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Multicellularity has arisen independently on several occasions and can take different forms. A theoretical model explores the relationship between ecological conditions, ancestral constraints, and emergent multicellular life cycles and life histories.
This study shows the existence of three genetically different somite populations in amphioxus and suggests that the vertebrate head mesoderm is of lateral origin.
Potatoes originated in the Andes and were introduced in Europe in the sixteenth century. Using historical genomes, the authors show that European potatoes were closely related to Andean landraces and find signatures of admixture with Chilean genotypes in Europe.
Cities can be used as natural laboratories for higher temperatures and CO2 concentrations. Urban vegetation photosynthetic activity begins earlier, peaks earlier and ends later than in neighbouring rural areas.
Using stable isotope probing to quantify growth and carbon assimilation rates of soil microbes along an elevation gradient, the authors show that these traits are more constrained by evolutionary history than environmental variation.
Carbon and oxygen isotope analysis of sediments and soils from hominin locales in Kenya coupled with results from hominin taxa suggest that a dietary shift from C3 to C4 resources occurred in the genus Homo circa 1.65 million years ago despite palaeoenvironmental continuity.
A stochastic, age-structured model incorporating hunter-gatherer demographic rates and palaeoecological reconstructions of carrying capacity predicts that a founding population of 1,300–1,550 individuals was necessary to survive the initial peopling of Pleistocene Australia, New Guinea, Tasmania and neighbouring islands (Sahul).
A re-analysis of virus diversity in mammals that now takes into account host sharing finds that previous global estimates have been overstated by two orders of magnitude.
RNA-Seq analysis of an 8-year longitudinal study of long-lived bats reveals unique transcriptomic signatures and novel candidate genes associated with healthy ageing.
Phylogenetic comparative analysis of Antarctic notothenioid fishes reveals a burst of genomic diversification and evolution of key skeletal modifications before the onset of polar conditions in the Southern Ocean.
Palaeoproteomics offers an opportunity to resolve molecular phylogenies especially in contexts where ancient DNA does not preserve. Here collagen sequences resolve sloth phylogenies differently from morphology-based estimates, illuminating the utility of proteomics in systematics.
ClaDS—a new Bayesian method for estimating diversification rates on phylogenies—performs well in inferring both large and small rate changes, and shows substantial rate heterogeneity within avian lineages.
Quantifying the impact of multiple stressors on different life-history stages of sockeye salmon, the authors show that climate warming impacts the timing of migration from natal freshwater habitats, with knock-on effects for adult maturation in the ocean.
Analysing a database of >200,000 feeding links between >5,000 species in terrestrial and aquatic food webs, the authors show that specific trait combinations can be used to predict which predator species are characterized by high body-mass ratio interactions with their prey.
Biogeochemistry of teeth from the Italian site of Grotta Paglicci show different mobility strategies for humans using the cave either side of the Last Glacial Maximum.
Mammals with antipronograde body plans which employ suspensory positional behaviours demonstrate elevated variation in numbers of presacral vertebrae compared to pronograde species which display constraint on presacral vertebral number independent of running speed.
A method to infer the strength and rate of adaptation based on the influence of background selection to reduce the fixation rate of weakly beneficial alleles shows that weakly beneficial alleles contribute substantially to adaptation in humans.
Interactions between members of a group may be influenced by their social relationships. Here, the authors track individuals’ trajectories within flocks of jackdaws and show that their social relationships transform local interactions and collective dynamics.
Suskityrannus hazelae gen. et sp. nov. is a small-bodied tyrannosauroid that bridges the gap between earlier, smaller tyrannosauroids and the gigantic, last-surviving tyrannosaurids of the terminal Cretaceous.
A non-parametric framework, including an application to empirical data, is presented for estimating the local structural stability of ecological communities under environmental changes.