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New microfossils suggest that a rich meiofauna was already present in the early Cambrian, offering a solution to the problem that the Cambrian explosion appears to have sprung out of nothing.
Current understanding of eco-evolutionary feedbacks rests primarily on simple systems at small spatial scales. Here, the authors outline a framework for examining spatiotemporal dynamics in species-rich networks at the metacommunity scale.
Speciation can be a sudden or gradual process, and may involve genomic tipping points where positive feedback accelerates the process towards completion. Here, the mechanics of speciation tipping points and their similarities to other dynamic systems are discussed.
Data from many genes across the genome are now being routinely used in the hope of reconstructing challenging parts of the tree of life, and a new method provides a practical way of resolving the phylogenetic trees suggested by different genes.
Bat species that echolocate using signals from their larynx, and those that do not, all share a similar pattern of inner ear development that is distinct from other mammals, implying a single evolutionary origin of laryngeal echolocation.
Plant–insect interactions reveal rapid recovery of terrestrial ecosystems in the Southern Hemisphere after the end-Cretaceous mass extinction, at more than twice the rate of contemporaneous Northern Hemisphere ecosystems.
Analysis of environmental DNA (eDNA) extracted from just 30 litres of seawater from the Arabian Gulf provides genetic insights into populations of the largest fish in the world.
Microcosm experiments show that post-invasion evolution of residents and invaders means invasive species effects are even harder to predict than previously thought.
Analysis of bacterial communities inhabiting water ‘tanks’ in the foliage of tropical bromeliads reveals a surprising similarity in their metabolic capacity, despite large variation in microbial taxa.
The relationship between transcriptional and phenotypic dimorphism is poorly understood, and is based on variably supported assumptions about transcriptional architecture, phenotypic variation and the target of selection.
