News: Integrative Biology

Read the latest news from the College of Natural Sciences at The University of Texas at Austin

Research

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

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.

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.

Research

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.

Features

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

UT News

Singing Mice Protect Their Turf with High-Pitched Tunes

Two species of tawny brown singing mice that live deep in the mountain cloud forests of Costa Rica and Panama set their boundaries by emitting...

Alston's singing mouse. Photo by Bret Pasch.

UT News

Texas Invasive Species Program Established at Brackenridge Field Lab

To combat and manage pesky invasive species such as fire ants, tawny crazy ants and Cactoblastis moths, the Texas Invasive Species Program has been established...

Tawny crazy ant

Research

Novel Method Reveals Diet of Endangered Barton Springs Salamander

Using a novel technique that is less invasive, less lethal, and more informative than traditional methods, an alumna of The University of Texas at Austin...

The Barton Springs Salamander (Eurycea sosorum) in Eliza Spring. Image courtesy of Hayley Gillespie.