Biology
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Recent Submissions
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Molecular and Biophysiological Differences in Neuronal Innexin Gap Junctions Likely Underlie Unique Circuit Behaviors in Hydra vulgaris
Connexins, in vertebrates, and Innexins, in invertebrates, are non-homologous gene families that are both known to form functionally similar channels. Connexins have been well characterized both functionally and molecularly ... -
A Gene of Many Functions: Novel Roles for a Plant Epidermal Transcription Factor in Early Diverging Eudicots
The epidermal transcription factors MIXTA/MIXTA-like modulate the differentiation of distinct cell identities in the epidermis of land plants. This study explored the evolutionary history and function of the MIXTA-like ... -
Reaping the rewards of the big data revolution in ecology
The study of ecology has been irreversibly transformed by the ongoing big data revolution. Technological advancements in data collection and a cultural shift toward data sharing mean that ecological data are more available ... -
The Multituberculates as Living Animals: New Insights into the Ecomorphology, Behavior, and Life History of One of the Most Successful Mammalian Lineages
Mammals from the Mesozoic and early Cenozoic exploited a diversity of ecological niches, approaching the complexity and specialization of extant therian mammals. Among the most evolutionarily diverse and numerically abundant ... -
Natural selection as the process of accumulating adaptive information.
A defining feature of life is its ability to respond to complex conditions by leveraging information about the environment. In many respects, evolutionary biology is interested in understanding how genetic information ... -
Computational and experimental studies reveal a role for airframe configuration in insect flight control
Research on insect flight control has focused primarily on the role of wings. Yet airframe de- formations via abdominal deflections during flight may potentially influence the dynamics of flight and play a significant role ... -
Past and present: what museum specimens and detection dogs bring to pangolin conservation
Pangolins, a group of scaly anteaters, have recently garnered the attention of both the public and scientific community by the magnitude of trade in their meat and scales. Despite the large volume of legal and illegal trade ... -
Evolution of Aquatic Plants in Rivers and Wetlands across the Andes in northern South America
Northern South America is one of the most biodiverse regions on earth and understanding the causes and processes that have led to the assembly of this rich biota has been central to ecological and evolutionary investigations ... -
Insights into the evolution of Late Cretaceous metatherian mammals of North America: interpreting feeding ecologies using quantitative analyses
Metatherian mammals (the stem-based clade of extant marsupials and their closest relatives) were important members of North American communities during the Late Cretaceous: they were both taxonomically rich and numerically ... -
Cytoskeletal Innovations in Giardia lamblia
The single-celled eukaryote Giardia lamblia is one of the most common gastrointestinal parasites worldwide; infection causes diarrhea and vomiting, which can lead to dehydration and malnutrition. As an early divergent ... -
Ecological Interactions in a Changing World
21st-century ecology is necessarily a science of change. Understanding how and why communities and interacting species respond to transformations in global climate and human land use can help improve our ability to forecast ... -
Reliable and interpretable inference of evolutionary history using Bayesian phylogenetic approaches
Phylogenetic trees are key objects for understanding evolutionary history, first used to describe relationships between groups of species. Phylogenies help us to fill out the tree of life and to describe the dynamics that ... -
Microbes in space: The importance of spatial organization in evolution
My research uses a multi-prong approach to understand the ecological and evolutionary processes that drive and maintain diversity. Specifically, I examine how competition and spatial structure drive evolutionary change. ... -
Why sink strength is a key determinant of drought tolerance in common bean
Throughout development, plants are constantly shifting resource allocation between their different tissue types; roots, stems, leaves, fruits and seeds. This allows them to balance resource gain, optimize growth, and ... -
The kinematics and mechanics of muscle's myofilament lattice
By integrating the actions of millions of molecular motors, muscle cells power the movements of entire organisms. This multiscale system is tuned both by the geometry of the lattice of sub-cellular molecular machinery and ... -
Exploring snake evolution through time and space
Lineages diversify as they disperse through time and space, which provides ever increasing complexity to be considered in investigations at different taxonomic levels. Population genetic and phylogenetic signal sometimes ... -
Marine microplastic pollution: An interdisciplinary approach to understanding the effects on organisms, ecosystems, and policy
Microplastics (plastic < 5mm) are ubiquitous in marine environments, from surface waters to benthic sediments. Microplastic in the oceans was first documented in 2004 and our current knowledge of potential biological ... -
Visual learning and processing in the honeybee, Apis mellifera
The honeybee, Apis mellifera, is well-known for her crucial role in crops pollination and for producing an highly-appreciated food, the honey. Indeed, the first historical record of bee-keeping dates from the Mesolithic ... -
Evolution of Endothelin Signaling and Diversification of Adult Pigment Patterns
Vertebrate forms are tremendously diverse. While there are many studies identifying genetic loci that have played a role in diversification, there are fewer that elucidate specific evolutionary changes and mechanisms at ... -
Chitin and the Gel Within the Electrosensory Organs of Cartilaginous Fishes
In 1678, the Italian physician, Stefano Lorenzini discovered a mysterious set of tubular organs inside an electric ray. The function of these organs, named Ampullae of Lorenzini (AoL), was unknown for almost three centuries ...
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