Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
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Five Astounding Ways Humans Are Driving Animal Evolution, Including Causing Lizards to Grow Longer Legs and Leading Moth Populations to Become Darker
Eric Palkovacs, an ecologist and evolutionary biologist from the University of California, Santa Cruz, says that fishermen often have a financial incentive to target and catch the largest fish.“That’s a direct selective pressure against large size,” he says, “and because fish get larger when they get older it’s also a selection against old age.”
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Mysterious killer of sea stars finally identified
It seemed to come without warning. In 2013, divers and marine researchers began to notice sea stars dying in droves in the waters off Washington state. The deaths were gruesome—arms became twisted and fell off, bodies disintegrated. “It was creepy,” says Peter Raimondi, a marine ecologist at the University of California Santa Cruz who followed…
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‘Hibernation genes’ help control metabolism and feeding – and could hold untapped benefit for humans
Professor of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology Joanna Kelley commented on the potential applications of a new study. “It’s definitely not as simple as introducing the same changes in human DNA,” she said. “Humans are not capable of fasting-induced torpor, which is the reason why mice are used in these studies.”
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Meet the 24-armed sea star, a kelp forest’s bodyguard
“We show that the sea stars create a ‘landscape of fear’ among red sea urchins in degraded urchins barrens that reduces grazing on kelp,” study co-author and UC Santa Cruz ecologist Kristy Kroeker said in a statement. “These are very hungry urchins that are dissuaded enough by the scent of a sea star to deter…
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Evolution in overdrive as Baltic cod shrink due to fishing pressure, study shows
“The study is a wonderful example of genomic time travel,” said Malin Pinsky, an associate professor of biology at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and co-author of the 2023 paper. “The broad message that humans are altering the course of evolution resonates far beyond Baltic cod,” Pinsky, who wasn’t involved in this study, added.
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‘It’s just a weird, weird bird’: Why we got the dodo so absurdly wrong
“The dodo laid a single egg in a nest on the ground, which made these eggs particularly vulnerable to predation by introduced species like rats and pigs, which arrived on Mauritius at the same time as people,” says Beth Shapiro, an evolutionary biologist at the University of California-Santa Cruz.
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Genome BC backs DNA-based environmental monitoring in rural and Indigenous communities
This project, led by Caren Helbing (University of Victoria) and Rachel Meyer (University of California Santa Cruz), adapts a U.S.-based tool for Canadian use. The platform allows users to view and share biodiversity data from eDNA samples. It builds on previous work from the iTrackDNA initiative, which helped establish Canada’s national eDNA standards.
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The Coyotes of San Francisco
“Did they walk over the Golden Gate Bridge?” asked Christine Wilkinson, a carnivore ecologist at the University of California, Santa Cruz. “That’s my top theory.” Once the first coyotes returned to the city, she said, they probably howled to attract others to follow. “Coyotes will be where they want to be,” Wilkinson said.
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Surprise atmospheric rivers, toxic seafood: How NOAA cuts could impact California
“Collaborations between universities and NOAA are powerful partnerships,” said Eric Palkovacs, professor and director of the Fisheries Collaborative Program at UC Santa Cruz. “They leverage the expertise and resources on both sides to do cutting-edge research.”
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Santa Cruz museums concerned over recent federal budget cuts
“Community spaces are so essential; community spaces that encourage something positive like appreciating art, appreciating cultures other than what you’re familiar with,” said Kelso Cochran, a biology researcher at UC Santa Cruz.
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Game of clones: Colossal’s new wolves are cute, but are they dire?
Beth Shapiro, an expert on ancient DNA who is now on a three-year sabbatical from the University of California, Santa Cruz, as the company’s CSO, acknowledged in an interview that other scientists would bristle at the claim. “What we’re going to have here is a philosophical argument about whether we should call it a dire…