2021
“Long-legged lizards get blown away” | ANA BREIT | Outside JEB.
“Islands are cauldrons of evolution” | Science Daily
“Hurricane Lizards and Plastic Squid” | THOR HANSON | Basic Books
“Survival Strategies for a Changing World” | DEVIN REESE | Science Magazine
“Move or Change: How Plants and Animals Are Trying to Survive a Warming World” | TARA LOHAN | The Revelator
“How the Animal World Is Adapting to Climate Change” | JONATHAN BALCOMBE | The New York Times
“How animals and plants are responding to climate change; the new greenhouse gas climate rule” | RADIO TIMES WHYY
“Some Species Are Changing Along With the Climate” | THOR HANSON | The Wall Street Journal
2020 Hurricanes
Following the publication of the newest hurricanes paper, we got another flurry of press in April 2020. I’ve highlighted a few of the articles below:
“Hurricanes are reshaping evolution across the Caribbean” | JOSHUA SOKOL | The New York Times.
“Some island lizard species evolve to survive hurricanes – the key is bigger toe pads” | RYAN PRIOR | CNN.
“Lizards evolve bigger toepads to hang on during hurricanes” | CHARLES CHOI | Inside Science.
“Lizards are evolving in response to fierce hurricane seasons” | ISAAC SCHULTZ | Atlas Obscura.
“Video shows lizard hanging on during hurricane-force winds. Large toepads are the key” | KATIE CAMERO | The Miami Herald.
“Hold on tight: Researchers say Caribbean lizards grow bigger toes to survive hurricanes” | JAN WESNER CHILDS | The Weather Channel.
“Hurricanes are shaping lizard feet all over the world” | MAX LEVY | Massive Science.
“Hurricane coming? Get bigger toepads” | NICK CARNE | Cosmos Magazine.
“Hurricanes have warped how lizards evolve, and still throw in a twist” | ELIZABETH RAYNE | SYFY Wire.
2020
“Lizards fell from palm trees during a Florida cold snap, but now they’ve toughened up.” | ALEX FOX | Smithsonian Magazine, November 2020.
“Zombie lizards may not be falling from trees as often as they used to. Here’s why.” | KATIE CAMERO | The Miami Herald, November 2020.
“Invasive lizards in Florida adapt to colder temperatures” | JOSHUA LEARN | The Wildlife Society, November 2020.
“Florida’s falling lizards are getting used to cold winter temperatures” | KATIE HUNT | CNN, October 2020.
“Lizards in US exhibit rapid adaptation to colder temperatures; provide new insights on climate change resilience.” | The Weather Channel, October 2020.
“How frigid lizards falling from trees revealed the reptiles’ growing cold tolerance.” | CHARLES CHOI | Science News, October 2020.
“City species are evolving — and conservation plans should evolve with them” | CARA GIAIMO | Another article about our recent Nature Ecology and Evolution paper about conservation in urban areas. Anthropocene Magazine, June 2020
“Untapped opportunities for conservation lie in cities” | JOSHUA RAPP LEARN | An article about our recent paper in Nature Ecology and Evolution discussing the challenges and opportunities of conservation in urban areas using evolutionary tools. Here’s a blog post about the paper too. The Wildlife Society, June 2020.
“Lizards develop new ‘love language'”| BES Press Office | We recently showed that lizards introduced to small predator free islets rapidly and repeatedly shifted the composition of their chemical signals in Greece. This is a press release from the British Ecological Society. See my blog post about the research here. Research published in April 2020.
“When lizards change cologne” | NICK CARNE | Cosmos Magazine, April 2020.
Additional coverage at: Futurity, National Geographic, Spain, IFL Science, Radio 1 Belgium.
2019
“Hurricanes may spin a more aggressive population of spiders, new study shows” | ALEX HARRIS | An article profiling a recent study by Alexander Little demonstrating hurricane effects on the behavior of a colonial spider species in the Southeast US. The author also profiled my hurricane and lizard research. Miami Herald, August 2019.
“After Hurricane Maria, these lizards got a serious grip” | KEVIN DICKINSON | Another great article about the lizards in Dominica following Hurricane Maria. Big Think, June 2019.
“Lizards’ grip became ten times stronger after Hurricane Maria” | JAKE BUEHLER | Great article about a recent paper with collaborator Claire Dufour looking at grip strength in anoles on the island of Dominica following Hurricane Maria. New Scientist, June 2019.
“Lizards’ grip suddenly got ten times stronger after Hurricane Maria and no one knows why” | A nice video explaining the research in Dominica. MSN Videos, June 2019.
“BBC Newsday: June 13, 2019” | BBC Worldservice | An interview with lead author Claire Dufour about the lizards in Dominica. Interview starts at 32:47.
2018 Hurricanes
Following the publication of my Hurricane-induced natural selection in an island lizard paper, the story has been picked up by quite a number of news outlets. I’ve highlighted several favorites below published in July 2018 (unless otherwise noted). You can see videos that were made about the research here.
“After last year’s hurricanes, Caribbean lizards are better at holding on for dear life” | ED YONG | The Atlantic.
“This secret skill helps lizards survive hurricanes” | ELAINA ZACHOS | National Geographic.
