Articles by Jeff Mitton

For evolutionary biologist Jeff Mitton, a trip to the Labyrinth Canyon Wilderness brought an added discovery.

Males employ an anoxic kiss to reduce female struggle and increase compliance The dam that forms Varsity Lake on the University of Colorado campus is solid, but nevertheless riddled with crevices that provide safe havens for western terrestrial garter snakes, Thamnophis elegans. Eager to witness the various fulminations of spring,...

Colorful cup-shaped flowers likely to bloom in force after wet winter.

The Boulder Chickadee Study is a collaborative, long term effort between Kathryn Grabenstein, a PhD candidate in ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Colorado Boulder, and her thesis advisor, Scott Taylor, to examine hybridization.

Colorado is home to 92 species of metallic wood boring beetles that share the wood boring habit and glittering iridescence.

I looked around to see what was in bloom and found a native wildflower with the strange name of ballhead waterleaf, Hydrophyllum capitatum.

Pinedrops parasitizes the mycorrhizal fungus directly, stealing water, minerals, carbohydrates and nutrients, but supplying nothing in return. In effect, it parasitizes a mutualism after germinating in the grasp of a fungus.

As beautiful as they are, Rocky Mountain bee plants are known to be malodorous, inspiring other common names, including skunk weed and stink weed.

The rubyspot's mating system is classified as territorial defense polygyny, in which males defend a site to attract mates.

A wildfire causes blight on the land, but it is surprising how quickly plants and animals that depend on them colonize the burned area.