• SICB 2020: How is Light Effecting Behavior and Physiology of Anoles?

    SICB 2020: How is Light Effecting Behavior and Physiology of Anoles?

    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…

  • SICB 2020: Urban Lizards Lay Lower Quality Eggs

    SICB 2020: Urban Lizards Lay Lower Quality Eggs

    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…

  • SICB 2020: Artificial Light at Night and Stress

    SICB 2020: Artificial Light at Night and Stress

    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…

  • SICB 2020: Lead Pollution of Human Water Supplies Impacts Songbirds

    SICB 2020: Lead Pollution of Human Water Supplies Impacts Songbirds

    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…

  • Urban Evolution at SICB 2020

    Urban Evolution at SICB 2020

    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…

  • 2019 in Review

    2019 in Review

    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…

  • Natural Selection Favors Black Morph of Eastern Gray Squirrel in Cities

    Natural Selection Favors Black Morph of Eastern Gray Squirrel in Cities

    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…

  • Pigeon Feet in the City

    Pigeon Feet in the City

    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…

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