CuriosiTEA Journal Club 

Image Created By Olivia Hwang Student Summary By Olivia Hwang Original source: Robert Sanders, UC Berkeley News, November 4, 2025 https://news.berkeley.edu/2025/11/04/finch-chirps-are-more-than-mindless-chatter-they-actually-convey-meaning/https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.ads8482 Abstract Background: Zebra Finches are commonly used for studies because how males learn mating songs is similar to humans' development of speech. They are very talkative birds and have va

Student Summary by Jayden Ahn Original Source: Raul Valente, Raquel Ruivo, and others. Science Journal for Kids and Teens, April 2025 https://www.sciencejournalforkids.org/articles/how-did-mammals-evolve-to-live-in-the sea/; https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12915-024-01984-0 Cover created by Jayden Ahn Abstract Background: Cetaceans (whales, dolphins, and porpoises) are marine mammals, but about 50 million years ago their ancestors roamed on land in

Student Summary by Elizabeth Li Original Source: Kenneth Chiou et al. Science Journal for Kids and Teens, October 2022 https://www.sciencejournalforkids.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/geladas_article.pdf; https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-022-01703-4 Image created by Elizabeth Li Background: While animal species disperse throughout the world and adapt to their surroundings, many will find themselves in a habitat that could be undesirable or hostile to their ancestors. Th

Student summary by Elizabeth Li Original Source: Sharoni, T. et al., Nature Ecology and Evolution, June 26, 2026 https://www.sciencenewstoday.org/scientists-discover-a-hidden-antiviral-immune-system-in-sea-anemones-that-works-the-opposite-way-from-humans-yet-still-stops-deadly-viruses Image created by Elizabeth Li Abstract Background: Viruses have infected living organisms for hundreds of millions of years, driving the evolution of unique defense systems in different species.

Student Summary By Jayden Ahn Original Source: No individual author listed, Science Daily, July 1, 2026 https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/06/260621031409.html Image created by Jayden Ahn Abstract Background: Millions of years ago, in the Late Cretaceous Period, there was a group of bird-like dinosaurs called oviraptors. Of course they went extinct millions of years ago, but to this day there is a 70-million-year-old mystery about these dinos. Oviraptors incuba

Student Summary By Olivia Hwang Original Source: Maddie Burakoff, Audubon, May 29, 2025 https://www.audubon.org/magazine/hummingbird-rapidly-evolved-longer-beak-slurp-more-nectar-feeders-new-study-finds Image Photographed By Olivia Hwang Abstract Background: Anna’s Hummingbirds were historically found only in a small range of chaparral habitat in southern California and northern Mexico, where the mild climate let them feed on nectar year-round. However, with the recent commer

Student Summary by Elizabeth Li Original Source: University of Birmingham, SciTechDaily, June 18, 2026 https://scitechdaily.com/these-tiny-birds-became-giants-on-remote-scottish-islands/ Image created by Elizabeth Li Abstract Background: A common evolutionary pattern found in species of animals isolated on islands for prolonged periods of time is a change in body size. This pattern is sometimes called the “island rule” or island gigantism, and it belongs to a broader set of c