Articles

Genetic basis of orange spot formation in the guppy (Poecilia reticulata)

To understand the evolutionary significance of female mate choice for colorful male ornamentation, the underlying regulatory mechanisms of such ornamentation must be understood for examining how the ornaments ...

Authors: Mayuko Kawamoto, Yuu Ishii and Masakado Kawata

Biogeographic and demographic history of the Mediterranean snakes Malpolon monspessulanus and Hemorrhois hippocrepis across the Strait of Gibraltar

The contribution of North Africa to the assembly of biodiversity within the Western Palaearctic is still poorly documented. Since the Miocene, multiple biotic exchanges occurred across the Strait of Gibraltar,...

Authors: Luis Machado, D. James Harris and Daniele Salvi

Divergence time estimation of Galliformes based on the best gene shopping scheme of ultraconserved elements

Divergence time estimation is fundamental to understanding many aspects of the evolution of organisms, such as character evolution, diversification, and biogeography. With the development of sequence technolog...

Authors: De Chen, Peter A. Hosner, Donna L. Dittmann, John P. O’Neill, Sharon M. Birks, Edward L. Braun and Rebecca T. Kimball

The evolution of the metazoan Toll receptor family and its expression during protostome development

Toll-like receptors (TLRs) play a crucial role in immunity and development. They contain leucine-rich repeat domains, one transmembrane domain, and one Toll/IL-1 receptor domain. TLRs have been classified into...

Authors: Andrea Orús-Alcalde, Tsai-Ming Lu, Aina Børve and Andreas Hejnol

The earliest beetle with mouthparts specialized for feeding on nectar is a parasitoid of mid-Cretaceous Hymenoptera

During the Mesozoic, there were many insects in several holometabolous orders (Neuroptera, Mecoptera and Diptera) with elongated mouthparts adapted for feeding on nectar. The evolutionary history of the megadi...

Authors: Jan Batelka and Jakub Prokop

Split it up and see: using proxies to highlight divergent inter-populational performances in aquaculture standardised conditions

Considering wild inter-populational phenotypic differentiation can facilitate domestication and subsequent production of new species. However, comparing all populations across a species range to identify those...

Authors: Lola Toomey, Simon Dellicour, Andrzej Kapusta, Daniel Żarski, Frederik Buhrke, Sylvain Milla, Pascal Fontaine and Thomas Lecocq

Development and selective grain make plasticity 'take the lead' in adaptive evolution

Biological evolution exhibits an extraordinary capability to adapt organisms to their environments. The explanation for this often takes for granted that random genetic variation produces at least some benefic...

Authors: Miguel Brun-Usan, Alfredo Rago, Christoph Thies, Tobias Uller and Richard A. Watson

The emergence of ecotypes in a parasitoid wasp: a case of incipient sympatric speciation in Hymenoptera?

To understand which reproductive barriers initiate speciation is a major question in evolutionary research. Despite their high species numbers and specific biology, there are only few studies on speciation in ...

Authors: Pawel Malec, Justus Weber, Robin Böhmer, Marc Fiebig, Denise Meinert, Carolin Rein, Ronja Reinisch, Maik Henrich, Viktoria Polyvas, Marie Pollmann, Lea von Berg, Christian König and Johannes L. M. Steidle

Molecular phylogeny and phylogeography of the freshwater-fish genus Pethia (Teleostei: Cyprinidae) in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka is a continental island separated from India by the Palk Strait, a shallow-shelf sea, which was emergent during periods of lowered sea level. Its biodiversity is concentrated in its perhumid south-we...

Authors: Hiranya Sudasinghe, Tharindu Ranasinghe, Jayampathi Herath, Kumudu Wijesooriya, Rohan Pethiyagoda, Lukas Rüber and Madhava Meegaskumbura

Exceptionally simple, rapidly replaced teeth in sauropod dinosaurs demonstrate a novel evolutionary strategy for herbivory in Late Jurassic ecosystems

Dinosaurs dominated terrestrial environments for over 100 million years due in part to innovative feeding strategies. Although a range of dental adaptations was present in Late Jurassic dinosaurs, it is unclea...

