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Giant Ground Sloth Extinction Led to Loss of Ecological Services
Oct. 22, 2025—By Andy Flick, Evolutionary Studies scientific coordinator Giant ground sloths were more than just Ice Age oddities. They were ecosystem engineers whose disappearance reshaped the landscapes they once roamed. A new study from Vanderbilt University’s DREAM Lab reveals just how diverse these megaherbivores’ diets were, highlighting the ecological roles that vanished when they went extinct....
City Lights Are Rewriting the Calendar: Vanderbilt Researchers Show Artificial Light Extends Urban Growing Seasons
Sep. 23, 2025—By Andy Flick, Evolutionary Studies scientific coordinator City lights are rewriting the calendar. A new global study from Vanderbilt researchers Lin Meng and Huidong Li shows that artificial light at night is more powerful than temperature in extending urban growing seasons — keeping trees greener longer, with consequences for carbon cycling, frost risk, and even...
Partnership with Turkana Community Helps Scientists Discover Genes Involved in Adaptation to Desert Living
Sep. 18, 2025—Originally posted by UC-Berkeley team, edits by Andy Flick Evolutionary Studies scientific coordinator Scientists Discover Key Genetic Adaptations in Partnership with Turkana Pastoralists of Northern Kenya Groundbreaking study reveals how thousands of years of natural selection shaped remarkable adaptations to an extreme environment. Through a collaboration between US and Kenyan researchers and Turkana communities of...
Annie Hatmaker Explores the Global Diversity of a Pathogenic Fungus
Aug. 18, 2025—By Andy Flick, Evolutionary Studies scientific coordinator Annie Hatmaker, Ph.D., has spent the better part of a decade studying fungi and their secondary metabolites – small molecules they use to communicate, defend, and thrive. Her new publication, “Population structure in a fungal human pathogen is potentially linked to pathogenicity,” closes her dissertation work and opens...
Vanderbilt’s Evolutionary Studies Initiative Honored with 2025 Friend of Darwin Award
Jun. 4, 2025—By Andy Flick, Evolutionary Studies scientific coordinator The National Center for Science Education (NCSE) has named Vanderbilt University’s Evolutionary Studies Initiative (ESI) as one of its 2025 recipients of the prestigious Friend of Darwin award. This national honor recognizes ESI’s outstanding contributions to advancing public understanding of evolution through interdisciplinary research, education, and outreach. Directed...
A Conservative Defense: Downstream NFLs Resist Evolutionary Blitzes
May. 9, 2025—By Andy Flick, Evolutionary Studies scientific coordinator In football, defense keeps the opposing team in check. A similar strategy is at play inside our cells. Negative feedback loops (NFLs) help regulate how cells respond to signals, for example, dialing down activity when things get too intense. A new study from Vanderbilt University reveals that these...
New Research Reveals Surprising Dietary Similarities Among Saber-Toothed Cats—Plus, Join Us for a Special Kids’ Day Event at Bridgestone Arena!
Apr. 4, 2025—Nashville, TN – April 4, 2025 – A innovative study led by researchers from Vanderbilt University sheds new light on the dietary ecology of the iconic saber-toothed cat, Smilodon. The study, published in a special issue on sabertoothed organisms in The Anatomical Record, reveals that Smilodon fatalis and Smilodon gracilis—two species that lived thousands to...
Castiglione Lab Discover Horses Run Faster by Ignoring an Ancient Mutation that Says ‘Stop’
Mar. 27, 2025—By Andy Flick, Evolutionary Studies scientific coordinator Evolution often makes a deal with the devil, creating challenges for treating human disease. By mass, the muscles of thoroughbred racehorses consume more than twice the oxygen of elite human athletes. Yet, oxygen produces free radicals, which damage organ tissues. Balancing energy production with oxidative stress is also...
Vanderbilt Researcher Finds Jewel Wasp Cocoons Can Withstand Cannibalism
Nov. 15, 2024—By Andy Flick, Evolutionary Studies scientific coordinator New research from Ken Catania, Stevenson Professor of Biological Sciences, shows another incredible result. The “Cocoon of the Developing Emerald Jewel Wasp (Ampulex compressa) Resists Cannibalistic Predation of the Zombified Host” was published in Brain, Behavior, and Evolution. Catania’s research program focuses on the weird in nature. His...