Unique mechanisms of genetic exchange in the important protozoan pathogen Trypanosome cruzi were characterized in detail using genome analyses of hybrid clones at different time points, showing initial tetraploids followed by genome erosion.

A new specimen of Heterodontosaurus elucidates how ornithischian dinosaurs evolved a body plan substantially different from that of other dinosaurs and what these differences meant for their breathing.

Evidence for a largely unexplored radiation of squamates (lizards, snakes, and amphisbaenians) in the Middle to Late Jurassic is revealed by analyses of morphospace expansion, disparity, and evolutionary rates.

Artificial selection on wing color and CRISPR/Cas9 knockout of the optix gene both alter scale lamina thickness in Junonia coenia, which shifts structural color wavelength and mimics macroevolutionary butterfly diversity.

A combined approach of genome sequencing and fluctuation assays shows that antibiotic pressure does not induce adaptive mutations in Mycobacterium smegmatis, supporting drug resistance as a consequence of phenotypic tolerance.

Neotropical outstanding biodiversity emerged from sustained rates of species accumulation over time, although, for some periods, tetrapods were less successful than plants in keeping pace with a changing environment.

Despite having different shapes and structures, the melanosomes (melanin-packed organelles) in bird feathers often produce thin melanin layers, giving rise to brilliant iridescence.

The diversification of hand bones in mammals was much more dynamic than those of the proximal and intermediate forearm, involving higher morphological diversity, stronger integration, and greater evolutionary lability at distal structures.