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Analysis of high-resolution three-dimensional models of 149 extant bird species reveals contrasting patterns of integration across the avian skeleton for size and shape: element sizes within body regions are strongly modular, but element shapes are less so and have stronger relationships with ecology.
Here the authors engineer a synthetic microbial community with obligate mutualisms, finding that mutualisms enable pairs of bacteria to occupy larger niches (feeding from a wider range of carbon sources) than they could in the absence of mutualisms.
Using a 150-year time series of data on arthropod species richness in Italy, the authors identify the main drivers of assemblage compositional turnover, finding that turnover is highest in locations with rapid changes in precipitation, particularly when human population density also increased rapidly.
A finding of smaller numbers of fish and invertebrates close within the border of a marine protected area compared to further inside may have profound effects on current estimates of population sizes in small- to medium-sized MPAs.
The authors report an incised giant deer phalanx (toe bone), directly radiocarbon dated to at least 51,000 years old. The age and context of the object suggests that it was engraved by Neanderthals.
The authors use model-based approaches to examine the entire fossil history of proboscideans, from their dispersal outside of Afro-Arabia in the Oligocene to late Miocene extirpations and Quaternary collapse, identifying the innovations that allowed this group to overcome 60 million years of severe environmental shifts.
The authors report a new lower Cambrian Burgess Shale-type Lagerstätte from Haiyan, southwest China which preserves an unusually high number of juvenile and larval forms.
A combination of simulations and empirical data shows that random fluctuations in species population time-series data affect calculations of the Living Planet Index, in some cases exaggerating population declines.
The fraction of plant biomass in aboveground versus root tissues has implications for carbon storage and dynamics. Here the authors collate a dataset on root-mass fractions and use these data to explore large scale patterns of belowground plant biomass.
Sperm morphology is remarkably diverse across animals. A macro-evolutionary analysis of how fertilization mode influences sperm length shows shorter sperm in external fertilizers and spermcasters and a faster rate of evolution of sperm length in spermcasters and internal fertilizers.
This study shows that Drosophila melanogaster females are more selective after their first mating because mating triggers the increased release of juvenile hormone, which desensitizes the Or47b olfactory neurons to an aphrodisiac pheromone produced by males.
Evidence for balancing selection acting on loci that control complex traits is limited. Here, the authors show evidence for past selection on chemical profile in a perennial wildflower by two ecological drivers, herbivory and drought, consistent with balancing selection on this trait.
Scrutinizing the empirical evidence for bidirectional trade-offs in fine root traits, the authors show that while these are important in explaining species occurrences along broad temperature and water availability gradients, unidirectional benefits are prevalent.
The authors assess the impact of Spanish colonization on forest dynamics across the tropics, finding variable responses according to regional land use strategies, as well as other cultural, social and biophysical factors.
This paper demonstrates that the scaling relationship between the number of species and the number of interactions (links) in a network can explain its local stability and robustness to secondary extinctions.
Analysis of exome sequencing data from 42 baseline and progression biopsies from cetuximab-treated colorectal cancers reveals limited adaptive mutagenesis but shows a chemotherapy-induced mutational signature that is the main contributor of specific driver mutations that are enriched at acquired resistance.
Mechanisms underlying interactions in insect–pollinator systems remain unknown. Analysis of high-quality genomes of Ficus pumila var. pumila and its specific pollinating wasp, Wiebesia pumilae, reveals molecular mechanisms underlying this coevolved mutualism.
The spatial and physical nature of tumour growth remains unclear. Combining whole-tumour images from clear cell renal cell carcinoma with genomic data, the authors show more aggressive subclonal growth and metastasizing subclones in the tumour centre.
A simulation study integrates existing artificial selection methods to develop a ‘top-down’ approach to engineering complex, stable microbial communities based on iterated randomization and selection of community structure and function.