A transcriptomic analysis of 8 tissues across 20 bilaterian species reveals that ancestral gains of tissue-specific gene expression were closely associated with whole-genome duplications in vertebrates and the diversification of ancestral tissue types.

We evaluate the drivers of intensification traps — the combined loss of biodiversity and crop production that results from too-intensive agriculture. Our results reveal the conditions under which these lose–lose situations emerge and highlight the strong ramifications of disregarding biodiversity in agricultural management.

The Anthropocene has been rejected as a formal epoch by the International Commission on Stratigraphy. Moving on and recognizing the deeper and more complex roots of human impacts on our planet will enable us to better, and more fairly, address them.

Sauropod specialist Verónica Díez Díaz retains a fondness for an armoured giant.

Using a deep learning method that extracts morphological features from images of marine fossils, the authors explore morphological disparity dynamics over a time series of 4 million years, spanning the Permian–Triassic mass extinction event.

This study develops a somatic molecular clock based on the accumulation of fixed somatic genetic variation that segregates among clonally produced organisms and applies it to the eelgrass Zostera marina.

Machine learning analyses and playback experiments in wild African elephants suggest that individuals address conspecifics with name-like calls that do not rely on imitation of the receiver.

A meta-analysis of 335 studies reveals that microbial inoculants have overall positive effects on the biomass of soil microbial communities. These effects were weakened by environmental stress and strengthened by the use of fertilizers and native inoculants.

Most diversity–synchrony–stability studies are conducted on a single trophic level. A multitrophic assessment of algae–herbivore assemblages across five long-term tropical and temperate marine system datasets demonstrates the varied and complex nature of diversity–synchrony–stability relationships.

The authors build recombination maps of marine, freshwater and hybrid sticklebacks at a scale of 3.8 kb, examining differences in recombination rates and evolutionary implications in populations undergoing adaptive divergence. They find evidence of recombination suppression in hybrids and reduced fitness of recombinants in a natural hybrid zone.

Recent media coverage gives the impression that the very idea of tackling climate change by slowing tropical deforestation is a scam — this is not true and the idea could harm forests.

Achieving inclusive and sustainable ocean economies, long-term climate resilience and effective biodiversity conservation requires urgent and strategic actions from local to global scales. We discuss fundamental changes that are needed to allow equitable policy across these three domains.

Sauropod specialist Verónica Díez Díaz retains a fondness for an armoured giant.