Evolution

Polygamy is (not) for the birds

Researchers at Rice have uncovered new insights into the evolution of bird behavior, revealing why certain mating systems persist while others disappear over time.

Deep-sea marvels: How anglerfish defy evolutionary expectations

A groundbreaking Rice University study sheds light on the extraordinary evolution of anglerfish, a group of deep-sea dwellers whose bizarre adaptations have captivated scientists and the public alike.

Rice biologists uncover new species of tiger beetle: Eunota houstoniana

Rice University evolutionary biologist Scott Egan and his research team have unearthed a new species of tiger beetle, deemed Eunota houstoniana, honoring the region of Houston, where it predominantly resides.

Team led by Rice’s Saltz wins grant to examine environment’s impact on fruit flies

Rice University researcher Julia Saltz and two co-principal investigators have received a $1.4 million grant from the National Science Foundation to investigate and model the underlying factors of genetic variation in trait development in fruit flies across environments and over generations.

Biologists discover new insect species at Rice University

Newly discovered insect Neuroterus valhalla is barely a millimeter long and spends 11 months of the year locked in a crypt. It’s legendary sounding name stems from where it was discovered: A tree outside Rice’s graduate student pub Valhalla.

Crop-eating moths will flourish as climate warms

Climate change in this century will allow one of the world's costliest agricultural pests, the diamondback moth, to both thrive year-round and rapidly evolve resistance to pesticides in large parts of the United States, Europe and China where it previously died each winter, according to a study by U.S. and Chinese researchers.

Scientists seek details of cancer’s evolutionary tree

Rice University computer scientists will take full advantage of new technology to sequence the genome of a single cell to decode mysteries contained in tumors.

Fungi embrace fundamental economic theory as they engage in trading

HOUSTON – (June 29, 2021) – When you think about trade and market relationships, you might think about brokers yelling at each other on the floor of a stock exchange on Wall Street. But it seems one of the basic functions of a free market is quietly practiced by fungi.

Popularity runs in families

f identical versions of 20 people lived out their lives in dozens of different worlds, would the same people be popular in each world?

Flatfish got weird fast due to evolutionary cascade

Flatfishes rapidly evolved into the most asymmetric vertebrates by changing multiple traits at once, according to a Rice University study.

Does selfishness evolve? Ask a cannibal

Biologists have used one of nature's most prolific cannibals to show how social structure affects the evolution of selfish behavior. Researchers showed they could drive the evolution of less selfish behavior in Indian meal moths with habitat changes that forced larval caterpillars to interact more often with siblings.