The rate at which the rabies virus evolves in bats may depend heavily upon the ecological traits of its hosts, according to researchers at the University of Georgia, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in Belgium. Their study, published May 17 in the journal PLoS Pathogens, found that the host's geographical location was the most accurate predictor of the viral rate of evolution. Rabies viruses in tropical and sub-tropical bat species evolved nearly four times faster than viral variants in bats in temperate regions.

On the second anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon blowout, a national panel of researchers including University of Georgia marine scientist Samantha Joye is urging the federal government to reassess how it would respond to similar oil spills that might occur in the future.

University of Georgia ecologist Jacqueline Mohan has received a $554,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to help develop more accurate predictions about the impacts of climate change on forests. Her project is part of a five-year collaborative effort led by James Clark of Duke University.

Black flies drink blood and spread disease such as river blindness-creating misery with their presence. A University of Georgia study, however, proves that the pesky insects can be useful.

A new paper by researchers from the University of Georgia and Princeton University sheds light on the critical part played by a little-studied element, molybdenum, in the nutrient cycles of tropical forests. Understanding the role of molybdenum may help scientists more accurately predict how tropical forests will respond to climate change. The findings were published March 21 in the journal PLoS ONE.

Two University of Georgia genetics researchers won grants from the National Science Foundation valued at more than $1.8 million for projects that can potentially help combat birth defects and improve the understanding of how new species come into existence.

For the first time, scientists have measured how fast large-scale evolution can occur in mammals, showing it takes 24 million generations for a mouse-sized animal to evolve to the size of an elephant.

Predicting the risk of extinction is a complicated task, especially for species that migrate between breeding and wintering sites. Researchers at the University of Georgia and Tulane University have developed a mathematical model that may make such predictions more accurate. Their work appears in the early online edition of the Royal Society journal Biology Letters.