by Joe Matza, Texas Applied Arts Creek Monster Habitat student
Well, Halloween is officially over, and with that comes the official start of the holiday season. While the holidays ramp up, and the weather cools down, there are some yearly occurrences happening throughout Austin that are not to be missed. One such event is the Waterloo Greenways Cre... 
By Adam Cohen, Collection Manager and Melissa Casarez, Assistant Collection Manager (Ichthyology Collection)
We, in the fish collection, often find ourselves wading in deep, murky waters when out collecting around the state in creeks and rivers with steep banks and little chance for a quick escape, if necessary. During these times, we find it ... 
By Dean Hendrickson (Curator, Ichthyology Collection) and Nicole Elmer
Satan eurystomus (Photo: Garold Sneegas)
In our last Halloween posting, the scorpionfly donned orange, black, and yellow. The species in this blog’s focus is pale and pink. This is Satan eurystomus, also known as the Widemouth Blindcat, a cave catfish, known... 
By Gary Garrett (Ichthyology Collection)
Native fish conservation areas of Texas.
Freshwater fishes and the ecosystems they depend upon are experiencing massive degradation on a global scale. The American Fisheries Society estimates that around 40% of the freshwater fishes in North America are imperiled. Our studies show that in Texa... 
By Jen Schlauch, Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior Senior
Freshman Research Initiative students
A large steel barn lay hidden from the February cold, framed in a banner of painted bluebonnets and the words, “Texas Wildlife Expo.” Within, javelinas, porcupines, and longhorn cattle shuffled in front of curious children and their ... 
Maculra pomifera (Photo: Larry Gilbert)
by Dr. Larry Gilbert, (Professor, Department of Integrative Biology)
One of the few trees of the original forest on UT’s main campus is a huge Maclura pomifera, also known as “Osage orange” or “horse apple.” A male tree of this species grows in front of Welch Hall. Other members of the family ... 
by Dr. Dean Hendrickson (Curator of Ichthyology)
The very rare and still scientifically undescribed Chihuahua Catfish, "Ictalurus sp." is known only from streams of the Río Grande basin. It looks superficially a lot like the common Channel Catfish (Ictalurus punctatus), and hybridizes with that species. Non-hybrids, however, are identi... 
Nolina nelsonii growing at the corner of Inner Campus Dr. and Whitis Ave., the University of Texas at Austin
by Dr. José Panero, Associate Professor and Associate Director of the Billie L. Turner Plant Resources Center
The gardens surrounding the BIO Building and the Teaching Greenhouse have several interesting plants donated in y... 
by Adam Cohen (Ichthyology Collection Manager) and Dean Hendrickson (Curator of Ichthyology)
For the last 25 years, the Hendrickson Lab has been monitoring the fishes of Waller Creek, on the UT campus as well as the surrounding vicinity. Their specimen collections have usually included UT students, the public, or local schools, illustr... 
by Dr. Travis LaDuc, Curator of Herpetology, Department of Integrative Biology
(Photo: Ian Wright)
The Spot-tailed Earless Lizard (Holbrookia lacerata) is a small (70 mm snout-vent length), enigmatic lizard historically found across much of the Edwards Plateau, parts of the Permian Basin in west Texas, and parts of the south Te... 
Biodiversity Discovery FRI Students Christiana Peek, Evan Samsky, Hannah Gilbreath, Thomas Johnston and Ari Nehrbass prepare to sample vegetation at BFL (Photo: Alejandro Santillana)
By Nicole Elmer and Dr. Susan Devitt
The Freshman Research Initiative is a pioneering program allowing first-year students chances for hands-on resea... 
UT Explore was held on Saturday March 3rd, drawing a large crowd of families, students, and teachers. The annual event seeks to encourage community interest in research and higher education, and the important impact UT has on Austin and the world at large.
American eels
This was written by Nicole Elmer, Melissa Casarez, and Dean Hendrickson
Citizen-science and social networking outreach efforts often yield benefits for researchers. This is no more evident than here in the University of Texas’ Hendrickson Lab (home of the Fishes of Texas project) with a recent surprising discovery of... 
