Tag: #evolution

2025-26, Natural World

Light, Darkness, and the Evolution of Deep-Sea Sight

By Ilian Medarov, Class of 2028 Figure 1: Oplophoridae, Deep-Sea Shrimp In the deep sea, sunlight fails to penetrate water at depths past a kilometer, and bioluminescence becomes a primary source of illumination. This leaves the organisms living down here to rely on highly specialized visual systems to navigate the dark environments. Researchers decided to investigate how differences in light exposure due to environmental factors … Continue reading Light, Darkness, and the Evolution of Deep-Sea Sight

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2025-26, Natural World

Seeing the Invisible: How Viewing Conditions Shape the Colors Birds Display

By Ilian Medarov, Class of 2028 Birds are some of the most colorful members of the animal kingdom, flaunting their colors to attract mates, communicate, and avoid predators. However, scientists are still figuring out how the different environments they evolved in brought about these colors over time. Researchers Jamie Dunning, Catherine Sheard, and John A. Endler decided to investigate this in a 2025 study that … Continue reading Seeing the Invisible: How Viewing Conditions Shape the Colors Birds Display

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2025-26, Natural World

Fishing Pressure and the Shrinking Fish of Lake Turkana

By Ilian Medarov, Class of 2028 Figure 1: Lates niloticus, AKA the Nile perch In Lake Turkana, the largest desert lake, fish have been shrinking for a century. Madison F. Muehl and colleagues from Stony Brook University have set out to determine if growing commercial fishing pressure has impacted the biology of the fish species residing in the lake. Commercial fishing can drastically change the … Continue reading Fishing Pressure and the Shrinking Fish of Lake Turkana

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2025-26, General Neuroscience

My Brain Is Shrew-nking: Connections Between Eurasian Common Shrew’s Evolutionary History and Their Seasonal Neuroplasticity

By Katie Au, Class of 2029 Figure 1.  Image of the Eurasian common shrew The Eurasian common shrew (S. araneus) has two rare traits. One is seasonal brain size plasticity, where the brain shrinks during winter and regrows in spring. The other is extensive chromosomal rearrangements, or structural differences in chromosomes, within the species. In a study examining S. araneus, William R. Thomas and his … Continue reading My Brain Is Shrew-nking: Connections Between Eurasian Common Shrew’s Evolutionary History and Their Seasonal Neuroplasticity

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Ecology, Environment, Natural World

Color or Chemistry? How Tiny Isopods Use Multiple Defenses to Outsmart Predators

Author: Diego Javier, Class of 2026 In nature, color is used by animals as a defense mechanism to ward off predators, signifying whether they are poisonous or dangerous to eat. This type of warning coloration is known as aposematism, a strategy seen across many species including monarch butterflies and isopods, tiny crustaceans that hide under damp soil and rocks. This idea was explored by Professor … Continue reading Color or Chemistry? How Tiny Isopods Use Multiple Defenses to Outsmart Predators

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