Journal of Evolutionary Biology

Can genome size predict adaptation to environmental change? We find that genome size explains <2% of phenotypic change. Phenotypic variance may better signal adaptability:

Gorné et al.
@ecoevoevoeco.bsky.social @brockuniversity.bsky.social @mcgilluniversity.bsky.social

doi.org/10.1093/jeb/...

Differential investment in growth and reproduction optimizes a life-history trade-off in a species characterized by alternative reproductive tactics Abstract. Alternative reproductive tactics often involve trade-offs between mating success and survival to sexual maturity, resulting in differential inves

Differential investment in growth and reproduction optimises a life-history trade-off in a species characterised by alternative reproductive tactics

doi.org/10.1093/jeb/...

Cornwell & Neff

Absence of cytoplasmic incompatibility and high vertical Wolbachia transmission in a neotropical drosophilid Abstract. Intracellular endosymbionts such as Wolbachia are generally thought to persist in host populations by inducing reproductive phenotypes that enhan

Absence of cytoplasmic incompatibility and high vertical #Wolbachia transmission in a neotropical #drosophilid

doi.org/10.1093/jeb/...

Magalhães Moreira et al.

Chromosomal diversification and evolutionary trajectories in Neotropical spiny rats: the first karyotype of Echimys chrysurus Zimmermann, 1780 and a comparative synthesis across Echimyidae Abstract. Echimyidae, the largest family of Hystricognathi rodents, comprises 28 genera and 103 species across South and Central America and shows signific

We determined the karyotype of Echimys chrysurus from the Amazon, Brazil and discuss the speciation processes and their relationships with the high degree of karyotypic variation:

doi.org/10.1093/jeb/...

Oliveira da Silva et al.

Ecological harshness has a weak influence on reproductive trade-offs in a great tit population Abstract. Lack’s seminal work on bird clutch sizes has spurred expansive research on reproductive trade-offs, especially focusing on offspring quantity–qua

New paper out in @jevbio.bsky.social
Using 58 years of data, we look at the effect of environmental variation on reproductive trade-offs in great tits.

With @jsmartin.bsky.social, @dzchilds.bsky.social, Ella Cole, @sheldonbirds.bsky.social, @paniw.bsky.social & Arpat Ozgul

doi.org/10.1093/jeb/...

Hidden in the dark: complex evolutionary history revealed by genome-wide analyses of cave amphipods Abstract. Subterranean environments provide unique habitats and maintain high biodiversity. However, their underlying evolutionary processes remain poorly

Our genome-wide study of subterranean #amphipods in Japan reveals that #Pseudocrangonyx species shows a complex history involving geographic isolation and secondary contact. Hidden evolution can provide subterranean biodiversity in the dark:

Suenaga et al.
academic.oup.com/jeb/advance-...

Among-trait covariance and cross-year repeatability for direct and indirect individual effects in producer–scrounger behaviour in wild house sparrows Abstract. Variation in traits expressed during social interactions can be attributed to direct individual effects (DIEs) of the focal individual’s identity

Social partners shape phenotypes in house sparrows: direct & indirect social effects covary in producer-scrounger tactics, forming a multivariate syndrome that constrains trait variation:

academic.oup.com/jeb/advance-...

@cdegroot.bsky.social @roriwijnhorst.bsky.social
@dingemanselab.bsky.social

Evolutionary transitions and reversions in individuality Abstract. Biological individuality exists in different forms—unicellular, multicellular, colonial, etc.—which have arisen through evolutionary transitions

Individuals can fall apart into their constituent parts via evolutionary reversions in individuality, but this process can occur in two distinct ways that shape the evolution of individuality:

doi.org/10.1093/jeb/...

@martijnschenkel.bsky.social, @arvidagren.bsky.social & Manus Patten

Associations of dispersal traits with fecundity and clonal expansion among Japanese ant-dispersed sedges Abstract. Dispersal syndrome, which describe covariation of dispersal traits with other traits, provide clues for potential selection pressures or evolutio

Associations of dispersal traits with fecundity and clonal expansion among Japanese ant-dispersed sedges

Tanaka 2025: doi.org/10.1093/jeb/...

