Trading off resistance and speed in a deadly arms race

In our latest author blog, Mike Hague tells us how specific genetic mutations lead to large-scale ecological trade-offs in a deadly predator-prey system. Driving north on Highway 101 in California and my car reeks of garter snakes and camping gear. I’ve just left my field site in Sonoma County, where I study a population of …

Testing the Predictability of Evolution

New research published in Evolution Letters uses a natural experiment to gain insight into the roles of contingency and determinism in evolution. Science blogger Luke Turner tells us more. Life has been evolving since it began on Earth, but just how predictable is the course of evolution? Another way to look at this question might …

Shaping evolution: selection versus constraint

In our new author blog, Joel McGlothlin explains how natural selection and genetic constraint interact to shape adaptive radiations. Ever since the Modern Synthesis of the early 20th century, biologists have had a pretty good understanding of how evolution works. Mutation generates genetic variation in a population, and natural selection sorts through it, keeping things …

Explaining Large-Scale Diversity within Midas Cichlid Fishes

A new study published in Evolution Letters capitalises on a natural experiment to shed light on when and how species diversify. Luke Turner reports: Speciation occurs when a new species is formed from a pre-existing one, and can take place due to a variety of ecological factors. This diversification is not equal among all groups of …

Evolution Letters 1st Anniversary Collection – Editors’ Picks

Evolution Letters is celebrating its first birthday and so we asked the editorial board to think about some of their favourite papers from the first year. It was always the aim of the journal, and the two societies that founded it, to promote the best research in Evolutionary Biology. We think the papers we’ve picked …