ALBERT

Description: 〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Gibbons, Ann -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2014 Oct 24;346(6208):405-6. doi: 10.1126/science.346.6208.405.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25342776" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Birds are the most species-rich class of tetrapod vertebrates and have wide relevance across many research fields. We explored bird macroevolution using full genomes from 48 avian species representing all major extant clades. The avian genome is principally characterized by its constrained size, which predominantly arose because of lineage-specific erosion of repetitive elements, large segmental deletions, and gene loss. Avian genomes furthermore show a remarkably high degree of evolutionary stasis at the levels of nucleotide sequence, gene synteny, and chromosomal structure. Despite this pattern of conservation, we detected many non-neutral evolutionary changes in protein-coding genes and noncoding regions. These analyses reveal that pan-avian genomic diversity covaries with adaptations to different lifestyles and convergent evolution of traits.〈br /〉〈br /〉〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4390078/" target="_blank"〉〈img src="https://static.pubmed.gov/portal/portal3rc.fcgi/4089621/img/3977009" border="0"〉〈/a〉   〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4390078/" target="_blank"〉This paper as free author manuscript - peer-reviewed and accepted for publication〈/a〉〈br /〉〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Zhang, Guojie -- Li, Cai -- Li, Qiye -- Li, Bo -- Larkin, Denis M -- Lee, Chul -- Storz, Jay F -- Antunes, Agostinho -- Greenwold, Matthew J -- Meredith, Robert W -- Odeen, Anders -- Cui, Jie -- Zhou, Qi -- Xu, Luohao -- Pan, Hailin -- Wang, Zongji -- Jin, Lijun -- Zhang, Pei -- Hu, Haofu -- Yang, Wei -- Hu, Jiang -- Xiao, Jin -- Yang, Zhikai -- Liu, Yang -- Xie, Qiaolin -- Yu, Hao -- Lian, Jinmin -- Wen, Ping -- Zhang, Fang -- Li, Hui -- Zeng, Yongli -- Xiong, Zijun -- Liu, Shiping -- Zhou, Long -- Huang, Zhiyong -- An, Na -- Wang, Jie -- Zheng, Qiumei -- Xiong, Yingqi -- Wang, Guangbiao -- Wang, Bo -- Wang, Jingjing -- Fan, Yu -- da Fonseca, Rute R -- Alfaro-Nunez, Alonzo -- Schubert, Mikkel -- Orlando, Ludovic -- Mourier, Tobias -- Howard, Jason T -- Ganapathy, Ganeshkumar -- Pfenning, Andreas -- Whitney, Osceola -- Rivas, Miriam V -- Hara, Erina -- Smith, Julia -- Farre, Marta -- Narayan, Jitendra -- Slavov, Gancho -- Romanov, Michael N -- Borges, Rui -- Machado, Joao Paulo -- Khan, Imran -- Springer, Mark S -- Gatesy, John -- Hoffmann, Federico G -- Opazo, Juan C -- Hastad, Olle -- Sawyer, Roger H -- Kim, Heebal -- Kim, Kyu-Won -- Kim, Hyeon Jeong -- Cho, Seoae -- Li, Ning -- Huang, Yinhua -- Bruford, Michael W -- Zhan, Xiangjiang -- Dixon, Andrew -- Bertelsen, Mads F -- Derryberry, Elizabeth -- Warren, Wesley -- Wilson, Richard K -- Li, Shengbin -- Ray, David A -- Green, Richard E -- O'Brien, Stephen J -- Griffin, Darren -- Johnson, Warren E -- Haussler, David -- Ryder, Oliver A -- Willerslev, Eske -- Graves, Gary R -- Alstrom, Per -- Fjeldsa, Jon -- Mindell, David P -- Edwards, Scott V -- Braun, Edward L -- Rahbek, Carsten -- Burt, David W -- Houde, Peter -- Zhang, Yong -- Yang, Huanming -- Wang, Jian -- Avian Genome Consortium -- Jarvis, Erich D -- Gilbert, M Thomas P -- Wang, Jun -- DP1 OD000448/OD/NIH HHS/ -- DP1OD000448/OD/NIH HHS/ -- R01 HL087216/HL/NHLBI NIH HHS/ -- Howard Hughes Medical Institute/ -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2014 Dec 12;346(6215):1311-20. doi: 10.1126/science.1251385. Epub 2014 Dec 11.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉China National GeneBank, Beijing Genomics Institute (BGI)-Shenzhen, Shenzhen, 518083, China. Centre for Social Evolution, Department of Biology, Universitetsparken 15, University of Copenhagen, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark. zhanggj@genomics.cn jarvis@neuro.duke.edu mtpgilbert@gmail.com wangj@genomics.cn. ; China National GeneBank, Beijing Genomics Institute (BGI)-Shenzhen, Shenzhen, 518083, China. Centre for GeoGenetics, Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, Oster Voldgade 5-7, 1350 Copenhagen, Denmark. ; China National GeneBank, Beijing Genomics Institute (BGI)-Shenzhen, Shenzhen, 518083, China. ; Royal Veterinary College, University of London, London, UK. ; Interdisciplinary Program in Bioinformatics, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-742, Republic of Korea. Cho and Kim Genomics, Seoul National University Research Park, Seoul 151-919, Republic of Korea. ; School of Biological Sciences, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE 68588, USA. ; Centro de Investigacion en Ciencias del Mar y Limnologia (CIMAR)/Centro Interdisciplinar de Investigacao Marinha e Ambiental (CIIMAR), Universidade do Porto, Rua dos Bragas, 177, 4050-123 Porto, Portugal. Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Ciencias, Universidade do Porto, Rua do Campo Alegre, 4169-007 Porto, Portugal. ; Department of Biological Sciences, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA. ; Department of Biology and Molecular Biology, Montclair State University, Montclair, NJ 07043, USA. ; Department of Animal Ecology, Uppsala University, Norbyvagen 18D, S-752 36 Uppsala, Sweden. ; Marie Bashir Institute for Infectious Diseases and Biosecurity, Charles Perkins Centre, School of Biological Sciences and Sydney Medical School, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia. Program in Emerging Infectious Diseases, Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School, Singapore 169857, Singapore. ; Department of Integrative Biology University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA. ; China National GeneBank, Beijing Genomics Institute (BGI)-Shenzhen, Shenzhen, 518083, China. College of Life Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China. ; China National GeneBank, Beijing Genomics Institute (BGI)-Shenzhen, Shenzhen, 518083, China. School of Bioscience and Bioengineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, China. ; China National GeneBank, Beijing Genomics Institute (BGI)-Shenzhen, Shenzhen, 518083, China. BGI Education Center,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences,Shenzhen, 518083, China. ; Key Laboratory of Animal Models and Human Disease Mechanisms of Chinese Academy of Sciences and Yunnan Province, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Kunming, Yunnan 650223, China. ; Centre for GeoGenetics, Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, Oster Voldgade 5-7, 1350 Copenhagen, Denmark. ; Department of Neurobiology, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710, USA. ; Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences, Aberystwyth University, Aberystwyth, UK. ; School of Biosciences, University of Kent, Canterbury CT2 7NJ, UK. ; Centro de Investigacion en Ciencias del Mar y Limnologia (CIMAR)/Centro Interdisciplinar de Investigacao Marinha e Ambiental (CIIMAR), Universidade do Porto, Rua dos Bragas, 177, 4050-123 Porto, Portugal. Instituto de Ciencias Biomedicas Abel Salazar (ICBAS), Universidade do Porto, Portugal. ; Department of Biology, University of California Riverside, Riverside, CA 92521, USA. ; Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Entomology and Plant Pathology, Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, MS 39762, USA. Institute for Genomics, Biocomputing and Biotechnology, Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, MS 39762, USA. ; Instituto de Ciencias Ambientales y Evolutivas, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Austral de Chile, Valdivia, Chile. ; Department of Anatomy, Physiology and Biochemistry, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Post Office Box 7011, S-750 07, Uppsala, Sweden. ; Interdisciplinary Program in Bioinformatics, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-742, Republic of Korea. Cho and Kim Genomics, Seoul National University Research Park, Seoul 151-919, Republic of Korea. Department of Agricultural Biotechnology and Research Institute for Agriculture and Life Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-742, Republic of Korea. ; Interdisciplinary Program in Bioinformatics, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-742, Republic of Korea. ; Cho and Kim Genomics, Seoul National University Research Park, Seoul 151-919, Republic of Korea. ; State Key Laboratory for Agrobiotechnology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100094, China. ; State Key Laboratory for Agrobiotechnology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100094, China. College of Animal Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100094, China. ; Organisms and Environment Division, Cardiff School of Biosciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF10 3AX, Wales, UK. ; Organisms and Environment Division, Cardiff School of Biosciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF10 3AX, Wales, UK. Key Lab of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101 China. ; International Wildlife Consultants, Carmarthen SA33 5YL, Wales, UK. ; Centre for Zoo and Wild Animal Health, Copenhagen Zoo, Roskildevej 38, DK-2000 Frederiksberg, Denmark. ; Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, USA. Museum of Natural Science, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, USA. ; The Genome Institute at Washington University, St. Louis, MO 63108, USA. ; College of Medicine and Forensics, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710061, China. ; Institute for Genomics, Biocomputing and Biotechnology, Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, MS 39762, USA. ; Department of Biomolecular Engineering, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA. ; Theodosius Dobzhansky Center for Genome Bioinformatics, St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg, Russia. Nova Southeastern University Oceanographic Center 8000 N Ocean Drive, Dania, FL 33004, USA. ; Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, National Zoological Park, 1500 Remount Road, Front Royal, VA 