This weekend is Saint Patrick’s Day and what better way to celebrate than to show off a four-leaf clover, Trifolium repens. They are more common than you’d think, if you were collecting hundreds of samples across the world like graduate student Simon Innes. Usually these plants have three distinct leaves (hence trifolium in the name). Simon has found not only four-leaf clovers, but even five-leaf ones! Are those extra lucky?
Many of those samples were collected for a global evolution project that scientists from around the world are involved in. We call it GLUE: Global Urban Evolution.
Photos from Simon Innes, graduate student in Marc Johnson’s EvoEco Lab.
Do you have a photo or video of an urban species doing something unusual? What about a rare plant or animal that you were surprised to find in a city? If so, let Lindsay know or Tweet at us and you could be featured as a future observation of the week!
I am interested in urban ecology and evolution. Urbanization can have drastic impacts on local ecosystems, both negative and positive, and creates a new environment for organisms to experience. To understand the impacts that urbanization plays on organisms, I look through the lense of population genetics and molecular evolution.
- Urban Observation of the Week: Golden Jackal - July 28, 2021
- Urban Observation of the Week: Bellflowers in Munich - July 21, 2021
- Urban Observation of the Week: So Many Plants - July 14, 2021
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