evolution

Predators key to helping prey adapt to climate change

The key to helping animals evolve quickly in response to climate change could actually be their predators, according to a new UBC study.

Dec 16, 2015

Why we live on Earth and not Venus

Compared to its celestial neighbours Venus and Mars, Earth is a pretty habitable place. So how did we get so lucky? A new study sheds light on the improbable evolutionary path that enabled Earth to sustain life.

Jul 21, 2015

Adaptability to local climate helps invasive species thrive

The ability of invasive plants to rapidly adapt to local climates – and potentially to climate change – may be a key factor in how quickly they spread.

Oct 17, 2013

Left: An oyster covered in green lesions caused by Denman Island disease. Right: A close-up look at the Mikrocytos mackini parasite. (UBC/Department of Fisheries and Oceans)

Captured: Mysterious oyster killers

UBC researchers have apprehended tiny, elusive parasites that have plagued oysters from B.C. to California.

Jul 25, 2013

Eating right key to survival of whales and dolphins: UBC research

In the marine world, high-energy prey make for high-energy predators. And to survive, such marine predators need to sustain the right kind of high-energy diet. Not just any prey will do, suggests a new study by researchers from the University of British Columbia and University of La Rochelle, in France.

Nov 21, 2012

Backpack-toting birds help UBC researchers reveal migratory divide, conservation hotspots

By outfitting two British Columbia subspecies of Swainson’s thrushes with penny-sized, state-of-the-art geolocators, University of British Columbia researchers have been able to map their wildly divergent migration routes and pinpoint conservation hotspots.

Sep 25, 2012

Single-cell parasites co-opt “ready-made” genes from host: UBC research

Two species of single-cell parasites have co-opted “ready-made” genes from their hosts that in turn help them exploit their hosts, according to a new study by University of British Columbia and University of Ottawa researchers.

Jul 18, 2012

Picky females promote diversity: UBC-IIASA study

Picky females play a critical role in the survival and diversity of species, according to a Nature study by researchers from the University of British Columbia and the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) in Austria.

Apr 1, 2012

Monogamy reduces major social problems of polygamist cultures

In cultures that permit men to take multiple wives, the intra-sexual competition that occurs causes greater levels of crime, violence, poverty and gender inequality than in societies that institutionalize and practice monogamous marriage.

Jan 23, 2012

Happy guys finish last, says new study on sexual attractiveness

Women find happy guys significantly less sexually attractive than swaggering or brooding men, according to a new University of British Columbia study that helps to explain the enduring allure of “bad boys” and other iconic gender types.

May 24, 2011

Death anxiety prompts people to believe in intelligent design, reject evolution: UBC research

Researchers at the University of British Columbia and Union College (Schenectady, N.Y.) have found that people’s death anxiety can influence them to support theories of intelligent design and reject evolutionary theory.

Mar 30, 2011

“David and Goliath” viruses shed light on the origin of jumping genes: UBC study

University of British Columbia researchers have identified a small virus that attacks another virus more than 100 times its own size, rescuing the infected zooplankton from certain death. The discovery provides clues to the evolutionary origin of some jumping genes found in other organisms.

Mar 3, 2011

Tiny fish evolved to tolerate colder temperature in three years: UBC study

University of British Columbia researchers have observed one of the fastest evolutionary responses ever recorded in wild populations. In as little as three years, stickleback fish developed tolerance for water temperature 2.5 degrees Celsius lower than their ancestors.

Aug 4, 2010

Tropical birds waited for land crossing between North and South America: UBC study

Despite their ability to fly, tropical birds waited until the formation of the land bridge between North and South America to move northward, according to a University of British Columbia study published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Early Edition.

Dec 9, 2009