22630, USA. ; Genetics Division, San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research, 15600 San Pasqual Valley Road, Escondido, CA 92027, USA. ; Department of Vertebrate Zoology, MRC-116, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Post Office Box 37012, Washington, DC 20013-7012, USA. Center for Macroecology, Evolution and Climate, the Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, DK-2100 Copenhagen O, Denmark. ; Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1 Beichen West Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100101, China. Swedish Species Information Centre, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Box 7007, SE-750 07 Uppsala, Sweden. ; Center for Macroecology, Evolution and Climate, the Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, DK-2100 Copenhagen O, Denmark. ; Department of Biochemistry & Biophysics, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA. ; Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology and Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, 26 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA. ; Department of Biology and Genetics Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA. ; Center for Macroecology, Evolution and Climate, the Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, DK-2100 Copenhagen O, Denmark. Imperial College London, Grand Challenges in Ecosystems and the Environment Initiative, Silwood Park Campus, Ascot, Berkshire SL5 7PY, UK. ; Division of Genetics and Genomics, The Roslin Institute and Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, The Roslin Institute Building, University of Edinburgh, Easter Bush Campus, Midlothian EH25 9RG, UK. ; Department of Biology, New Mexico State University, Box 30001 MSC 3AF, Las Cruces, NM 88003, USA. ; China National GeneBank, Beijing Genomics Institute (BGI)-Shenzhen, Shenzhen, 518083, China. Macau University of Science and Technology, Avenida Wai long, Taipa, Macau 999078, China. ; Department of Neurobiology, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710, USA. zhanggj@genomics.cn jarvis@neuro.duke.edu mtpgilbert@gmail.com wangj@genomics.cn. ; Centre for GeoGenetics, Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, Oster Voldgade 5-7, 1350 Copenhagen, Denmark. Trace and Environmental DNA Laboratory, Department of Environment and Agriculture, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, 6102, Australia. zhanggj@genomics.cn jarvis@neuro.duke.edu mtpgilbert@gmail.com wangj@genomics.cn. ; China National GeneBank, Beijing Genomics Institute (BGI)-Shenzhen, Shenzhen, 518083, China. Macau University of Science and Technology, Avenida Wai long, Taipa, Macau 999078, China. Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Ole Maaloes Vej 5, 2200 Copenhagen, Denmark. Princess Al Jawhara Center of Excellence in the Research of Hereditary Disorders, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia. Department of Medicine, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong. zhanggj@genomics.cn jarvis@neuro.duke.edu mtpgilbert@gmail.com wangj@genomics.cn.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25504712" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Lingham-Soliar questions our interpretation of integumentary structures in the Middle-Late Jurassic ornithischian dinosaur Kulindadromeus as feather-like appendages and alternatively proposes that the compound structures observed around the humerus and femur of Kulindadromeus are support fibers associated with badly degraded scales. We consider this hypothesis highly unlikely because of the taphonomy and morphology of the preserved structures.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Godefroit, Pascal -- Sinitsa, Sofia M -- Dhouailly, Danielle -- Bolotsky, Yuri L -- Sizov, Alexander V -- McNamara, Maria E -- Benton, Michael J -- Spagna, Paul -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2014 Oct 24;346(6208):434. doi: 10.1126/science.1260146.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Directorate, Earth and History of Life, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Rue Vautier 29, B-1000 Brussels, Belgium. pascal.godefroit@naturalsciences.be. ; Institute of Natural Resources, Ecology, and Cryology, 26 Butin Street, 672 014 Chita, Russia. ; UJF-CNRS FRE 3405, AGIM, Universite Joseph Fourier, Site Sante, 38 706 La Tronche, France. ; Institute of Geology and Nature Management, FEB RAS, 1 Relochny Street 675 000, Blagoveschensk, Russia. ; Institute of the Earth Crust, SB RAS, 128 Lermontov Street, 664 033 Irkutsk, Russia. ; School of Biological, Earth, and Environmental Science, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland. School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1RJ, UK. ; School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1RJ, UK. ; Directorate, Earth and History of Life, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Rue Vautier 29, B-1000 Brussels, Belgium.