KJ, James LS, Harp D, Hunter KL, Taylor RC, Ryan MJ, Page RA, Baier AL (2025)

Animal Behaviour

DOI
21

The influence of hunger and sex on foraging decisions of frugivorous bats

Sealy BA, James LS, Ryan MJ, Page RA (2025)

Behavioral Ecology

DOI
Behavioral Ecology journal cover featuring a fruit bat
20

Ripeness preferences in Seba’s short-tailed fruit bats

Christiano BM, Weikel MM, James LS, Ryan MJ, Page RA (2025)

Acta Chiropterologica

DOI
19

Time and place affect acoustic structure of frog mating calls

James LS, Ryan MJ (2024)

Current Zoology

DOI
18

Rapid foraging risk-assessments in the Jamaican fruit-eating bat

Sealey BA, James LS, Cohen G, Ryan MJ, Page RA (2024)

Animal Behaviour

DOI
17

Learning to pause: Fidelity and biases in developmental acquisition of signal gaps

James LS, Wang AS, Bertolo M, Sakata JT (2023)

Developmental Science

DOI
16

Cross-modal facilitation of auditory discrimination in a frog

James LS, Baier AL, Page RA, Clements P, Hunter KL, Taylor RC, Ryan MJ (2022)

Biology Letters

DOI
15

Evolutionary and allometric insights into anuran auditory sensitivity and morphology

James LS, Taylor RC, Hunter KL, Ryan MJ (2022)

Brain, Behavior and Evolution

DOI
14

Phylogeny and mechanisms of shared hierarchical patterns in birdsong

James LS, Mori C, Wada K, Sakata JT (2021)

Current Biology

DOI
13

Covariation among multimodal components in túngara frog courtship display

James LS, Halfwerk W, Hunter KL, Page RA, Taylor RC, Wilson PS, Ryan MJ (2021)

Journal of Experimental Biology

DOI
12

Introductory gestures before songbird displays shaped by learning and biological predispositions

Kalra S, Yawatkar V, James LS, Sakata JT, Rajan R (2021)

Proceedings of the Royal Society B

DOI
11

Manipulations of sensory experiences reveal mechanisms of vocal learning biases

James LS, Davies R, Mori C, Wada K, Sakata JT (2020)

Developmental Neurobiology

DOI
10

Statistical learning for vocal sequence acquisition in songbirds

James LS, Sun H, Wada K, Sakata JT (2020)

Scientific Reports

DOI
9

Behavioral responses to video and live presentations reveal dissociation between performance and motivational aspects

James LS*, Fan R*, Sakata JT (2019) *co-first authors

Journal of Experimental Biology

DOI
8

Developmental modulation and predictability of age-dependent vocal plasticity

James LS, Sakata JT (2019)

Brain Research

DOI
7

Ability to modulate birdsong across social contexts develops without imitative social learning

James LS, Dai JB, Sakata JT (2018)

Biology Letters

DOI
Biology Letters journal cover featuring zebra finches
6

Complexity is complicated and comparing complexity metrics

Pearse WD, Morales-Castilla I, James LS, Farrell M, Boivin F, Davies TJ (2018)

Evolution

DOI
5

Global macroevolution and macroecology of passerine song

Pearse WD, Morales-Castilla I, James LS, Farrell M, Boivin F, Davies TJ (2018)

Evolution

DOI
4

Learning biases underlie universals in avian vocal sequencing

James LS, Sakata JT (2017)

Current Biology

DOI
3

Advantages of comparative songbird studies for understanding sensorimotor integration

Murphy K, James LS, Sakata JT, Prather JF (2017)

Journal of Neurophysiology

DOI
2

Predicting plasticity: acute context-dependent changes predict long-term age-dependent changes

James LS, Sakata JT (2015)

Journal of Neurophysiology

DOI
1

Vocal motor changes beyond the sensitive period for song plasticity

James LS, Sakata JT (2014)

Journal of Neurophysiology

DOI

Conference Proceedings

Robust detection of overlapping bioacoustic sound events

Mahon L, Hoffman B, James LS, Cusimano M, Hagiwara M, Woolley SC, Pietquin O (2025)

DCASE and NeurIPS

DCASE NeurIPS

Invited Perspectives

Perspectives regarding future experiments on categorical perception

James LS, Ryan MJ (2020)

Behavioral Ecology

DOI