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Little Urban Dragons
James Baxter-Gilbert and colleagues from down under — Julia Riley and Martin Whiting — have been digging into the ecological and evolutionary responses to urbanization in a charismatic and common (at least if you’re in Australia) group of lizards: Australian water dragons…
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Urban Observation of the Week: Trash Elephants
Elephants have become a metropolitan species in several countries. Some are domesticated work animals, while others others pass through the city looking for food. Today’s observation is brought to us by Alfons Lopez Tena, a sad reality of elephants foraging…
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Marine Habitats in Urban Ecosystems
As urban centers continue to grow, so too does the research that investigates how urbanization influences evolution. However, urban marine ecosystems are often overlooked. Interestingly, population density along coastlines is 3-times higher than the global average but research in urban…
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Urban Observation of the Week: Warbler on the Road
The birders are back! This time, we see a Black-throated Green Warbler on the street. These birds are seen in the Northern American forests in the warm months and fly south for the winter months. This little bird is probably…
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Urban Observation of the Week: Stop Sign Lichens
What is a lichen? Is it a plant? Is it fungus? Actually, lichen are a group of symbiotic fungi and algae! They are typically found in moist environments, growing on rocks and trees in the forest. Today’s observation was found…
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Urban Foxes on the Prowl: Urbanization Leads to Differences in Red Fox Skull Shape
Urban areas around the world are an interesting combination of non-native and native species. In London, urban foxes are a common sight and because of this, we would predict that urban foxes have evolved due to differing selection factors in…
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Urban Observation of the Week: Tough Urban Salamanders
Let’s take a break this week from the urban birding realm. This week, we bring you marbled salamanders. Salamanders are usually found in wetlands, which are hard to come by inside cities. This is an awesome find! Do you…
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Q&A: Urban Evolutionary Biology
The long-awaited first textbook on urban evolution, Urban Evolutionary Biology, was released this summer. This fantastic text features chapters written by several of the contributors to this blog, and came together with the hard work of three urban evolution researchers:…
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Behavioral Convergence in Urban Wildlife
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