Authors: Keegan M. Melstrom, Luis M. Chiappe and Nathan D. Smith

Organization and expression analysis of 5S and 45S ribosomal DNA clusters in autotetraploid Carassius auratus

Autotetraploid Carassius auratus (4n = 200, RRRR) (abbreviated as 4nRR) is derived from whole genome duplication of Carassius auratus red var. (2n = 100, RR) (abbreviated as RCC). Ribosome DNA (rDNA) is often use...

Authors: Chun Zhao, Yuxin Zhang, Huan Qin, Chongqing Wang, Xu Huang, Li Yang, Tingting Yu, Xidan Xu, Xiang Luo, Qinbo Qin and Shaojun Liu

The role of genetic diversity and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal diversity in population recovery of the semi-natural grassland plant species Succisa pratensis

Ecosystem restoration is as a critical tool to counteract the decline of biodiversity and recover vital ecosystem services. Restoration efforts, however, often fall short of meeting their goals. Although funct...

Authors: Maarten Van Geel, Tsipe Aavik, Tobias Ceulemans, Sabrina Träger, Joachim Mergeay, Gerrit Peeters, Kasper van Acker, Martin Zobel, Kadri Koorem and Olivier Honnay

Complete mitochondrial genomes reveal robust phylogenetic signals and evidence of positive selection in horseshoe bats

In genus Rhinolophus, species in the Rhinolophus philippinensis and R. macrotis groups are unique because the horseshoe bats in these group have relatively low echolocation frequencies and flight speeds compared ...

Authors: Lin Zhang, Keping Sun, Gábor Csorba, Alice Catherine Hughes, Longru Jin, Yanhong Xiao and Jiang Feng

The morphometric of lycopsid sporophylls and the evaluation of their dispersal potential: an example from the Upper Devonian of Zhejiang Province, China

Previous studies have discussed the special structural adaptations of Late Palaeozoic lycopsids, for example, the dispersal potential of reproductive organs. Based on materials from the Upper Devonian Wutong F...

Authors: Yi Zhou, De-Ming Wang, Le Liu and Pu Huang

Impact of model assumptions on demographic inferences: the case study of two sympatric mouse lemurs in northwestern Madagascar

Quaternary climate fluctuations have been acknowledged as major drivers of the geographical distribution of the extraordinary biodiversity observed in tropical biomes, including Madagascar. The main existing f...

Authors: Helena Teixeira, Jordi Salmona, Armando Arredondo, Beatriz Mourato, Sophie Manzi, Romule Rakotondravony, Olivier Mazet, Lounès Chikhi, Julia Metzger and Ute Radespiel

Landscape and climatic features drive genetic differentiation processes in a South American coastal plant

Historical and ecological processes shape patterns of genetic diversity in plant species. Colonization to new environments and geographical landscape features determine, amongst other factors, genetic diversit...

Authors: Gustavo A. Silva-Arias, Lina Caballero-Villalobos, Giovanna C. Giudicelli and Loreta B. Freitas

Correction to: A common gene drive language eases regulatory process and eco-evolutionary extensions

Authors: Prateek Verma, R. Guy Reeves and Chaitanya S. Gokhale

Demographic history and divergence of sibling grouse species inferred from whole genome sequencing reveal past effects of climate change

The boreal forest is one of the largest biomes on earth, supporting thousands of species. The global climate fluctuations in the Quaternary, especially the ice ages, had a significant influence on the distribu...

Authors: Kai Song, Bin Gao, Peter Halvarsson, Yun Fang, Siegfried Klaus, Ying-Xin Jiang, Jon E. Swenson, Yue-Hua Sun and Jacob Höglund

European agroforestry has no unequivocal effect on biodiversity: a time-cumulative meta-analysis

Agroforestry is a production system combining trees with crops or livestock. It has the potential to increase biodiversity in relation to single-use systems, such as pastures or cropland, by providing a higher...

Authors: Anne-Christine Mupepele, Matteo Keller and Carsten F. Dormann

Global shifts in species richness have shaped carpet shark evolution

The evolutionary processes that shape patterns of species richness in marine ecosystems are complex and may differ between organismal groups. There has been considerable interest in understanding the evolution...

Authors: Bret M. Boyd and Jason C. Seitz

Whole genome based insights into the phylogeny and evolution of the Juglandaceae

The walnut family (Juglandaceae) contains commercially important woody trees commonly called walnut, wingnut, pecan and hickory. Phylogenetic relationships and diversification within the Juglandaceae are class...

