Studying the tiger salamander can help us understand the movements of the first tetrapods, four-limbed vertebrates whose descendants include mammals.

Credit: Sandy Kawano and Rick Blob, National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis

An artificial spider web, engineered by Ross Hatton of Oregon State University. With NSF funding, Hatton has teamed up with a spider biologist to probe the physics of spider webs. This artificial structure allows Hatton to precisely measure vibrations in the spider web, feeding into a computational model that will then be tested with real-life spiders.

Credit: Andrew Otto, Oregon State University

European garden spiders are common throughout Europe and North America. Their webs serve as their entire sensory world; the spider uses it to distinguish between prey and predator, mate and foe. Studying the physics of those webs will help shed light on the behavior and ecology of one of Earth's most numerous animal groups.

Credit: Wilder Kaiser, via Creative Commons

George Mason University biologist David Luther in the field, recording white-crowned sparrow songs. Understanding how these birds alter their communication in an urban environment could help us better understand how all species exist in urban settings.

Credit: Sebastian Kennerknecht

A white-crowned sparrow. Research into how cities, particularly human noise in cities, changes the way these birds communicate could have larger implications for how species exist in urban settings.

Credit: Sebastian Kennerknecht