Evolution Letters
@evolletters
OA journal publishing the best work in evolutionary biology. Jointly owned by @eseb.bsky.social & @sse-evolution.bsky.social, published by OUP. Tag us in your post about your Evolution Letters papers and we will repost!
How do bumblebees determine sex—and why does it matter for conservation? A new study identifies the B. terrestris sex-determination region, with major implications for managing genetic diversity. doi.org/10.1093/evle... Image credit: M. Almbauer
Are city birds genetically adapting to urban life? A common garden experiment in great tits reveals hidden evolutionary changes masked by environmental effects in the wild. doi.org/10.1093/evle... Image by G. Laurent, wikimedia
Do all traits age together? A long-term study of wild Seychelles warblers shows ageing is surprisingly asynchronous, with some traits senescing while others remain unchanged. doi.org/10.1093/evle...
Why do different butterfly species evolve the same shimmering blue wings? Morpho butterflies repeatedly converge on iridescence in sympatry, suggesting predators can drive the evolution of shared warning signals. doi.org/10.1093/evle... Image credit: Wikimedia
Can species always evolve fast enough to keep up with environmental change? A resurrection experiment in morning glory shows genetic constraints can limit adaptation—even under strong selection. doi.org/10.1093/evle... @gbaucom.bsky.social @johnstinchcombe.bsky.social Image credit:Cbaile19 Wikimedia
Does early-life stress shape ageing? A field experiment in a colonial marine Bryozoan shows stressed juveniles show lower lifetime fitness—but also surprisingly weaker senescence later in life. Image by D. Janiak at Wikimedia doi.org/10.1093/evle...
Check out our new issue - including the Editor's Choice article by @jeromeburkiewicz.bsky.social et al! They show that despite phenotypic plasticity, flower morphology of the spotted jewelweed has evolved in urban habitats to better suit bumblebees, their main pollinators doi.org/10.1093/evle...
How predictable is evolution? Replicated C. elegans experiments show environmental differences and population bottlenecks jointly shape the repeatability of adaptation doi.org/10.1093/evle... Image credit: Wikimedia
How do migratory birds navigate massive barriers like the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau? Asian stonechats reveal migratory divides, hybridization, and evolving routes across extreme landscapes. doi.org/10.1093/evle... Image credit Wikimedia.
Rear-edge populations may not be evolutionary dead ends after all. Campanula americana shows strong local adaptation to warming climates despite reduced genetic diversity. doi.org/10.1093/evle... @perrierecoevo.bsky.social Image credit Wikimedia
How do generalist parasites stay adaptable across many hosts? Root-knot nematodes show balancing selection maintaining host-specific variation in key pathogenicity genes. academic.oup.com/evlett/advan... Image Wikimedia
Now out in Evolution Letters - Ongoing adaptation of the partridge pea boosts fitness across generations and helps buffer populations against harmful environmental change. By Ruth Shaw et al. Image credit Patrick Alexander doi.org/10.1093/evle...
Check out the gorgeous cover of our new issue! In the cover article @quentinevo.bsky.social and colleagues show that pleiotropy in neural crest cells can generate contrasting patterns of skull evolution, enabling rapid evolution of a syndrome. doi.org/10.1093/evle... Image credit Q Horta-Lacueva
Fast developers in native habitats show higher survival in new environments suggesting development time forecasts adaptive potential in Sicilian daisies. By @gmwalter.bsky.social and @jonbridle.bsky.social doi.org/10.1093/evle... @gmwalter.bsky.social Image credit A Moro at Wikimedia
Pace of life shapes parasite defense. Fast living guppies invest less in resistance and fecundity tolerance but not mortality tolerance. Now out in Evolution Letters, by Sadie Evanov and @jfstep.bsky.social doi.org/10.1093/evle... Image Credit: J Mank
Inbreeding depression persists even without genetic variation in identical snail genomes. This new paper suggests epigenetic mechanisms beyond classic mutation-based explanations. Image credit: Robert Aguilar, Smithsonian Environmental Research Center @wikimedia doi.org/10.1093/evle...
Midges reveal mutation rate trade offs. Longer development time raises mutations per generation while faster growth increases mutations per day. doi.org/10.1093/evle... Image credit: Antonello Fardella/ANFAROFOTO.IT
Urban habitats reshape pollinator communities and flowers respond: jewelweed sepal size evolves via plastic and genetic changes. By @jeromeburkiewicz.bsky.social @simjoly.bsky.social doi.org/10.1093/evle... image credit Wim Rubers @Wikimedia
Just out in Evolution Letters! Sex-chromosome evolution in flies is remarkably fluid, and is shaped by new turnovers, gene movement off the X, and shifts in GC content. doi.org/10.1093/evle.... Druid fly credit: Frank Vassen Wikimedia
The evolution of violence shows that primate aggression isn’t one trait. Mild aggression evolves largely independently from lethal violence. doi.org/10.1093/evle... Image credit 20th Century Fox
Visual pigments reveal fish history. Ancestral reconstructions support shallow marine origins and parallel visual adaptations during moves to freshwater habitats. doi.org/10.1093/evle... image credit Sam Stukel at Wikimedia
Diversification rate shifts are everywhere. Analyses of phylogenies covering >300k species reveal widespread changes in speciation dynamics across the Tree of Life. @bjorntko.bsky.social @hoehna.bsky.social @acapomorphic.bsky.social academic.oup.com/evlett/advan...
Do dim forests select for bigger butterfly eyes? Surprisingly, no. Across 59 species, eye size evolution reflects ancestry and scaling—not ecology. By @sridharhalali.bsky.social and @lepphylo.bsky.social doi.org/10.1093/evle...
Did you know that Evolution Letters now publishes reviews?! Our inaugural one is fantastic! Deep learning is opening new doors for evolutionary genomics, especially for nonmodel organisms with sparse or uncertain genomic data. doi.org/10.1093/evle...
Check out our Editor’s Choice article academic.oup.com/evlett/artic... by @knapprew.bsky.social et al showing the K/Pg adaptive radiation in open-ocean fish in jaw morphology. With this amazing micro-CT image of the deep-sea black scabbardfish on the cover, by @sternarchella.bsky.social
Is lifespan shaped by genetic conflict between the sexes? In wild marmots, longevity is heritable but negatively genetically correlated between males and females, implying selection for longer life in one sex favors shorter life in the other. Image Credit: Wikimedia academic.oup.com/evlett/advan...
Does predictability matter for adaptation? In fruit flies, predictable thermal variation favors evolved longevity, while unpredictable environments impose survival and reproductive costs—revealing distinct routes to adaptation under climate change. Image: Wikimedia academic.oup.com/evlett/advan...
How does development shape skull evolution? In lizards, neural crest–derived skull bones drive rapid sexually selected shape change within species but show long-term constraint, revealing developmental bias linking micro- and macroevolution. Image Credit: Wikimedia academic.oup.com/evlett/advan...
Can sexual selection alone drive divergence? Experimental evolution in seed beetles shows that strong sexual selection accelerates divergence in reproductive traits and gene expression, even without environmental differences. Image credit: Udo Schmidt Wikimedia academic.oup.com/evlett/advan...
Why has live birth evolved repeatedly in lizards? A mechanistic model linking behavior, thermal physiology, and life history shows cold climates favor viviparity, providing causal support for the classic cold-climate hypothesis. Image credit: Wikimedia academic.oup.com/evlett/advan...