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25342796" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: 〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Martin, William F -- Sousa, Filipa L -- Lane, Nick -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2014 Jun 6;344(6188):1092-3. doi: 10.1126/science.1251653.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Institute of Molecular Evolution, Heinrich-Heine-Universitat, Universitatsstrasse 1, 40225 Dusseldorf, Germany. bill@hhu.de. ; Institute of Molecular Evolution, Heinrich-Heine-Universitat, Universitatsstrasse 1, 40225 Dusseldorf, Germany. ; Research Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24904143" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: 〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Koschowitz, Marie-Claire -- Fischer, Christian -- Sander, Martin -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2014 Oct 24;346(6208):416-8. doi: 10.1126/science.1258957.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Division of Paleontology, Steinmann Institute for Geology, Mineralogy and Paleontology, University of Bonn, Nussallee 8, 53115 Bonn, Germany. Institute for Zoology and Anthropology, Department of Morphology, Systematics and Evolutionary Biology with Zoological Museum, Georg-August-Universitat Gottingen, Berliner Strasse 28, 37073 Goettingen, Germany. m.koschowitz@uni-bonn.de. ; Institute for Zoology and Anthropology, Department of Morphology, Systematics and Evolutionary Biology with Zoological Museum, Georg-August-Universitat Gottingen, Berliner Strasse 28, 37073 Goettingen, Germany. ; Division of Paleontology, Steinmann Institute for Geology, Mineralogy and Paleontology, University of Bonn, Nussallee 8, 53115 Bonn, Germany. Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, 900 Exposition Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90007, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25342783" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: 〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Kennett, Douglas J -- Asmerom, Yemane -- Kemp, Brian M -- Polyak, Victor -- Bolnick, Deborah A -- Malhi, Ripan S -- Culleton, Brendan J -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2014 Jul 25;345(6195):390. doi: 10.1126/science.345.6195.390-a. Epub 2014 Jul 24.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of Anthropology and Institutes of Energy and the Environment, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA. djk23@psu.edu. ; Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131-0001, USA. ; Department of Anthropology and School of Biological Sciences, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164, USA. ; Department of Anthropology and Population Research Center, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA. ; Institute of Genomic Biology, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, IL 61801, USA. ; Department of Anthropology and Institutes of Energy and the Environment, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25061196" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: 〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Mayr, Gerald -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2014 Dec 19;346(6216):1466. doi: 10.1126/science.346.6216.1466-b.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt, Ornithological Section, D-60325 Frankfurt am Main, Germany. gerald.mayr@senckenberg.de.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25525236" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Sex-specific chromosomes, like the W of most female birds and the Y of male mammals, usually have lost most genes owing to a lack of recombination. We analyze newly available genomes of 17 bird species representing the avian phylogenetic range, and find that more than half of them do not have as fully degenerated W chromosomes as that of chicken. We show that avian sex chromosomes harbor tremendous diversity among species in their composition of pseudoautosomal regions and degree of Z/W differentiation. Punctuated events of shared or lineage-specific recombination suppression have produced a gradient of "evolutionary strata" along the Z chromosome, which initiates from the putative avian sex-determining gene DMRT1 and ends at the pseudoautosomal region. W-linked genes are subject to ongoing functional decay after recombination was suppressed, and the tempo of degeneration slows down in older strata. Overall, we unveil a complex history of avian sex chromosome evolution.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Zhou, Qi -- Zhang, Jilin -- Bachtrog, Doris -- An, Na -- Huang, Quanfei -- Jarvis, Erich D -- Gilbert, M Thomas P -- Zhang, Guojie -- GM076007/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- GM093182/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- R01 GM076007/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- R01 GM093182/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- Howard Hughes Medical Institute/ -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2014 Dec 12;346(6215):1246338. doi: 10.1126/science.1246338. Epub 2014 Dec 11.