Evolution in an Urbanizing World
For the month of November we're doing something special... a comment contest! We want to liven up the conversations here on the blog, and to do that we need your participation! To enter the contest, all you have to do is post a comment here on the blog. At the end of the month, the user who... Continue Reading →
From Anoles to Indian Agamids to Australian Water Dragons to Western Fence Lizards, lizards from diverse branches of the squamate tree are proving themselves in urban environments. Add one more species to this growing list of urban lizards: Brazilian lagartixas, Tropidurus hispidus. In a recent paper, Antonio de Andrade examined the abundance and habitat use of... Continue Reading →
Life in the City turns 1 year old today! Thank you all for following our blog. We are very proud of how it has grown and owe a huge thank you to our amazing contributors. In the last 365 days we have published 147 posts! The blog has received a total of 48K hits from 16K... Continue Reading →
A common behavioral trend observed in urban animals is that they tend to be bolder compared to their rural counterparts. This behavioral shift can enable urban animals to deal with the unique stressors of urban life and may set the stage for urban adaptation. A common way to quantify boldness is to measure flight-initiation distance, or... Continue Reading →
It's hot out there! This summer has seen excessive heat waves sweeping the world and breaking records - many places recorded the hottest summer temperatures ever! What does an ectotherm do to chill out in this extreme heat? This frog has found an unusual solution and is our urban observation of the week. https://www.instagram.com/p/B0HrHVlBgHN/?igshid=pb6g3al3s2g Do... Continue Reading →
The annual Joint Meeting of Icthyologists and Herpetologists (JMIH) kicks off today in Snowbird, Utah. This is one of my favorite conferences so I'm sad I will not be attending this year. And unfortunately, none of our contributors are attending this meeting either this year (that I know of), so we will not be able... Continue Reading →
We've talked before here on Life in the City about behavioral shifts related to fear and boldness in urban animals (check out: Skirting Skinks: Are Lizards Learning to Live Among Humans?, No city for shy dog, Concrete Escape: Increased Wariness of Anoles). Although it is clear that urban species experience behavioral modifications in response to urban... Continue Reading →
Last week I was watching some top-notch tennis on TV as Coco Gauff battled to stay in at Wimbledon. I was amused when a small bird, what seems to be a Wagtail (Motacilla alba), flew out onto the court and perched calmly on the net! Not being a huge tennis fan, I was surprised and... Continue Reading →
Did you miss out on Evolution 2019 last week in Providence, Rhode Island? Were you overwhelmed with all of the urban talks at the meeting? Not to worry, here's a recap of what you missed. We brought you a total of 20 blog posts from 10 contributors, including 5 new contributors to the blog! Check... Continue Reading →
A major outstanding question in urban evolution (and evolutionary biology in general) is whether adaptation occurs in similar ways in different populations and across species boundaries. In other words, can the common selective pressures of urban environments lead to convergent adaptation? In my doctoral research, I found that the Puerto Rican crested anole, Anolis cristatellus, adapted... Continue Reading →
Kevin Aviles-Rodriguez, a contributor here at LITC, studies urban adaptation and behavior of Anolis lizards. Previously, we told you all about Kevin's research on escape behavior of urban versus forest anoles, which was Kevin's MS research. During his PhD, Kevin has been focusing more on landscape genetics and the morphological impacts of hurricane Maria in urban... Continue Reading →
In the second of four urban anole presentations at Evolution, Emmanuel D'Agostino does a great job summarizing new research by LITC contributor Chris Thawley. Chris' post-doc research has really delved into the night-light niche and ALAN, a topic that is no stranger to this blog (check out: It’s Lit in the City, Is Artificial Light Changing Pigeon... Continue Reading →
Anole lizards are adapting to urbanization. Anolis cristatellus in particular has rapidly and repeatedly evolved larger toepads with more lamellae (among many other trait shifts) in urban environments across Puerto Rico when compared to nearby forest environments. But one question that has been bugging me and Travis Hagey for years is how exactly are the toepads getting... Continue Reading →
Earlier this year we brought you coverage of urban evolution talks from SICB, and just last week we covered the International Urban Wildlife Conference. Up next, we will be bringing you urban evolution talks live from the annual Evolution meeting in Providence, Rhode Island from June 22nd – 25th! It seems hard to believe almost a... Continue Reading →
Although I wasn't able to attend the meeting, the International Urban Wildlife Conference looks like it was a great success and I have enjoyed following along thanks to our great contributors and the hard work of co-editor Elizabeth Carlen. Here are some highlights: We Have Stickers! I drew these to pass out at the meeting... Continue Reading →
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