The species-rich genus Peperomia (Black Pepper relatives) is the only genus among early diverging angiosperms where epiphytism evolved. The majority of fruits of Peperomia release sticky secretions or exhibit hook-shaped appendages indicative of epizoochorous dispersal, which is in contrast to other flowering plants, where epiphytes are generally characterized by fruit morphological adaptations...

The interplay between range expansion and concomitant diversification is of fundamental interest to evolutionary biologists, particularly when linked to intercontinental dispersal and/or large scale extinctions. The evolutionary history of true frogs has been characterized by circumglobal range expansion. As a lineage that survived the Eocene-Oligocene extinction event (EOEE), the group provide...

Spiny-rayed fishes, or acanthomorphs, comprise nearly one-third of all living vertebrates. Despite their dominant role in aquatic ecosystems, the evolutionary history and tempo of acanthomorph diversification is poorly understood. We investigate the pattern of lineage diversification in acanthomorphs by using a well-resolved time-calibrated phylogeny inferred from a nuclear gene supermatrix tha...

Clade diversification is a central topic in macroevolutionary studies. Recently, it has been shown that diversification rates appear to decelerate over time in many clades. What causes this deceleration remains unclear, but it has been proposed that competition for limited resources between sympatric, ecologically similar species slows diversification. Employing carnivoran mammals as a model sy...

The rabbit establishes its primary Ab repertoire by somatically diversifying an initial repertoire that is limited by restricted VH gene segment usage during VDJ gene rearrangement. Somatic diversification occurs in gut-associated lymphoid tissue (GALT), and by about 1-2 mo of age nearly all Ig VDJ genes are somatically diversified. In other species that are known to establish their primary Ab ...

We model the internal capital market of a conglomerate where headquarters must rely on information reported by division managers to allocate limited resources across competing projects. Managers may exaggerate project quality to attract more capital, which limits the extent of winner-picking in capital budgeting. Focus (correlated projects) helps headquarters to infer information regarding proj...

12 Ancient lakes represent key ecosystems for endemic freshwater species. This high endemic 13 biodiversity has been shown to be mainly the result of intra-lacustrine diversification. Whereas the 14 principle role of this mode of diversification is generally acknowledged, actual diversification rates in 15 ancient lakes remain little understood. At least four modes are conceivable. Diversificat...

Which queries stand to gain or loose from diversifying their results? Some queries are more difficult than others for diversification. Across a number of conceptually different diversification methods, performance on such queries tends to deteriorate after applying these diversification methods, even though their initial performance in terms of relevance or diversity tends to be good.

Ancient lakes represent key ecosystems for endemic freshwater species. This high endemic biodiversity has been shown to be mainly the result of intra-lacustrine diversification. Whereas the principle role of this mode of diversification is generally acknowledged, actual diversification rates in ancient lakes remain little understood. At least four types are conceivable. Diversification rates ma...