Authors: Huijuan Zhou, Yiheng Hu, Aziz Ebrahimi, Peiliang Liu, Keith Woeste, Peng Zhao and Shuoxin Zhang

Co-structure analysis and genetic associations reveal insights into pinworms (Trypanoxyuris) and primates (Alouatta palliata) microevolutionary dynamics

In parasitism arm race processes and red queen dynamics between host and parasites reciprocally mold many aspects of their genetics and evolution. We performed a parallel assessment of population genetics and ...

Authors: Brenda Solórzano-García, Ella Vázquez-Domínguez, Gerardo Pérez-Ponce de León and Daniel Piñero

Direct evidence for increased disease resistance in polyandrous broods exists only in eusocial Hymenoptera

The ‘genetic diversity’ hypothesis posits that polyandry evolved as a mechanism to increase genetic diversity within broods. One extension of this hypothesis is the ‘genetic diversity for disease resistance’ h...

Authors: D. M. Soper, A. K. E. Ekroth and M. J. F. Martins

Urban mosquitoes and filamentous green algae: their biomonitoring role in heavy metal pollution in open drainage channels in Nairobi industrial area, Kenya

Industrial wastewater is a human health hazard upon exposure. Aquatic organisms in contaminated wastewater may accumulate the toxic elements with time. Human population living in informal settlements in Nairob...

Authors: Geoffrey Kariuki Kinuthia, Veronica Ngure and Luna Kamau

Paternal care effects outweigh gamete-mediated and personal environment effects during the transgenerational estimation of risk in fathead minnows

Individuals can estimate risk by integrating prenatal with postnatal and personal information, but the relative importance of different information sources during the transgenerational response is unclear. The...

Authors: Denis Meuthen, Maud C. O. Ferrari and Douglas P. Chivers

Genetic relationships between sympatric and allopatric Coregonus ciscoes in North and Central Europe

Sympatric speciation along ecological gradients has been studied repeatedly, in particular in freshwater fishes. Rapid post-glacial ecological divergence has resulted in numerous endemic species or ecologicall...

Authors: Thomas Mehner, Stefan Palm, Bo Delling, Juha Karjalainen, Jolanta Kiełpińska, Asja Vogt and Jörg Freyhof

Divergent patterns of selection on metabolite levels and gene expression

Natural selection can act on multiple genes in the same pathway, leading to polygenic adaptation. For example, adaptive changes were found to down-regulate six genes involved in ergosterol biosynthesis—an esse...

Authors: Alexander F. Kern, Grace Xiaolu Yang, Neil M. Khosla, Roy Moh Lik Ang, Michael P. Snyder and Hunter B. Fraser

A new extinct species of alligator lizard (Squamata: Elgaria) and an expanded perspective on the osteology and phylogeny of Gerrhonotinae

Alligator lizards (Gerrhonotinae) are a well-known group of extant North American lizard. Although many fossils were previously referred to Gerrhonotinae, most of those fossils are isolated and fragmentary cra...

Authors: Simon G. Scarpetta, David T. Ledesma and Christopher J. Bell

Phylodynamic and phylogeographic analysis of the complete genome of the West Nile virus lineage 2 (WNV-2) in the Mediterranean basin

The West Nile virus is a highly contagious agent for a wide range of hosts. Its spread in the Mediterranean region raises several questions about its origin and the risk factors underlying the virus’s dispersal.

Authors: Haythem Srihi, Noureddine Chatti, Manel Ben Mhadheb, Jawhar Gharbi and Nabil Abid

Odorant-binding proteins in canine anal sac glands indicate an evolutionarily conserved role in mammalian chemical communication

Chemical communication is an important aspect of the behavioural ecology of a wide range of mammals. In dogs and other carnivores, anal sac glands are thought to convey information to conspecifics by secreting...

Authors: Sunita Janssenswillen, Kim Roelants, Sebastien Carpentier, Hilde de Rooster, Mieke Metzemaekers, Bram Vanschoenwinkel, Paul Proost and Franky Bossuyt

Wolbachia-driven selective sweep in a range expanding insect species

Evolutionary processes can cause strong spatial genetic signatures, such as local loss of genetic diversity, or conflicting histories from mitochondrial versus nuclear markers. Investigating these genetic patt...

