Life in the City - Evolution in an urbanizing world

Eco-evolutionary dynamics shaping biodiversity in the urban mosaic Nature Reviews Biodiversity - The urban mosaic is a complex assimilation of habitats, biotic and abiotic factors with eco-evolutionary influence on local and regional biodiversity. In this Review,...

Excited to share our new review in @natrevbiodiv.nature.com, coauthored w/allstar postdocs @vale-alaasam.bsky.social @annainthefield.bsky.social @anthonysnead.bsky.social Bridging island biogeography & evolutionary processes, we explore how eco-evo dynamics play out in the urban mosaic rdcu.be/e4tcj

Clever City Crows: How Corvids Conquered the City What is the most intelligent animal you can think of? Species that likely come to mind are perhaps apes, cetaceans, or elephants. However, in spite of their intelligence, most of the species from t…

Are corvids the smartest urban animal? Our contributor Willard makes a case for this remarkably adaptable bird and highlights some unique and amazing behavior.
urbanevolution-litc.com/2025/10/30/c...
#urbanecology
#urbanevolution

Beyond the Shade: The Growing Disadvantages of the London Plane When I was younger, I remember thinking to myself: “This tree is losing its skin, is it dying?” I believe I can’t be the only child that thought this when first looking at a London plane. Little di…

Really enjoyed this post on @litc-urbanevo.bsky.social this week. Very cool to learn about the history and uncertain future of this staple of urban street trees! urbanevolution-litc.com/2025/08/26/b...

Artificial light at night may make African mouse species vulnerable - Life in the City When thinking about a city at night, chances are that you include some twinkling streetlights in your mental image. Billboards, streetlamps, and neon signs are no novel presence to city dwellers. Thes...

The single-striped grass mouse can be found near cities, but our nighttime lights have negative impacts on this understudied grassland mammal from Africa. Floor Didden tells us about a recent study urbanevolution-litc.com/2025/05/18/a...
#urbanecology #urbanmammals

Urban acts of defiance: Tiny flowers thriving in concrete jungles - Life in the City The harsh, brutal urban environment is increasing. In Europe, the Netherlands ranks as one of the countries with the lowest forest cover (10%), with wooden forests being replaced by concrete jungles. ...

The tiny plant Draba verna grows out of cracks in sidewalks & roads. Nils tells us more about this resilient #urbanplant & invites us to appreciate the beauty growing between the pavement cracks more often
urbanevolution-litc.com/2025/05/16/u...
#urbanecology #urbanobservation

They Know Who You Are: How City Animals Recognize People - Life in the City Urban wildlife knows more about us than we think. Birds and mammals are able to read our behaviour and recognize individual humans.

Does it ever seem like your neighborhood birds & squirrels recognize you? They probably do! Jitte van Leeuwen explains how & why animals learn to recognize humans in order to thrive in the fast-paced city
urbanevolution-litc.com/2025/05/15/t...
#urbanecology #urbanevolution

Relaxing Chipmunks in Urban Areas - Life in the City The eastern chipmunk is well adapted to the urban environment. They spend less time foraging and their reproductive succes is better.

Lisa de Haas tells us about a charismatic #urbanwildlife from North America: the chipmunk. Learn more about how the chipmunk is adapting to city life by taking it easy! urbanevolution-litc.com/2025/04/17/r... #UrbanEcology #UrbanEvolution #urbanmammals

How the Rose-Ringed Parakeet Conquered the Western World - Life in the City “Dad, what are those birds? I’ve never seen them before” I remember asking my dad when I was younger. We were outside having a barbecue and for the first time, I noticed several green birds flying ove...

Rose-ringed parakeets have become common in urban areas throughout Europe in the past 15 years. Thomas Griep explains why these beautiful birds are so successful in #urban ecosystems

urbanevolution-litc.com/2025/04/04/h...

#urbanecology #urbanevolution

How Does Urban Development Affect Soil Microbial Community? - Life in the City Microorganisms are essential members of soil ecosystems, and they form complex, interactive networks [4] including communications and interactions with each other that are similar to human communities...

How are soil microbes affected by urbanization? Ao Mo tells us about how key urban impacts affect the diversity of these important components of ecosystems

urbanevolution-litc.com/2025/04/04/h...

#urbanecology #urbanevolution

NYU MS student Rafael Baez is doing super cool work with urban frogs in NYC! Trypanosomes, chytrid, immune function, and natural history. Some truly integrative research! #SICB2025

An accurate representation of #SICB2025. Loved @princetonvaughn.bsky.social’s talk on anole morphological differences in urban vs. rural settings!

Climbing performance is multivariate- climbing and clinging show different patterns for different claw types in common wall lizards. There was also a clear interaction between SVL and sex on sprint speed. Cool lessons from wall lizards by @eric-gangloff.bsky.social and his lab! #SICB2025

A really really fucked up looking raccoon in sparkly blue gel pen with the commentary “wtf why can’t I draw raccoons”

Christina Sluka is looking at how urbanization and *self-domestication* (um, cool), is affecting raccoon skull shape.

What animals eat affects what their jaws are like. When animals live in cities, they eat different stuff.