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA94720, USA. zhouqi@berkeley.edu zhanggj@genomics.org.cn. ; China National Genebank, BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen, 518083. China. ; Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA94720, USA. ; Department of Neurobiology, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710, USA. ; Centre for GeoGenetics, Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, Oster Voldgade 5-7, 1350 Copenhagen, Denmark. Trace and Environmental DNA laboratory, Department of Environment and Agriculture, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia 6102, Australia. ; China National Genebank, BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen, 518083. China. Centre for Social Evolution, Department of Biology, Universitetsparken 15, University of Copenhagen, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark. zhouqi@berkeley.edu zhanggj@genomics.org.cn.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25504727" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: 〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Coley, Phyllis D -- Kursar, Thomas A -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2014 Jan 3;343(6166):35-6. doi: 10.1126/science.1248110.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of Biology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA, and Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama City, Panama.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24385624" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: 〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Gramling, Carolyn -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2014 Oct 31;346(6209):537. doi: 10.1126/science.346.6209.537.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25359946" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Godefroit et al. (Reports, 25 July 2014, p. 451) reported scales and feathers, including "basal plates," in an ornithischian dinosaur. Their arguments against the filaments being collagen fibers are not supported because of a fundamental misinterpretation of such structures and underestimation of their size. The parsimonious explanation is that the filaments are support fibers in association with badly degraded scales and that they do not represent early feather stages.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Lingham-Soliar, Theagarten -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2014 Oct 24;346(6208):434. doi: 10.1126/science.1259983.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Port Elizabeth, South Africa.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25342795" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: The prevention of fertilization through self-pollination (or pollination by a close relative) in the Brassicaceae plant family is determined by the genotype of the plant at the self-incompatibility locus (S locus). The many alleles at this locus exhibit a dominance hierarchy that determines which of the two allelic specificities of a heterozygous genotype is expressed at the phenotypic level. Here, we uncover the evolution of how at least 17 small RNA (sRNA)-producing loci and their multiple target sites collectively control the dominance hierarchy among alleles within the gene controlling the pollen S-locus phenotype in a self-incompatible Arabidopsis species. Selection has created a dynamic repertoire of sRNA-target interactions by jointly acting on sRNA genes and their target sites, which has resulted in a complex system of regulation among alleles.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Durand, Eleonore -- Meheust, Raphael -- Soucaze, Marion -- Goubet, Pauline M -- Gallina, Sophie -- Poux, Celine -- Fobis-Loisy, Isabelle -- Guillon, Eline -- Gaude, Thierry -- Sarazin, Alexis -- Figeac, Martin -- Prat, Elisa -- Marande, William -- Berges, Helene -- Vekemans, Xavier -- Billiard, Sylvain -- Castric, Vincent -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2014 Dec 5;346(6214):1200-5. doi: 10.1126/science.1259442.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Laboratoire Genetique et Evolution des Populations Vegetales, CNRS UMR 8198, Universite Lille 1, F-59655 Villeneuve d'Ascq cedex, France. ; Reproduction et Developpement des Plantes, Institut Federatif de Recherche 128, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, Universite Claude Bernard Lyon I, Ecole Normale Superieure de Lyon, F-69364 Lyon, Cedex 07, France. ; Department of Biology, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, CH-8093 Zurich, Switzerland. ; UDSL Universite Lille 2 Droit et Sante, and Plate-forme de genomique fonctionnelle et structurale IFR-114, F-59000 Lille, France. ; Centre National des Ressources Genomiques Vegetales, INRA UPR 1258, Castanet-Tolosan, France. ; Laboratoire Genetique et Evolution des Populations Vegetales, CNRS UMR 8198, Universite Lille 1, F-59655 Villeneuve d'Ascq cedex, France. vincent.castric@univ-lille1.fr.