Analysing more than 1,000 genera of four major orders of brachiopods spanning the Permian to the Quaternary, the authors find that despite low levels of taxonomic richness after the Permian/Triassic mass extinction, brachiopods continued to innovate morphologically, indicative of high evolutionary adaptability.

Comparison of neural crest and pluripotency gene regulatory networks of Xenopus and lamprey reveals shared regulatory factors in the last common ancestor of extant vertebrates and suggests common molecular features of blastula and neural crest stem cells.

Sub-metre-resolution satellite imagery is used to identify the presence of nearly 2.8 million baobab trees in the Sahel, with 94% of rural buildings in Senegal having at least one baobab tree in their immediate surroundings. The abundance of baobabs is associated with a higher likelihood of people consuming highly nutritious dark green leafy vegetables.

Chemical and structural imaging of Komodo dragon teeth reveals that they maintain their sharp cutting edges through iron-enriched coatings, a unique adaptation compared with theropod dinosaurs (for which they have previously been used as an extant model).

Seed predation increases from the Arctic to the tropics, but it is unknown whether urbanization disrupts this latitudinal pattern. An experimental study conducted across the Americas shows that the latitudinal gradient in predation holds in urban areas, even though total seed predation is reduced.

Constructing and exploring a global database, the authors find that 10% of the world’s languages are endemic to islands (a disproportionately large amount) and island area predicts number of languages. However, languages appear not to conform to all predictions of island biogeography theory.

Data from 1,279 time series across 29 taxonomic classes analysed with a Bayesian phylogenetic model shows that species phenology has advanced by 3.1 days per decade on average, with the timing of events varying by phylogeny but no evidence of differences in phenological shifts by trophic level.

A synthesis of empirical and theoretical literature shows the extent to which food production has homogenized and rewired food webs to increase productivity but with negative consequences for stability.

Analysis of North American landbirds compares their latitudinal, elevational and phenological responses to climate change. Species have tracked 33% of current temperature change, with phenological change accounting for the majority (64%) of this.

Research on biodiversity–ecosystem functioning relationships tends to focus on single trophic groups. This analysis of two biodiversity experiments, representing forests and grasslands, shows that plant diversity promotes ecosystem multifunctionality not only directly, but also by enhancing the diversity of other trophic levels.

Cecilia Apaldetti’s palaeontological journey began with a turkey-sized dinosaur.

Climate change is causing an increase in extreme events, and this is a major concern for biodiversity.