An experimental test for ecologically dependent reproductive isolation across an avian migratory divide Abstract. Divergent adaptation can promote ecological speciation if hybrids have reduced fitness because they are poorly adapted to either parental niche.

An experimental test for ecologically dependent reproductive isolation across an avian migratory divide

Blain et al. 2025: doi.org/10.1093/jeb/...

📣SUBMISSION DEADLINE APPROACHING:
📣 28th February

Special Issue: Foundations of Internal Conflicts

Guest Edited by @martijnschenkel.bsky.social, @arvidagren.bsky.social, @imprintedgene.bsky.social, Nina Wedell and Manus Patten

For more info: academic.oup.com/jeb/pages/ca...

CALL FOR PAPERS 📣

Special Issue: #GenomeArchitecture and #Evolution, organised by @eseb.bsky.social STN "STRiVE":

Find out more here: tinyurl.com/2uza525c

@ruifaria.bsky.social @kaybiodiversity.bsky.social @clairemerot.bsky.social @petrnguyen.bsky.social @aruizherrera.bsky.social

Evidence for toxin-encoding coinfections driving intransitive dynamics between allelopathic phenotypes in natural yeast populations Abstract. Competitive intransitivity, or non-hierarchical competitive interactions, such as those exemplified by the rock-paper-scissors game where no sing

Evidence for toxin-encoding coinfections driving intransitive dynamics between allelopathic phenotypes in natural #yeast populations:

@tommytraverscook.bsky.social et al.

doi.org/10.1093/jeb/...

The evolutionary potential of symbiosis Abstract. Symbiosis is considered a source of evolutionary innovation. Example innovations that have evolved in symbioses include new organs, morphological

PERSPECTIVE: The evolutionary potential of symbiosis

Is symbiosis is a source of innovation? Which evolutionary mechanisms could explain how symbiosis drives or hinders innovation?

@treyjscott.bsky.social

doi.org/10.1093/jeb/...

Evolutionary rescue by adaptive specialization in rapidly changing environments Abstract. Theory suggests that a population with a narrower niche can adapt more rapidly to environmental change, all else being equal. However, a narrow n

Using #simulation, we show that mutants can invade and rescue a population faced with unsustainable environmental change. Mutants can succeed due to both #ecological and #evolvability advantages that emerge in rapidly changing, complex environments:

Jeremy Draghi

doi.org/10.1093/jeb/...

Expression of heat shock proteins and thermal sensitivity of male fertility across six Drosophila species Abstract. Understanding the mechanisms that confer resilience to thermal stress is crucial in the context of climate change. Recently there has been increa

Heat can make #fruitfly males sterile at temperatures below their lethal limits. We explore if tissue-specific heat shock protein expression can explain why using 6 #Drosophila species:

@chsmithson.bsky.social et al.
@ejduncan.bsky.social @amandabretman.bsky.social

doi.org/10.1093/jeb/...

Volume 39 Issue 2 | Journal of Evolutionary Biology | Oxford Academic Journal of Evolutionary Biology

February issue of @jevbio.bsky.social online now!

Read it here:
academic.oup.com/jeb/issue/39/2

📸 Juvenile Brown Anole (Anolis sagrei) perched on a branch.
Photo Credit: C. Ashlyn Crain.

Do you like your learned society and what it does for you and your research community? Then publish in their journal!

This paper by @nicolasgaltier.bsky.social & Co shows that it will only do good, and comes with a handy database of academy-friendly journals. 👇

Evolutionary transitions and reversions in individuality Abstract. Biological individuality exists in different forms—unicellular, multicellular, colonial, etc.—which have arisen through evolutionary transitions

NEW PAPER with @arvidagren.bsky.social and Manus Patten on evolutionary reversions in individuality now out (as an advance article) at @jevbio.bsky.social (see academic.oup.com/jeb/advance-...). Thread below! [1/8]
.

Time to publish responsibly: DAFNEE, a database of academia-friendly journals in ecology and evolutionary biology Abstract. The current economics of scientific publishing reveal a profound imbalance: academia pays prices far exceeding the actual costs of publication. R

Responsible publication of your research!

