Polymorphic Butterfly Reveals the Missing Link in Ecological Speciation

Evolution: oskar Reveals Missing Link in Co-optive Evolution

The oskar gene is critical for germ plasm formation and reproduction in higher insects. A recent study reports that oskar has more ancient roots than previously thought, indicating it was co-opted for its reproductive role in higher insects.

Psychological Therapies: The Missing Link in Improving Treatment Adherence in Patients with β-thalassemia Major

The speed of ecological speciation.

Adaptation can occur on ecological time-scales (contemporary evolution) and adaptive divergence can cause reproductive isolation (ecological speciation). From the intersection of these two premises follows the prediction that reproductive isolation can evolve on ecological time-scales. We explore this possibility in theory and in nature. Finding few relevant studies, we examine each in some det...

The ecological genetics of speciation.

Ecological interactions and the natural selection they cause play a prominent causal role in biological diversification and speciation. As a discipline, ecological genetics integrates the two components of adaptive evolution (natural selection and genetic variability) to study the mechanisms of evolution. Ecological genetics is a fruitful approach to the study of how reproductive isolation can ...

Finding the missing link

The discovery of an ancient protein complex reveals the evolutionary relationships between the proteins that help to form vesicles.