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Comparing phenotypes for the knockout of five leg patterning genes in a crustacean with those of insects, the authors show that insect wings evolved from existing structures present in the common ancestor of crustaceans and insects.
Using data from four adaptive radiations of the three-spined stickleback, the authors examine levels of genomic parallelism and the phenotypic and environmental factors that predict parallelism.
Via congruent observations in geological samples and pyrolysis experiments, the authors demonstrate that 26-alkylsteranes posited as sponge biomarkers can form during diagenesis of common algal sterols.
By subjecting chlorophyte lipid extracts to pyrolysis, the authors demonstrate that the lipid biomarkers 24-isopropylcholestane and 24-n-propylcholestane can be generated from algal C29 sterol in experiments simulating diagenetic processes, thereby undermining their status as sponge biomarkers.
In this study, the authors generate transcriptomic data for 6 organs in 74 cichlid fish species from African Lake Tanganyika to understand the dynamics of gene expression associated with rapid phenotypic evolution.
This study reports the genome of the miniature segmented annelid Dimorphilus gyrociliatus and reveals no drastic changes in genome architecture and regulation, unlike other cases of genome miniaturization.
Using demographic data for 1,111 tree species across ten tropical forests, the authors test the generality of the growth–mortality trade-off, finding that it holds in undisturbed but not disturbed forests.
Starting from the vibrational modes of water molecules, the authors derive five major spectral niches in aquatic ecosystems using a radiative transfer model. They then predict the global distributions of these spectral niches using remote sensing and validate the predictions with metagenomic data on the distribution patterns of cyanobacterial pigments.
An approximately 2-million-year-old male Paranthropus robustus cranium from Drimolen Main Quarry in South Africa refutes influential ideas of sexual dimorphism in this taxon and instead suggests local microevolution within robust australopiths.
The role of the metabotropic gamma-aminobutyric acid B receptor (GABABR) in neural differentiation is well known in vertebrates. Here, the authors show that GABABRs plays a role in neurogenesis and development in the sea anemone Nematostella vectensis.
The authors introduce the term demographic competence to describe the ability of a host population to maintain endemic infections, and use models to explore the interaction between population regulation and host–pathogen life history traits.
A model of sexual reproduction creates a theoretical framework for the evolution of indiscriminate sexual behaviour, showing that it is the optimal strategy under a wide range of conditions, and supporting the hypothesis that same-sex sexual behaviour can be maintained by selection for indiscriminate sexual behaviour.
A meta-analysis of 126 published studies shows that exposure to artificial light at night induces strong responses for physiological measures, daily activity patterns and life history traits.
A monospecific aggregation of multituberculate mammals from the Late Cretaceous of Montana suggests an early origin for multigenerational group living and burrowing behaviour among mammals.
An analysis of plant diversity and stoichiometric niches in herbaceous ecosystems across northern Eurasia reveals that phosphorus fertilization and increases in relative phosphorus availability associated with current measures to reduce nitrogen deposition may seriously threaten plant species of high conservation concern.
Based on a tree-diversity experiment, the authors introduce and test an approach to quantify net biodiversity effects on stem biomass in young forests using airborne spectroscopic imaging.
Combining phylogenomics with analysis of gene duplication to reconstruct the steps during eukaryogenesis the authors show that the Asgard archaea-related host already had some eukaryote-like cellular complexity, which increased further upon mitochondrial acquisition.