“Lizards with bigger toes and smaller hind legs survive hurricanes” | JOSHUA RAPP LEARN | Smithsonian Magazine.
“Hurricanes May Have Made These Lizards Better Huggers” | KAT ESCHNER | Popular Science.
“Hurricanes Force Lizards to get a tighter grip on things” | ANDREW FREEDMAN | Axios.
“How a population of lizards was forever changed by 2017’s extreme hurricane season” | RAYNE ELLIS | Mashable.
“Researchers use Leaf Blower to see how Lizards Endure Storms” | SETH BORENSTEIN | The Associated Press.
“After hurricanes, long toed lizards survived” | MARCO WERMAN | PRI’s, The World.
“Lézards vs Ouragans” | Zeste de Science | This is a video series created by the CNRS, the French National Science Foundation. You can read the press coverage here (French). Regardless of your French knowledge the visuals of the video are terrific. Enjoy. November 2018.
“Hurricane Is a Natural Selection Experiment” | JASON GOLDMAN | A podcast on evolution reports on the hurricane story. September 2018.
“SquaMates Ep.3: Revenge of the Toxicofera” | THE SQUAMATES POD | A herpetology podcast featured the hurricane experiment in a long discussion of evolution in action and field research with reptiles. August 2018.
2018
“Lizards, Leaf Blowers, and the Value of Basic Research“| DON LYMAN | A really nicediscussion about the value of basic science and science communication with the leaf blower experiment in Turks and Caicos as a foil to illustrate why even silly-looking videos can answer important questions. UnDark, October 2018.
“Island lizards shift to evolutionary fast-track after invasive goats and rats are eradicated.” | GEOFFREY GILLER | Great background on the potential conservation and evolutionary consequences of the Redonda restoration efforts. Scientific American, April 2018.
Live on Antigua Barbuda Today. | Geoffrey Giller and I talk about our recent visit to Redonda one year after the beginning of the eradication efforts. Antigua Barbuda Today, March 2018.
“Harvard University has an underground lizard colony” | CRISTELA GUERRA | A nice profile about our work on speciation and heritability in the anole breeding colony at Harvard. The Boston Globe, February 2018.
“At an underground Harvard lizard colony, scientists study speciation” | GEOFFREY GILLER |A fun look at some of the recent work collecting lizards in the Bahamas and breeding them on campus at Harvard. Atlas Obscura, January 2018.
2017
“Northernmost population of Italian Wall Lizards in North America discovered in Boston” | DON LYMAN | A nice article highlighting the Italian Wall Lizards in the Fenway Victory Gardens. Earth Island Journal, July 2017.
“What Makes a City Ant? Maybe just 100 years of Evolution” | STEPH YIN | Dr. Diamond and colleagues recently published a cool example of rapid evolution in Acorn Ants. They demonstrated that ants in Cleveland are rapidly evolving increased heat tolerance in the city’s urban heat island. The New York Times, April 2017.
“Along Highways, Wildlife Appears to be breaking Evolutionary Speed Limits” | PATRICK SKAHILL | A piece highlighting a recent journal article by Dr. Brady and Dr. Richardson on Evolution around Roads. WNPR, March 2017.
Listen to the full interview here
2016
“Migrant Lizard, Having Made It in New York, Heads Elsewhere” | JIM DWYER | A great profile talking about the lizards in the Bronx making their way north to Connecticut (and beyond). The New York Times, August 2016.
“Scientists track reptiles’ migration from New York to Greenwich” | PEREGRINE FRISSELL | More stories from a backyard expedition to find Italian Wall Lizards in Greenwich, Connecticut. Greenwich Times, August 2016.
“Italian lizards invade Greenwich” | PEREGRINE FRISSELL | A story from the field about the Italian Wall Lizards we found in Greenwich backyards. Greenwich Times, July 2016.
Watch the FacebookLive feed of our searching for the lizards. July 2016.
“A lizard from all the way across the Atlantic has just been spotted in Connecticut.” | KEVIN MCLEAN | The first article on our finding Italian Wall Lizards, Podarcis siculus, in Greenwich Connecticut. Describes our paper in Herpetological Review. The Beaker, July 2016.
“The Lizards of Hastings-on-Hudson” | BEN GOLDFARB | An exciting description of our efforts to find and document a new population of Italian Wall Lizards in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York. Some excellent background information on the history of the invasion, and musings by Mr. Goldfarb on his experiences with invasive species, particularly so close to home. The Last Word On Nothing Blog, January 2016.
2015 and before
“Lizard, lizard on the wall” | AMBIKA KAMATH | A profile on my research on the Aegean Wall Lizard in Greece. The Hindu Business Line, December 2015.
“Traditional ranching practices enhance African Savannah” | YALE FES | A report on my study finding that traditional agricultural practices can have a bolstering effect on the productivity and diversity of savannah landscapes. Science Daily, May 2013.
“Explorations: Aegean Islands” | COLIN DONIHUE | A photoessay introducing my research in the Greek Islands on the effects of human land use on their ecology, natural history, and evolution. Sage Magazine, December 2013.
Colin Donihue 