Evolutionary biologist David Hillis, a professor in the Department of Integrative Biology, is featured in an in-depth Q-and-A piece in the New York Times.
In the piece, he discusses the evolutionary history of the Texas longhorn, which he raises on the Double Helix Ranch, and how UT Austin's mascot developed its long horns. The longhorn descended from a domesticated European breed and was then re-domesticated after a period of being wild (when it grew those trademark horns) in the Western Hemisphere.
Hillis also talks about how phylogenetics, which uses genetic information and computational analysis to understand evolutionary relationships, can be employed in criminal justice, epidemiology and more.
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