Department of Biology

A recent study reveals the fascinating evolutionary journey of bat teeth and jaws. With over 200 species mostly found in the American tropics, noctilionoid bats possess a wide variety of jaw structures that have adapted to different diets. Sharlene Santana, professor of biology at the UW, is quoted.

Some are stubborn optimists. Others struggle with despair. Their faces show the weight they carry as they witness the impact of climate change. Kristin Laidre, associate professor of aquatic and fishery sciences at the UW and principal scientist at the Applied Physics Laboratory, and P. Dee Boersma, professor of biology at the UW, are featured.

There are more than 200 species of noctilionoid bats, mostly in the American tropics. And despite being close relatives, their jaws evolved in wildly divergent shapes and sizes to exploit different food sources. A paper published Aug. 22 in Nature Communications shows those adaptations include dramatic, but also consistent, modifications to tooth number, size, shape and position. For example, bats with short snouts lack certain teeth, presumably due to a lack of space. Species with longer jaws have room for more teeth — and, like humans, their total tooth complement is closer to what the ancestor of placental mammals had.

The UWAA is proud to honor six extraordinary students across the UW whose stories exemplify Husky adaptability, tenacity and resolve. Each student receives a scholarship and was recognized at the Homecoming football game on Sat. Oct. 21, 2023.

Briana Abrahms, a University of Washington assistant professor of biology and researcher with the UW Center for Ecosystem Sentinels, has been named a 2023 Packard Fellow for Science and Engineering, according to an Oct. 16 announcement from the David and Lucille Packard Foundation. As one of 20 new fellows across the country, Abrahms, who holds the Boersma Endowed Chair in Natural History and Conservation, will receive $875,000 over five years for her research.

"As a transfer student, I was in a situation where I would not have been admitted to UW Seattle as a high school applicant. I needed that additional foundation at a community college to prepare me for the University and show the UW I was capable of academic achievement. After two years at the UW, I just felt like I wasn’t 'done' — so being here, belonging and becoming a staff member means being an example and showing how the differences in a diversity of backgrounds is what strengthens our entire community here at the UW." - Andrea Pardo (B.A., Comparative History of Ideas, 2006), Graduate Program Manager for Biology

Do fruit flies remember their larval lives? To find out, scientists made the neurons inside larvae glow, then tracked how they reshuffled as they formed adult brains. James Truman, professor emeritus of biology at the UW, is quoted. Lynn Riddiford, professor emerita of biology at the UW, is mentioned. [This story was originally published in Quanta Magazine]

A surge in gray whale strandings along the West Coast has raised alarms among researchers. Sue Moore, affiliate professor of biology at the UW, is quoted.

The return of the humpback whale to greater numbers than observed in decades is part of a larger revival of marine mammals in the Salish Sea. Briana Abrahms, assistant professor of biology at the UW, is mentioned.

Kick off the Autumn quarter and celebrate a return to campus with these can’t-miss recommendations from the College of Arts & Sciences.

Frustrated to see misleading information published as fact, professors Carl Bergstrom (Biology) and Jevin West (Information School) created a wildly popular UW course and book, "Calling Bullshit." 

Atlantic puffins had their second consecutive rebound year for fledging chicks after suffering a catastrophic 2021, said scientists who monitor the birds. The news flies in the face of environmental trends. P. Dee Boersma, professor of biology at the UW, is quoted.

As marine heat waves continued to simmer along the East Coast and beyond, a mass of warm water twice the size of Alaska quietly arrived on the Pacific Northwest's coastal shores. The UW's Julia Parrish, professor of biology and of aquatic and fishery sciences is quoted.

Big feet and short beaks have evolved in some hummingbirds that allow the birds to mooch nectar without helping the plant by transporting pollen. Alejandro Rico-Guevara, assistant professor of biology at the UW and curator of birds at the UW Burke Museum, is quoted.

A fossil found in 2012 in the Chinese province of Liaoning appeared to show a badger-like mammal and a Labrador retriever-sized dinosaur, locked in what appears to be an eternal brawl. David Grossnickle, a postdoctoral scholar in biology at the UW, is quoted.