Browse our latest Evolutionary Biology articles

Elephants and fruit bats have evolved large brains even though they have lost a gene that is fundamental to the supply of energy to the brain when glucose is not available.

The discovery of a biological switching valve provides an example of a mechanism that evolved in nature long before its invention by man and could inspire alternative valve technologies.

Flying squirrels may have originated earlier than previously thought and remained unchanged for almost 12 million years.

Cooperativity between two transcription regulators occurs through protein-protein interactions with a general transcription factor complex and potentiates the parallel evolution of their DNA binding sites.

Endoplasmic reticulum proteostasis factors enhance the mutational tolerance of influenza hemagglutinin, a model secretory pathway protein and therapeutic target, particularly improving the fitness of temperature-sensitive variants.

Early development involves both maternal and zygotic genetic effects. This dual genetic basis shapes the evolution of developmental mode in a marine annelid.

Sox21b-1 regulates simultaneous formation of anterior segments and addition of posterior segments in a spider, which resembles segmentation in long- and short-germ insects, and suggests SoxB regulation of segmentation is an ancestral feature of arthropods.

The discovery of a gene that regulates two segmentation mechanisms in spider embryos is fueling the ongoing debate about the evolution of this crucial developmental process.

Analysis of the endogenous function of deeply conserved neuropeptides in sea anemones sheds light on a primitive role of nervous systems in modulating developmental timing.

An ancient and conserved genetic mechanism for cell differentiation is under distinct negative regulation in different lineages of land plants.