Evolution and Ecology Content

National Academy of Sciences Elects UC Davis Maize Geneticist Jeffrey Ross-Ibarra

Andy Fell — April 29, 2026 - 8:45am

The National Academy of Sciences has elected Jeffrey Ross-Ibarra, professor in the Department of Evolution and Ecology at University of California, Davis, as a member. His election was announced April 28.

Ross-Ibarra is one of 120 members and 25 international members elected this year in recognition of distinguished and continuing achievements in original research. Membership in the academy is considered one of the highest honors a scientist can achieve.

Fish Evolution Accelerated After Adapting to Eat off Hard Surfaces

Andy Fell — April 28, 2026 - 1:47pm

Why are there so many species of coral reef fish? According to a new study, it’s because about 50 million years ago, some fish figured out how to bite food from hard surfaces.

Evolution doesn’t proceed at an even pace: Species evolve in jumps and spurts, followed by lulls. These periods of rapid diversification usually occur after a dramatic environmental change or upheaval, or when a lineage develops a new “innovation” that allows them to use a previously inaccessible resource. For fish, the ability to feed from a hard surface was one such innovation.

Plants Seek Friendly Environments Rather Than Adapt

Andy Fell — July 01, 2025 - 9:33am

As jewelflowers spread into California from the desert Southwest over the past couple of million years, they settled in places that felt like home, according to a new study from the University of California, Davis. The work, published July 1 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, shows that the ability of plants and animals to adapt to changing climates might be more limited than it appears.

Fish ‘Beauty Salons’ Offer Insight into How Microbes Move Within Reefs

Katherine E Kerlin — June 05, 2025 - 9:05am

Where do you go when you’re a fish and you need a skincare treatment? Coral reefs contain natural “beauty salons,” lively social hubs of activity where fish “clients” swim up and wait to be serviced by smaller fish cleaners. The little cleaners dart under and around their much bigger clients — even entering their mouths — cleaning their scales of bacteria and parasites like a team of car washers servicing a Buick. Sometimes cleaners even rub against their clients, providing a soothing massage.

City-Dwelling Monarch Butterflies Stay Put

Andy Fell — May 28, 2025 - 10:00am

Monarch butterflies are famous for their annual migrations, but not all migrate. In recent years, more and more monarchs have been living and breeding year-round in California’s Bay Area, thanks in part to the growing presence of non-native milkweeds in urban gardens.

Evolutionary Geneticist Elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences

Andy Fell — May 06, 2025 - 10:06am

Graham Coop, professor of evolution and ecology and director of the Center for Population Biology, has been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences for his exceptional contribution to his field. Coop is one of nearly 250 new members announced by the academy on April 23.

How Are They Biting? High Speed Video Reveals Unexpected Jaw Movements in Reef Fish

Andy Fell — May 05, 2025 - 5:20pm

Some reef fish have the unexpected ability to move their jaws from side to side, biologists at the University of California, Davis have discovered. This ability – which is rare among vertebrate animals – allows these fish to feed rapidly and efficiently on algae growing on rocks. The work is published May 5 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Can Citizen Science Be Trusted? New Study of Birds Shows It Can

Andy Fell — April 15, 2025 - 4:18pm

Platforms such as iNaturalist and eBird encourage people to observe and document nature, but how accurate is the ecological data that they collect?

Fish Teeth Show How Ease of Innovation Enables Rapid Evolution

Andy Fell — February 26, 2025 - 8:00am

It’s not what you do, it’s how readily you do it. Rapid evolutionary change might have more to do with how easily a key innovation can be gained or lost rather than with the innovation itself, according to new work by biologists at the University of California, Davis, who studied how teeth in certain fishes evolved in response to food sources and habitats.

Their work was published Feb. 26 in Nature.

Genetics of Alternating Sexes in Walnuts

Andy Fell — January 02, 2025 - 11:52am

The genetics behind the alternating sexes of walnut trees has been revealed by biologists at the University of California, Davis. The research, published Jan. 3 in Science, reveals a mechanism that has been stable in walnuts and their ancestors going back 40 million years — and which has some parallels to sex determination in humans and other animals.