Journal Club

Highlighting recent, timely papers selected by Academy member labs

Category Archives: Evolution

A popular household fern may be the first known eusocial plant

Posted on June 4, 2021 by Amy McDermott

Staghorn ferns are popular houseplants, sporting long, antler-like fronds that poke out from a brown, tissue-papery base. They may also be the first known example of a plant that exhibits a type of social organization—that is, the first plant thought … Continue reading →

Massive study suggests chimp populations mixed more recently than previously reported

Posted on March 19, 2021 by David Adam

A recent study in Communications Biology reports results from the largest such survey of chimpanzee genetics so far. It suggests that animals from the different groups have mixed more recently than many researchers in the field previously believed. The findings … Continue reading →

Study reveals evolutionary origins of fold-switching protein

Posted on January 8, 2021 by Amy McDermott

Most proteins are thought to fold into a single active shape. But the human immune protein XCL1 is a rare breed that can switch back and forth between two different structures, each with its own function. A recent study in … Continue reading →

Smaller salamander species associated with smaller genomes

Posted on October 30, 2020 by Carolyn Beans

The world’s tiniest salamanders are so small that some body parts appear to get short shrift. Those in the genus Thorius, for example, have heads that are “mind bogglingly small, maybe half the size of a pencil eraser,” says herpetologist … Continue reading →

Model suggests how evolution shapes ecological networks among species

Posted on October 5, 2020 by Carolyn Beans

The natural world is filled with networks. Predator and prey, flower and pollinator—each interacting pair forms a link in a networked community of organisms. Now, a French research team has developed a model that explores how evolution may help shape … Continue reading →

Insects, not just wind, offer an ancient mechanism of orchid seed dispersal

Posted on August 21, 2020 by Amy McDermott

On Yakushima Island, at the southern tip of Japan, an orchid employs a very unusual strategy to disperse its seeds. Crickets visit the orchid at night, eat its fruits, and defecate the seeds in the vicinity. The discovery, reported recently … Continue reading →

Categories: Ecology | Evolution | Tagged botany, camel cricket, cricket, dispersal, insects, mutualism, orchid, seeds | Leave a comment

Seasonality shapes coevolution of parasites and hosts

Posted on June 12, 2020 by Amy McDermott

Parasites and their hosts coevolve in an arms race influenced by environmental conditions. Seasonal change, for example, can shape the course of evolution, but precisely how has been something of a mystery. A recent study used lab experiments and mathematical … Continue reading →

Snake venom evolved in fits and spurts

Posted on May 15, 2020 by Amy McDermott

The cocktail of toxins in snake venom experienced constant change with pulses of rapid evolution over the last 60 million years, according to a recent study in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B. Venom, the researchers report, has changed … Continue reading →

Categories: Evolution | Genetics | Journal Club | Tagged diversification, phylogenetics, RNA expression, snake, speciation, toxin, venom | Leave a comment

A combination of living and nonliving selective forces drive local adaptation across species

Posted on March 20, 2020 by Amy McDermott

Both living and nonliving factors can interact to shape local adaptation, according to a recent study in The American Naturalist. The metaanalysis also entailed the use of a method, borrowed from the social and medical sciences, that identified common themes and research gaps … Continue reading →

Categories: Ecology | Evolution | Journal Club | Tagged abiotic, biotic, herbivory, local adaptation, metaanalysis, natural selection | Leave a comment

Molecular evidence supports Darwin’s adaptationist view, informing the debate over what drives evolution

Posted on February 28, 2020 by Amy McDermott

Myriad genetic differences distinguish the genomes of two species. What fraction of those differences arises by positive natural selection versus random genetic drift is a central question and topic of debate in evolutionary biology. A recent study in Nature Ecology … Continue reading →

Categories: Evolution | Genetics | Tagged adaptation, natural selection, negative selection, neutral theory of evolution, positive selection | Leave a comment