Vascular plant reproductive structures are extremely diverse in form and are often quite complex; for example, many flowers are composed of highly specialized organs in intricate arrangements. Such diversity has not always been present - the earliest known reproductive structures are very simple - but quantifying how complexity has changed through time is challenging because it is difficult to even define exactly what complexity is.

Sensing in Flight: Neural encoding and wing structure interact to shape sensory information
By: Dr. Alison Weber (Daniel & Brunton Lab)

A race to identify the genes that support neutrophil cell migration
By: Dr. Nathan Belliveau (Theriot Lab)

Disentangling mechanisms of Miocene vegetation change
By: Dr. Christopher Schiller (Stromberg Lab)

Genetic, developmental, and physiological mechanisms all impact evolutionary trajectories and hence may shape responses to selection. We examined the extent to which genetic and neural mechanisms limit behavioral evolution in guppies by leveraging the parallel evolutionary transitions in Trinidadian guppies. Much prior work has characterized the parallel changes in a suite of social and antipredator behaviors that follow independent colonization of low-predation sites by guppies originally from high-predation localities.

Craniodental traits predict feeding performance and dietary hardness in a community of free-tailed bats
By: David Villalobos Chaves (Santana Lab)

Grasshopper energetics as a predictor of fitness
By: Julia Smith
(Buckley Lab)