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25477454" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: A major evolutionary transition to eusociality with reproductive division of labor between queens and workers has arisen independently at least 10 times in the ants, bees, and wasps. Pheromones produced by queens are thought to play a key role in regulating this complex social system, but their evolutionary history remains unknown. Here, we identify the first sterility-inducing queen pheromones in a wasp, bumblebee, and desert ant and synthesize existing data on compounds that characterize female fecundity in 64 species of social insects. Our results show that queen pheromones are strikingly conserved across at least three independent origins of eusociality, with wasps, ants, and some bees all appearing to use nonvolatile, saturated hydrocarbons to advertise fecundity and/or suppress worker reproduction. These results suggest that queen pheromones evolved from conserved signals of solitary ancestors.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Van Oystaeyen, Annette -- Oliveira, Ricardo Caliari -- Holman, Luke -- van Zweden, Jelle S -- Romero, Carmen -- Oi, Cintia A -- d'Ettorre, Patrizia -- Khalesi, Mohammadreza -- Billen, Johan -- Wackers, Felix -- Millar, Jocelyn G -- Wenseleers, Tom -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2014 Jan 17;343(6168):287-90. doi: 10.1126/science.1244899.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Laboratory of Socioecology and Social Evolution, Zoological Institute, University of Leuven, Naamsestraat 59-Box 2466, 3000 Leuven, Belgium.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24436417" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: 〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Libby, Eric -- Ratcliff, William C -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2014 Oct 24;346(6208):426-7. doi: 10.1126/science.1262053.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, NM 87501, USA. elibby@santafe.edu. ; School of Biology, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25342789" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Sexual reproduction is restricted to eukaryotic species and involves the fusion of haploid gametes to form a diploid cell that subsequently undergoes meiosis to generate recombinant haploid forms. This process has been extensively studied in the unicellular yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, which exhibits separate regulatory control over mating and meiosis. Here we address the mechanism of sexual reproduction in the related hemiascomycete species Candida lusitaniae. We demonstrate that, in contrast to S. cerevisiae, C. lusitaniae exhibits a highly integrated sexual program in which the programs regulating mating and meiosis have fused. Profiling of the C. lusitaniae sexual cycle revealed that gene expression patterns during mating and meiosis were overlapping, indicative of co-regulation. This was particularly evident for genes involved in pheromone MAPK signalling, which were highly induced throughout the sexual cycle of C. lusitaniae. Furthermore, genetic analysis showed that the orthologue of IME2, a 'diploid-specific' factor in S. cerevisiae, and STE12, the master regulator of S. cerevisiae mating, were each required for progression through both mating and meiosis in C. lusitaniae. Together, our results establish that sexual reproduction has undergone significant rewiring between S. cerevisiae and C. lusitaniae, and that a concerted sexual cycle operates in C. lusitaniae that is more reminiscent of the distantly related ascomycete, Schizosaccharomyces pombe. We discuss these results in light of the evolution of sexual reproduction in yeast, and propose that regulatory coupling of mating and meiosis has evolved multiple times as an adaptation to promote the haploid lifestyle.〈br /〉〈br /〉〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4051440/" target="_blank"〉〈img src="https://static.pubmed.gov/portal/portal3rc.fcgi/4089621/img/3977009" border="0"〉〈/a〉   〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4051440/" target="_blank"〉This paper as free author manuscript - peer-reviewed and accepted for publication〈/a〉〈br /〉〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Sherwood, Racquel Kim -- Scaduto, Christine M -- Torres, Sandra E -- Bennett, Richard J -- F31AI075607/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/ -- R01 AI081704/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/ -- T32 GM007601/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- T32GM007601/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- England -- Nature. 2014 Feb 20;506(7488):387-90. doi: 10.1038/nature12891. Epub 2014 Jan 5.