Evolution in an Urbanizing World
The Wuhan novel coronavirus is dominating the news, with reports of thousands infected and new cases reported worldwide every day. Are we at the verge of a pandemic? That's not a question I'm equipped to answer, and I encourage our readers to follow all advice from the CDC and WHO regarding the spread of the... Continue Reading →
Urbanization can impact wildlife in different ways, depending on the organism and how it interacts with humans and the built environment. Geographical barriers may limit or prevent an organism from moving through a city and an organism's behavioral variability (particularly its ability to tolerate humans) may also influence if and how it disperses throughout a... Continue Reading →
As habitats become increasingly urbanized, wildlife are exposed to artificial light at night (ALAN). Greater exposure to ALAN can have detrimental effects on animal physiology, such as suppressing components of the host immune system. However, how these changes ultimately affect infectious disease dynamics remains poorly understood. Meredith Kernbach, a PhD candidate at the University of... Continue Reading →
When you live in the outskirts of the city, every once in a while you may spot a bobcat in your neighborhood. In fact, we have had a few urban observation posts of neighborhood bobcats. But how are these urban bobcats fairing compared to ones that stay in their natural habitat? Recently, Kozakiewicz and co-authors... Continue Reading →
Urbanization is becoming a huge concern and many researchers at SICB 2020 wanted to study the effects it has on the surrounding wildlife. Laura Taylor, an undergraduate student at Trinity University, looked specifically at how urbanization and artificial light at night (ALAN) effected both the physiology and the behavior of anoles. Green anoles (Anolis carolinensis),... Continue Reading →
The decisions that a parent makes or conditions that a parent experiences can influence the survival and fitness of their offspring. These transgenerational effects, in which impacts of the environment on one generation impact subsequent generations, are widespread and can originate with both mothers and fathers. In organisms that make eggs, the environments mothers experience... Continue Reading →
Urban areas are easy to find during the night as they quite literally light up. Urban light pollution disrupts biological processes from gene expression to ecosystem composition across multiple taxa, including birds, insects, mammals, and fishes. With ever-increasing urbanization, understanding the effects of artificial light at night (ALAN) on urban organisms is crucial to future... Continue Reading →
Heavy metals, such as lead and mercury, are common pollutants in human-affected ecosystems, including cities. These metals can bioaccumulate, or reach high concentrations in exposed organisms, because heavy metals may be stored in some tissues, like fats, and are difficult for organisms to remove from their bodies. High levels of heavy metals have negative impacts... Continue Reading →
The annual meeting of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology (SICB) is here! From January 3-7 biologists will convene in Austin, Texas to share the latest and greatest from a broad range of research areas. Urban evolution talks have a strong showing at the meeting this year, and we would like to hear about... Continue Reading →
Milestones and more In 2019 we hit a lot of milestones. We turned 1 year old. We were featured in several major news outlets, including as a News Feature in PNAS, the Wildlife Society, and Wired Magazine! We reached over 13,000 visits since starting from (almost) every corner of the globe (we're looking at you,... Continue Reading →
Eastern Gray Squirrels, Sciurus carolinensis, are some of the most visible and well-known urban animals in the Northeastern United States. Prior to European settlement of the region, the black morph of S. carolinensis ("melanistic") was much more abundant. Scientists have hypothesized that the dark pelt was advantageous in the old growth forests that used to cover the region.... Continue Reading →
If you've walked around a city with pigeons, you might have noticed that many of them are missing toes or have deformed feet. These foot deformities are common and may arise due to a number of different ailments including: chemicals that make surfaces sticky or apply an unpleasant odor; physical deterrents that are placed on... Continue Reading →
In the month of November we asked to hear from you during our first annual November Comment Contest. Now that the month is over, we've tallied the comments, responses, and likes and we're pleased to announce our two winners: Kristin Thompson and Kevin Aviles-Rodriguez! They'll get to pick the urban organisms featured on the next... Continue Reading →
Urban fieldwork is its own beast. Sure, compared to remote sites you might have regular access to bathrooms and food but there are different situations to be aware of or capitalize on when handling animals in the public eye.
Entomology 2019 I recently attended the Entomology Conference in St. Louis, Missouri and here are some of the highlights. I was part of the special symposium "What Everyone Ought to Know about Insect Biodiversity in the Urban Environment" where a number of scientists gave talks and posters about their research related to this topic. Biodiversity... Continue Reading →
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