To help you do this @nicolasgaltier.bsky.social and coauthors have put together a handy database of academia-friendly journals, DAFNEE. You can read about it in their article recently published in @jevbio.bsky.social:

doi.org/10.1093/jeb/...

During directional selection, advantageous trait values tend to become associated with earlier reproduction, accelerating the evolutionary response of the trait mean. This can lead to directional change even after selection has stopped:

Mitteroecker (2025)

doi.org/10.1093/jeb/...

Comparative studies on genetic differentiation between two closely related species of #Drosophila; D. bipectinata and D. malerkotliana:

Singh et al. (2025)

doi.org/10.1093/jeb/...

Darwin’s finches and climate change: insights from a resilient system Abstract. Climate change is known to influence biodiversity worldwide, with changes in organismal traits observed in many populations and species. Such eff

Are Darwin's finches affected by climate change? Time-series analyses of beak and body traits, precipitation and temperature show finches are a resilient system, responding mainly to short-term weather variation rather than to long-term climate change:

Carrión et al. (2025)

doi.org/10.1093/jeb/...

A formal theory of group-level adaptation for obligate eusociality Abstract. Darwin argued that natural selection leads organisms to appear as if they are striving to maximize their fitness. This idea is readily recognized

A formal theory of group-level adaptation for obligate eusociality:

doi.org/10.1093/jeb/...

@kztwyman.bsky.social & @andygardner.bsky.social (2025)
#OpenAccess

Ejaculate investment differs by population, but not wing morph or perceived sperm competition risk, in Pacific field crickets Abstract. Conspicuous sexual signals are frequently under selection from conflicting sources, such as natural versus sexual selection and precopulatory ver

Some Hawaiian cricket populations are losing the ability to sing. Males on Oahu invest more in sperm competition than males on Kauai by making more sperm and packing more proteins to increase sperm viability and slow female remating:

@jessiectanner.bsky.social et al. (2025)

doi.org/10.1093/jeb/...

Mitochondrial genotypes affect thermal plasticity of longevity in Drosophila melanogaster Abstract. Sequence variation in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) was once considered neutral, but growing evidence indicates it can influence metabolic, physiolog

RESEARCH ARTICLE:

@ektakochar.bsky.social and colleagues (2025) report that temperature effects on longevity in fruit flies are moderated by the mitochondrial genotype:

doi.org/10.1093/jeb/...

@dk-dowling.bsky.social

Mitonuclear interactions and early-life diet shape adult nutritional behaviour Abstract. Mitochondrial function relies on close coordination between the mitochondrial and nuclear genomes. Disruption to this coordination—via mitonuclea

RESEARCH ARTICLE:

Early diet leaves a lasting mark! Mismatched mitochondrial + nuclear genes slow fly development & shift adult food choices. G×E shape metabolism & behaviour:

doi.org/10.1093/jeb/...

@stefanobettinazzi.bsky.social et al. (2025)
@fcamus.bsky.social
@dk-dowling.bsky.social

Convergent pathways of reductive mitochondrial evolution characterized with hypercubic inference Abstract. For a striking example of mitochondrial behaviour beyond adenosine triphosphate (ATP) generation, consider mitochondrion-related organelles (MROs

RESEARCH ARTICLE:

Convergent pathways of reductive mitochondrial evolution characterized with hypercubic inference:

Robert Glastad and @mitomaths.bsky.social (2025)

doi.org/10.1093/jeb/...

PERSPECTIVE: Mitochondria, the powerhouse of the cell, are challenged to generate ATP under variable conditions and needs. Animals maintain energy production in the short term by flexibly adapting mitochondria and in the long term through genetic changes:

Hill & Hood (2025)

doi.org/10.1093/jeb/...

Can transcriptome size and off-target effects explain the contrasting evolution of mitochondrial vs nuclear RNA editing? Abstract. Mitochondrial RNA editing has evolved independently in numerous eukaryotic lineages, where it generally restores conserved sequences and function

PERSPECTIVE:

Can transcriptome size and off-target effects explain the contrasting evolution of mitochondrial vs nuclear RNA editing?

Daniel Sloan (2025)

doi.org/10.1093/jeb/...