Authors: Junchen Deng, Giacomo Assandri, Pallavi Chauhan, Ryo Futahashi, Andrea Galimberti, Bengt Hansson, Lesley T. Lancaster, Yuma Takahashi, Erik I. Svensson and Anne Duplouy

A DNA barcode library for mangrove gastropods and crabs of Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area reveals an unexpected faunal diversity associated with the intertidal forests of Southern China

Mangroves are tropical and subtropical intertidal forests colonising sheltered coasts across the world. They host a unique faunal community, dominated by brachyuran crabs and gastropods. These invertebrates st...

Authors: Henrique Bravo, Christine L. Y. Cheng, Alessio Iannucci, Chiara Natali, Aline Quadros, Martin Rhodes, Matthew M. L. Yip, Stefano Cannicci and Sara Fratini

Patterns of reproductive isolation in a haplodiploid mite, Amphitetranychus viennensis: prezygotic isolation, hybrid inviability and hybrid sterility

Evolution of reproductive isolation is an important process, generating biodiversity and driving speciation. To better understand this process, it is necessary to investigate factors underlying reproductive is...

Authors: Yukie Sato, Satoshi Fujiwara, Martijn Egas, Tomoko Matsuda and Tetsuo Gotoh

Admixture with indigenous people helps local adaptation: admixture-enabled selection in Polynesians

Homo sapiens have experienced admixture many times in the last few thousand years. To examine how admixture affects local adaptation, we investigated genomes of modern Polynesians, who are shaped through admixtur...

Authors: Mariko Isshiki, Izumi Naka, Ryosuke Kimura, Nao Nishida, Takuro Furusawa, Kazumi Natsuhara, Taro Yamauchi, Minato Nakazawa, Takafumi Ishida, Tsukasa Inaoka, Yasuhiro Matsumura, Ryutaro Ohtsuka and Jun Ohashi

Cranial shape diversification in horses: variation and covariation patterns under the impact of artificial selection

The potential of artificial selection to dramatically impact phenotypic diversity is well known. Large-scale morphological changes in domestic species, emerging over short timescales, offer an accelerated pers...

Authors: Pauline Hanot, Jamsranjav Bayarsaikhan, Claude Guintard, Ashleigh Haruda, Enkhbayar Mijiddorj, Renate Schafberg and William Taylor

Sequencing refractory regions in bird genomes are hotspots for accelerated protein evolution

Approximately 1000 protein encoding genes common for vertebrates are still unannotated in avian genomes. Are these genes evolutionary lost or are they not yet found for technical reasons? Using genome landscap...

Authors: R. Huttener, L. Thorrez, T. In’t Veld, M. Granvik, L. Van Lommel, E. Waelkens, R. Derua, K. Lemaire, L. Goyvaerts, S. De Coster, J. Buyse and F. Schuit

The significance of biomass allocation to population growth of the invasive species Ambrosia artemisiifolia and Ambrosia trifida with different densities

Ambrosia artemisiifolia and Ambrosia trifida are globally distributed harmful and invasive weeds. High density clusters play an important role in their invasion. For these two species, the early settled populatio...

Authors: Wenxuan Zhao, Tong Liu, Yan Liu, Hanyue Wang, Ruili Wang, Qianqian Ma, Hegan Dong and Xuyi Bi

Correction to: Inaugural BMC Ecology and Evolution image competition: the winning images

Authors: Jennifer L. Harman, Alison L. Cuff, Josef Settele, Luke M. Jacobus, David A. Liberles and Arne Traulsen

Structuring of plant communities across agricultural landscape mosaics: the importance of connectivity and the scale of effect

Plant communities of fragmented agricultural landscapes, are subject to patch isolation and scale-dependent effects. Variation in configuration, composition, and distance from one another affect biological pro...

Authors: Michael McLeish, Adrián Peláez, Israel Pagán, Rosario Gavilán, Aurora Fraile and Fernando García-Arenal

Meta-analysis of the impact of plant invasions on soil microbial communities

One of the ecological impacts of exotic plant invasions may be alteration of the soil microbial community, which may cause changes to the diversity, richness and function of these communities. In order to expl...

