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... 
Tower Girl cools down using "gular fluttering."
As Central Texas moves deeper into the summer months, we Austinites like to find relief from the oppressive heat by wearing shorts and t-shirts, consuming cool drinks, and ducking inside air-conditioned spaces. If you have been watching our resident Peregrine falcon, Tower Gir... 
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... 
The Department of Integrative Biology held its third annual science image contest, open to all members of the department. The categories included:
Science Subjects - images (photographs or illustrations) of natural history, field sites, behavior, miscroscopy
People of Science - images of researchers at work
Science Figures - figures, model outputs... 
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... 
If you happened to be strolling down the East Mall on the warm afternoon of April 23rd, you might have noticed some tables holding cases of pinned insects, or perhaps some skulls and specimen jars. The event you passed was for Texas Biodiversity Day, and the Biodiversity Center participated to promote outreach and awareness, and to assist... 
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... 
Bdallophytum americanum.
Every once in a while, we botanists discover things out in nature that, at first glance, appear to defy classification. The present photograph is a case in point. While botanizing in San Luis Potosí, Mexico, I stumbled upon weird little stout spikes up to four inches tall poking out of the ground. What wer... 
This rare, mostly underground ant species was not known from UT’s Brackenridge Field Lab until this year, when Curator of Entomology Alex Wild found one by chance under a stone. He snapped this photograph, possibly the first photograph taken of H. inexorata in the field. Colonies are small and subterranean, often near other species of ants. The wor... 
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... 
