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Sex-discordant selection causes intralocus sexual conflict as different alleles are favoured in each sex. Here, the authors show that the evolution of body size dimorphism—a trait with strong correlation between males and females—is arrested in Drosophila for many generations due to intralocus sexual conflict.
A population-genomic analysis of more than 800 isolates of Staphylococcus aureus, representing the breadth of host-species diversity, reveals details of the pathogen’s evolutionary trajectory, including how this has been influenced by animal domestication and antibiotic use.
Palaeoenvironmental analysis reveals the ecological history of the Andean–Amazonian corridor, where European colonization resulted in depopulation, land-use decline and forest succession such that by the nineteenth century the region came to be seen as a pristine natural environment.
Analysing a database of >1,800 field studies in the terrestrial Arctic, the authors identify large spatial biases in sampling, with nearly one-third of all citations derived from sites located within 50 km of two research stations.
Logarithmic scales are frequently used in ecological data display, but the degree to which they are understood is not clear. Here, the authors survey members of the Ecological Society of America and find that only 56% of respondents correctly interpreted data presented on log–log axes.
Damselfish ‘farm' plots of algae through weeding, territorial defence and fertilization. Here, the authors show that some damselfish populations take advantage of natural CO2 vents to enhance their crop productivity and abundance.
A new sauropodomorph dinosaur taxon, Ingentia prima, and new lessemsaurid fossils from the Late Triassic of Argentina, reveal a distinctive and early pathway towards gigantism, 30 million years before the first eusauropods appeared.
Single-species antibiotic dose response is a poor predictor of multi-species community dynamics because it cannot foresee the tipping points that cause irreversible changes in resistance that persist even when treatment stops.
Experimental work in juvenile threespine sticklebacks shows that offspring from a single clutch display the same phenotypic and molecular responses to information on predation risk when this information is conveyed through paternal cues or personal experience.
Comparative genomics of eight populations of the copepod Tigriopus californicus reveals extreme mtDNA divergence and rapid protein evolution as well as positive selection in genes predicted to interact with mtDNA, which suggests mitonuclear coevolution.
Analysing a model of randomly interacting species, the authors show that stable, biodiverse communities can be achieved in which network structure has little influence.
Mitonuclear interactions can promote population divergence. Here, the authors find a genomic cluster of differentiation and signatures of selection in a region with an over-representation of nuclear genes that interact with mitochondrial genes in a songbird.
Phenotypic plasticity may play a role in initiating novelty. This study provides evidence for selection on phenotypic plasticity leading to the evolution of a carnivore morph tadpole, which allowed spadefoot toads to invade a new niche.
Genetic sequencing of 137 silkworm strains enables reconstruction of silkworm domestication history and identifies key genes involved in silk production, circadian rhythms, as well as candidate genes associated with breeding traits.
The branch-site test is commonly used to identify genes under positive selection. Here, the authors show that multinucleotide mutations can lead to false signatures of positive selection when using this test and develop a model that ameliorates the problem.
Analysis of cell-type-specific transcription in non-bilaterian animals provides insight into the evolution of the gene regulatory networks that underlie metazoan cell types.
A model of how behaviour in animal societies can shift states is tested in social spiders. Colony size and personality composition determine the timing and ability of a group to recover from such state shifts.
While most sexually reproducing organisms with gametes of similar morphology have two mating types, some species have many. Here, the authors use a theoretical model to show that the distribution of mating type numbers can be explained by mutation rate, population size and the rate of sex.
A comparative study of Bangladeshi men who had migrated to the United Kingdom as children or adults and British men of European origin finds that male reproductive function is independent of ethnic origin but is plastic until late childhood and influenced by early ecological conditions.