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Assessing the relationship between sea temperature and distributional range for 1,790 shallow-water marine species, the authors find that realized thermal niches increase with latitude, despite decreases in geographic range size.
Simulations of protein evolution under purifying selection for thermodynamic stability show that amino-acid substitution rates can be predicted from biophysical dynamics and epistatic interactions that result in near neutrality.
The stability of ecological networks depends on both inter- and intraspecific interactions. Here, the authors show that intraspecific self-regulation is a necessary feature for the stabilization of empirical and theoretical networks.
A global species-level phylogeny of palm fruit size and species distributions reveals that frugivory-related traits in combination with geography and the movement behaviour of frugivores can influence the speciation of fleshy-fruited plants.
Poor fossil records impede testing how Cenozoic climatic perturbations have affected the assembly of many regional biotas. Here, the authors use molecular phylogenetic data to show mid-Cenozoic restructuring of Australia’s lizards and snakes.
Accessory loci are shown to have similar frequencies in diverse Streptococcus pneumoniae populations, suggesting negative frequency-dependent selection drives post-vaccination population restructuring.
The structuring of soil into distinct aggregates is a key element in biogeochemical cycling. Here, a meta-analysis reveals a strong positive effect of soil biota on soil aggregation, with the largest influence coming from bacteria and fungi.
Cetaceans show a similar increase in brain size as is seen in human evolution. Here, this increase is shown to be linked to an expansion in the social and ecological niche.
Nutrients important for plants were more abundant and evenly distributed in the Cretaceous period, probably due to the presence of large herbivorous dinosaurs, than in the Pennsylvanian subperiod, which had no tetrapod herbivores.
The global distribution of nearly all extant reptile species reveals richness patterns that differ spatially from that of other taxa. Conservation prioritization should specifically consider reptile distributions, particularly lizards and turtles.
4,000-year-old phytoliths (plant microfossils) from the Monte Castelo shell mound (southwestern Amazonia) provide evidence for an independent rice domestication event in the Americas.
Using a historical dataset, Moorad and Walling investigate possible selection for post-reproductive lifespan in humans, finding indirect selection favouring early-life fitness in both sexes, but none in females over 50.
Newly sequenced transcriptomes are combined with existing data to establish Ctenophora as the sister group to all other animals and suggest a radiation around 350 Ma as well as multiple transitions from a pelagic to a benthic lifestyle.
The evolution of appendicular muscles in bony fishes and cartilaginous fishes remains unclear. Here, the authors show that migratory muscle precursor cells, known from bony fishes, are also present in catsharks.
Ecological interaction networks may fall on a continuum between mutualism and antagonism. Here, the authors show that community robustness increases when both the beneficial and detrimental effects of parrots feeding on plants is taken into account.
Here the concept of climate-change velocity is used to explore whether northward displacement of vegetation will keep pace with temperature under climate change. Remote sensing data suggest it will not, possibly due to resource availability.
The reverse Krebs cycle is a potential primordial anabolic pathway central to biochemistry. Here, the authors show that more than half of the cycle can be promoted by metals and metal ions without enzymes.
The ability to cope with environmental variability is thought to be a major driver of brain-size evolution. Here, the authors show that cognitive capacity in birds may instead have pre-dated and facilitated the colonization of variable habitats.
Reduced competition for water among species in mixed tropical plant communities mediates community resistance to drought: weaker competition permits growth maintenance in drought, whereas stronger competition inhibits it.