News: Integrative Biology
Read the latest news from the College of Natural Sciences at The University of Texas at Austin
Always and Forever: A Microscopic Love Story
What if you swapped symbiotic bacteria between two strains of aphid, would the resulting aphids look or act differently than their mothers?
![A green insect holds its hands over its heart, which is made up of red microbes](/sites/default/files/uploads/images/default/valentine_aphid2400x1350.jpg)
Florida Lizards Evolve Rapidly, Within 15 Years and 20 Generations
Competition between brown and green anoles for the same food and space may be driving adaptations of the green anoles
![A green lizard and a brown lizard](/sites/default/files/uploads/images/default/greeenbrown-anoles2400x1800.jpg)
Visualizing Science 2014: Beautiful Images From College Research
This past spring, we asked faculty, staff and students in the College of Natural Sciences community to send us images that celebrated the extraordinary beauty...
![Polarized light microscopy image of a copepod](/sites/default/files/uploads/images/default/vissci2014-01-1st_gemmell.jpg)
UT News
Diet Affects Men's and Women's Gut Microbes Differently
The microbes living in the guts of males and females react differently to diet, even when the diets are identical, according to a study by...
![Illustration by Marianna Grenadier and Jenna Luecke.](/sites/default/files/uploads/images/default/gut_microbes-rectangle700x420.jpg)
UT News
Variety in Diet Can Hamper Microbial Diversity in the Gut
Scientists from The University of Texas at Austin and five other institutions have discovered that the more diverse the diet of a fish, the less...
![Two stickleback fish, the type used in the study, are held in the hand of a researcher collecting them from the wild.](/sites/default/files/uploads/images/default/sticklebacks.jpg)
Crazy Ants Dominate Fire Ants by Neutralizing Their Venom
It’s the first known example of an insect with the ability to detoxify another insect’s venom.
![One large ant with its hindquarters raised in the direction of smaller ants](/sites/default/files/uploads/images/default/gilbert_2400x1350.jpg)
UT News
Bats Use Water Ripples to Hunt Frogs
As the male túngara frog serenades female frogs from a pond, he creates watery ripples that make him easier to target by rivals and predators...
![Ripples continue for several seconds after a male túngara frog has stopped calling. Credit: Ryan Taylor/Salisbury University.](/sites/default/files/uploads/images/default/tungara-ripple-700px_20140123-172330_1.jpg)
UT News
Symbiotic Fungi Inhabiting Plant Roots Have Major Impact on Atmospheric Carbon
Microscopic fungi that live in plants’ roots play a major role in the storage and release of carbon from the soil into the atmosphere, according...
![An Amanita mushroom from a field site in Harvard Forest. This particular mushroom is the fruiting body of an ectomycorrhizal fungus associated with the roots of a Hemlock tree. Photo by Colin Averill.](/sites/default/files/uploads/images/default/amanita-mushroom-700px_20140106-213657_1.jpg)
Hungry Bats Spy on Neighbors to Find a Good Meal
The use of such social information by animals has been the subject of extensive research.
![Illustration by Jenna Luecke.](/sites/default/files/uploads/images/default/bat_drawing_color3_700x420_20131025-202352_1.jpg)
Scientist-Artists Bring Animals to Life in Japanese-Inspired Prints
Two researchers at the Texas Natural Science Center are combining art and science in a unique form that highlights a beauty in dead animals and...
![Horseshoe Crab](/sites/default/files/uploads/images/default/horseshoe_crab_5_700x420.jpg)