Genetic and evolutionary consequences of range expansion revealed

A new study published in Evolution Letters examines how mating systems have been shaped by historic biogeographic events. Lead author Matt Koski explains the findings and what they tell us about evolutionary responses to global climate change. Historic climate oscillations have been a driving force in shaping the geographic distribution of species. During the last …

Predation drives divergence in sticklebacks

A new study in Evolution Letters provides experimental evidence that predation drives changes in threespine stickleback armor traits. Here, author Dr Diana Rennison describes her experiment and its interesting results. For quite some time it has been known that differences in ecological factors between habitats drive evolutionary divergence and can lead to the generation of …

The role of mobile genetic elements in evolution and development

A new study in Evolution Letters suggests that transposable elements are important for both developmental processes and evolutionary diversification in snakes and lizards. Author Dr Nathalie Feiner explains her findings in our latest blog. Mobile DNA sequences – transposable elements or TEs for short – are found in the genome of virtually all organisms. As …

Switching up your pollinator can have unexpected side effects

A study published in Evolution Letters shows that hummingbird pollination is a surprisingly rare trait across the perennial wildflower genus Penstemon, despite a large number of Penstemon lineages having switched during their evolutionary history to attract hummingbird pollinators instead of bees. Here, the study's author Dr Carolyn Wessinger tells us more about her findings. Many species of …