Authors: Nardi Torres, Ileana Herrera, Laurie Fajardo and Ramiro O. Bustamante

How the seed coat affects the mother’s oviposition preference and larval performance in the bean beetle (Acanthoscelides obtectus, Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae, Bruchinae) in leguminous species

The host specificity and host range of the dry bean beetle, Acanthoscelides obtectus (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae, Bruchinae), a seed predator of beans, is poorly known. In addition, the female oviposition preferen...

Authors: Árpád Szentesi

Multivariate analysis of morphology, behaviour, growth and developmental timing in hybrids brings new insights into the divergence of sympatric Arctic charr morphs

Studying the development of fitness related traits in hybrids from populations diverging in sympatry is a fundamental approach to understand the processes of speciation. However, such traits are often affected...

Authors: Quentin J.-B. Horta-Lacueva, Sigurður S. Snorrason, Michael B. Morrissey, Camille A.-L. Leblanc and Kalina H. Kapralova

Spatial distribution of Gasterophilus pecorum (Diptera) eggs in the desert steppe of the Kalamaili Nature Reserve (Xinjiang, China)

The dominant Gasterophilus species in the desert steppe (Xinjiang, China) Gasterophilus pecorum poses a serious threat to the reintroduced Przewalski’s horses. We investigated the distribution pattern of G. pecor...

Authors: Heqing Huang, Ke Zhang, Changliang Shao, Chen Wang, Make Ente, Zhenbiao Wang, Dong Zhang and Kai Li

Sexual selection on population-level mating opportunities drives morph ratios in a fig wasp with extreme male dimorphism

Alternative mating tactics are widespread in animals and associated with extreme morphological polymorphism in some insects. Some fig wasps have both highly modified wingless males and dispersing winged males....

Authors: James M. Cook

Genetic diversity and variation of seven Chinese grass shrimp (Palaemonetes sinensis) populations based on the mitochondrial COI gene

Chinese grass shrimp (Palaemonetes sinensis) is an important species widely distributed throughout China, which is ecologically relevant and possesses ornamental and economic value. These organisms have experienc...

Authors: Yingying Zhao, Xiaochen Zhu, Ye Jiang, Zhi Li, Xin Li, Weibin Xu, Hua Wei, Yingdong Li and Xiaodong Li

Seeing through sedimented waters: environmental DNA reduces the phantom diversity of sharks and rays in turbid marine habitats

Sharks and rays are some of the most threatened marine taxa due to the high levels of bycatch and significant demand for meat and fin-related products in many Asian communities. At least 25% of shark and ray s...

Authors: Yin Cheong Aden Ip, Jia Jin Marc Chang, Kelvin K. P. Lim, Zeehan Jaafar, Benjamin J. Wainwright and Danwei Huang

Positive selection of skeleton-related genes during duck domestication revealed by whole genome sequencing

Domestication alters several phenotypic, neurological, and physiological traits in domestic animals compared to those in their wild ancestors. Domestic ducks originated from mallards, and some studies have sho...

Authors: Tao Zhu, Xin Qi, Yu Chen, Liang Wang, Xueze Lv, Weifang Yang, Jianwei Zhang, Kaiyang Li, Zhonghua Ning, Zhihua Jiang and Lujiang Qu

Evolution of nuptial gifts and its coevolutionary dynamics with male-like persistence traits of females for multiple mating

Many male animals donate nutritive materials during courtship or mating to their female mates. Donation of large-sized gifts, though costly to prepare, can result in increased sperm transfer during mating and ...

Authors: Yoshitaka Kamimura, Kazunori Yoshizawa, Charles Lienhard, Rodrigo L. Ferreira and Jun Abe

Experimental increase of worker diversity benefits brood production in ants

The reproductive division of labor of eusocial insects, whereby one or several queens monopolize reproduction, evolved in a context of high genetic relatedness. However, many extant eusocial species have devel...

Authors: Marina N. Psalti, Dustin Gohlke and Romain Libbrecht

Genomic bases underlying the adaptive radiation of core landbirds

Core landbirds undergo adaptive radiation with different ecological niches, but the genomic bases that underlie their ecological diversification remain unclear.

Authors: Yonghua Wu, Yi Yan, Yuanqin Zhao, Li Gu, Songbo Wang and David H. Johnson