In our newly published research in Science Advances, my student Ben Alessio and I propose a potential mechanism explaining how these distinctive patterns form—that could potentially be applied to ...

Reef fish in different oceans often develop similar color patterns because evolution explores the same set of biological possibilities.

Why does a Caribbean angelfish sometimes resemble its Indo-Pacific cousin, even though they have never lived in the same ocean? Why do coral reefs harbor such a wide range of stripes, spots and ...

Similarities in how different organisms look can indicate a close evolutionary relationship. Conversely, great differences in appearance can suggest a very distant relationship, as in many adult ...

Ankur Gupta receives funding from NSF (CBET - 2238412) and ACS Petroleum Research Fund (65836 - DNI9). A thought experiment can help visualize the challenge of achieving distinctive color patterns.

The little marsh swarmed with insects. Tiny moths popped up from the grass, darted a short distance and then disappeared back into the grass. Small wood nymph butterflies kept searching for the ...

How the leopard got its spots and the zebra its stripes might not be just-so stories much longer. Biologists are beginning to pinpoint the molecular mechanisms animals use to deck themselves out with ...