I apologize to Christina and raccoons for this doodle.
#SICB2025

Program entry for Shannans poster

Gunderson lab (including collaborations) roll call for #sicb2025

Let’s start with PhD candidate Shannan Yates poster testing for replicated thermal evolution in urban #anolis on Sunday

Urban lizards have higher body temps.

So Princeton collected lizards from 3 different cities in Puerto Rico and held a lizard race in the lab.

Lizards were the best at sprinting in the temperatures they live at.

Big limbs? NOT always faster. But in the heat long limbs are faster!

#SICB2025

Didn’t get enough #urbanevolution at #SICB2025 yesterday? I have good news - there’s more! Join us for a complementary talk session this morning in International Salon 5 8:25-9:45 & at the poster session today!

Join us TODAY at #SICB2025 for a whole day of #urbanevolution talks in Marquis A. We’ve got a lineup that includes birds, bugs, lizards, & more! Also a fun workshop at 10:30 on urban research challenges and getting started, and a round table discussion this afternoon!

Have you ever thought about the perks of doing fieldwork in your own backyard? ...Are you "urban-ecology-curious"?

Come to our workshop at #SICB2025 on Jan 4 10:30-12:00 to learn about urban field safety, accessibility, engaging undergrads, designing experiments, permit perils, and more!

Urban Evolution at SICB 2025 The annual meeting of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology (SICB) is here! From January 3-7 biologists will convene in Atlanta, Georgia to share the latest and greatest from a broad range of research areas. Urban evolution talks have a strong showing at the meeting this year, and we would like to hear about all of the urban talks and posters if possible so that those of us not attending the meeting can follow along.

Urban Evolution at SICB 2025

The annual meeting of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology (SICB) is here! From January 3-7 biologists will convene in Atlanta, Georgia to share the latest and greatest from a broad range of research areas. Urban evolution talks have a strong showing at…

New Lit Alert: City lights, moonlit nights: examining bat responses to urbanization and lunar cycles City lights, moonlit nights: examining bat responses to urbanization and lunar cycles Claysson de Aguiar Silva & Ludmilla M. S. Aguiar  Abstract Urbanization is one of the most abrupt mechanisms of land use change. This process can generate significant impacts on biodiversity, and its effects on bat activity patterns need further exploration due to the importance of these animals in controlling insect populations and maintaining ecological balance.

New Lit Alert: City lights, moonlit nights: examining bat responses to urbanization and lunar cycles

City lights, moonlit nights: examining bat responses to urbanization and lunar cycles Claysson de Aguiar Silva & Ludmilla M. S. Aguiar  Abstract Urbanization is one of the most abrupt mechanisms of…

New Lit Alert: Body size and survival of urban and rural populations of a common wolf spider are not influenced by lifelong exposure to lead pollution  Body size and survival of urban and rural populations of a common wolf spider are not influenced by lifelong exposure to lead pollution Lucy Guarnieri, Leo Taylor, P. Larry Phelan & Mary Margaret Gardiner  Abstract Heavy metal pollution is pervasive in urban soils, and it can negatively impact the fitness of arthropods. Arthropod populations can evolve to become more tolerant or resistant to metals, but the mechanisms of these processes are understudied.

New Lit Alert: Body size and survival of urban and rural populations of a common wolf spider are not influenced by lifelong exposure to lead pollution 

Body size and survival of urban and rural populations of a common wolf spider are not influenced by lifelong exposure to lead pollution Lucy…

Is ALAN an advantage or disadvantage for bats? Artificial light at night (ALAN) is one of the most significant environmental changes of the past century.1 In 2020, there were approximately 361 million streetlights globally,2 and ALAN continues to increase at an alarming rate of 7%-10% per year.3 But how does this rapid expansion affect wildlife, particularly nocturnal creatures like bats? Research suggests that ALAN poses considerable challenges for bats, whose nocturnal behaviors are finaly tuned to natural light cycles.

Is ALAN an advantage or disadvantage for bats?

Artificial light at night (ALAN) is one of the most significant environmental changes of the past century.1 In 2020, there were approximately 361 million streetlights globally,2 and ALAN continues to increase at an alarming rate of 7%-10% per year.3…

Gulls are taking over our European cities Coastal cities in Europe are swarmed with gulls, to the annoyance of many of those cities’ inhabitants. Gulls (Larus spp.) are naturally cliff-nesting species, but are able to thrive in urban areas because of the high food availability, the suitable climate, the similarity of nest substrate, lesser risk of predation and the presence of conspecifics like other gulls (Mainwaring et al., 2014).

Gulls are taking over our European cities

Coastal cities in Europe are swarmed with gulls, to the annoyance of many of those cities’ inhabitants. Gulls (Larus spp.) are naturally cliff-nesting species, but are able to thrive in urban areas because of the high food availability, the suitable…

We are having an #urbanwildlife photo competition to support students in our #urbanevolution symposium at #SICB2025! Submissions will be printed & displayed at the venue all week, & we will auction them off at the end. Submit a photo and please share! docs.google.com/forms/d/1NXG...

We're back online and now we're on Bluesky! New content coming soon at urbanevolution-litc.com!