Evolution and Ecology Content

Plants Seek Friendly Environments Rather Than Adapt

Andy Fell — July 01, 2025 - 9:33am

As jewelflowers spread into California from the desert Southwest over the past couple of million years, they settled in places that felt like home, according to a new study from the ��о��. The work, published July 1 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, shows that the ability of plants and animals to adapt to changing climates might be more limited than it appears.

Fish ‘Beauty Salons’ Offer Insight into How Microbes Move Within Reefs

Katherine E Kerlin — June 05, 2025 - 9:05am

Where do you go when you’re a fish and you need a skincare treatment? Coral reefs contain natural “beauty salons,” lively social hubs of activity where fish “clients” swim up and wait to be serviced by smaller fish cleaners. The little cleaners dart under and around their much bigger clients — even entering their mouths — cleaning their scales of bacteria and parasites like a team of car washers servicing a Buick. Sometimes cleaners even rub against their clients, providing a soothing massage.

City-Dwelling Monarch Butterflies Stay Put

Andy Fell — May 28, 2025 - 10:00am

Monarch butterflies are famous for their annual migrations, but not all migrate. In recent years, more and more monarchs have been living and breeding year-round in California’s Bay Area, thanks in part to the growing presence of non-native milkweeds in urban gardens.

Evolutionary Geneticist Elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences

Andy Fell — May 06, 2025 - 10:06am

Graham Coop, professor of evolution and ecology and director of the Center for Population Biology, has been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences for his exceptional contribution to his field. Coop is one of nearly 250 new members announced by the academy on April 23.

How Are They Biting? High Speed Video Reveals Unexpected Jaw Movements in Reef Fish

Andy Fell — May 05, 2025 - 5:20pm

Some reef fish have the unexpected ability to move their jaws from side to side, biologists at the ��о�� have discovered. This ability – which is rare among vertebrate animals – allows these fish to feed rapidly and efficiently on algae growing on rocks. The work is published May 5 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Can Citizen Science Be Trusted? New Study of Birds Shows It Can

Andy Fell — April 15, 2025 - 4:18pm

Platforms such as iNaturalist and eBird encourage people to observe and document nature, but how accurate is the ecological data that they collect?

Fish Teeth Show How Ease of Innovation Enables Rapid Evolution

Andy Fell — February 26, 2025 - 8:00am

It’s not what you do, it’s how readily you do it. Rapid evolutionary change might have more to do with how easily a key innovation can be gained or lost rather than with the innovation itself, according to new work by biologists at the ��о��, who studied how teeth in certain fishes evolved in response to food sources and habitats.

Their work was published Feb. 26 in Nature.

Genetics of Alternating Sexes in Walnuts

Andy Fell — January 02, 2025 - 11:52am

The genetics behind the alternating sexes of walnut trees has been revealed by biologists at the ��о��. The research, published Jan. 3 in Science, reveals a mechanism that has been stable in walnuts and their ancestors going back 40 million years — and which has some parallels to sex determination in humans and other animals.

Can Corals Be Saved?

Andy Fell — November 04, 2024 - 4:13pm

It takes a strong constitution to be a coral researcher these days. These vibrant underwater ecosystems are beset by all manner of challenges in the 21st century, from bleaching events and pollution to storm surges and overfishing. But there’s good news on the way for coral conservation.

Invisible Anatomy in the Fruit Fly Uterus

Andy Fell — October 25, 2024 - 11:06am

You have likely not spent much time thinking about the uterus of the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster. But then, neither have most scientists, even though Drosophila is one of the most thoroughly studied lab animals. Now a team of biologists at the ��о��, has taken the first deep look at the Drosophila uterus and found some surprises, which could have implications not just for understanding insect reproduction and potentially, pest control, but also for understanding fertility in humans.