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉1] Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Brown University, 171 Meeting Street, Providence, Rhode Island 02912, USA [2] Department of Microbial Pathogenesis, Yale University, 295 Congress Avenue, New Haven, Connecticut 06536-0812, USA (R.K.S.); University of California San Francisco, Tetrad Graduate Program, San Francisco, California 94158-2330, USA (S.E.T.). [3]. ; 1] Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Brown University, 171 Meeting Street, Providence, Rhode Island 02912, USA [2]. ; 1] Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Brown University, 171 Meeting Street, Providence, Rhode Island 02912, USA [2] Department of Microbial Pathogenesis, Yale University, 295 Congress Avenue, New Haven, Connecticut 06536-0812, USA (R.K.S.); University of California San Francisco, Tetrad Graduate Program, San Francisco, California 94158-2330, USA (S.E.T.). ; Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Brown University, 171 Meeting Street, Providence, Rhode Island 02912, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24390351" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: 〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Klug, Hope -- England -- Nature. 2014 Nov 20;515(7527):343. doi: 10.1038/515343a.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉University of Tennessee, Chattanooga, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25409817" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: 〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Wood, Bernard -- England -- Nature. 2014 Apr 3;508(7494):31-3.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24707524" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Extant vertebrates form two clades, the jawless Cyclostomata (lampreys and hagfishes) and the jawed Gnathostomata (all other vertebrates), with contrasting facial architectures. These arise during development from just a few key differences in the growth patterns of the cranial primordia: notably, the nasal sacs and hypophysis originate from a single placode in cyclostomes but from separate placodes in gnathostomes, and infraoptic ectomesenchyme migrates forward either side of the single placode in cyclostomes but between the placodes in gnathostomes. Fossil stem gnathostomes preserve cranial anatomies rich in landmarks that provide proxies for developmental processes and allow the transition from jawless to jawed vertebrates to be broken down into evolutionary steps. Here we use propagation phase contrast synchrotron microtomography to image the cranial anatomy of the primitive placoderm (jawed stem gnathostome) Romundina, and show that it combines jawed vertebrate architecture with cranial and cerebral proportions resembling those of cyclostomes and the galeaspid (jawless stem gnathostome) Shuyu. This combination seems to be primitive for jawed vertebrates, and suggests a decoupling between ectomesenchymal growth trajectory, ectomesenchymal proliferation, and cerebral shape change during the origin of gnathostomes.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Dupret, Vincent -- Sanchez, Sophie -- Goujet, Daniel -- Tafforeau, Paul -- Ahlberg, Per E -- England -- Nature. 2014 Mar 27;507(7493):500-3. doi: 10.1038/nature12980. Epub 2014 Feb 12.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Uppsala University, Department of Organismal Biology, Subdepartment of Evolution and Development, Norbyvagen 18A, SE-752 36, Uppsala, Sweden. ; 1] Uppsala University, Department of Organismal Biology, Subdepartment of Evolution and Development, Norbyvagen 18A, SE-752 36, Uppsala, Sweden [2] European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, 6 rue Jules Horowitz, 38043 Grenoble Cedex, France. ; Museum national d'Histoire naturelle, UMR 7207 CR2P CNRS/MNHN/UPMC, 8 rue Buffon, CP 38,75231 Paris Cedex 05, France. ; European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, 6 rue Jules Horowitz, 38043 Grenoble Cedex, France.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24522530" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Throughout the animal kingdom, adaptive colouration serves critical functions ranging from inconspicuous camouflage to ostentatious sexual display, and can provide important information about the environment and biology of a particular organism. The most ubiquitous and abundant pigment, melanin, also has a diverse range of non-visual roles, including thermoregulation in ectotherms. However, little is known about the functional evolution of this important biochrome through deep time, owing to our limited ability to unambiguously identify traces of it in the fossil record. Here we present direct chemical evidence of pigmentation in fossilized skin, from three distantly related marine reptiles: a leatherback turtle, a mosasaur and an ichthyosaur. We demonstrate that dark traces of soft tissue in these fossils are dominated by molecularly preserved eumelanin, in intimate association with fossilized melanosomes. In addition, we suggest that contrary to the countershading of many pelagic animals, at least some ichthyosaurs were uniformly dark-coloured in life. Our analyses expand current knowledge of pigmentation in fossil integument beyond that of feathers, allowing for the reconstruction of colour over much greater ranges of extinct taxa and anatomy. In turn, our results provide evidence of convergent melanism in three disparate lineages of secondarily aquatic tetrapods. Based on extant marine analogues, we propose that the benefits of thermoregulation and/or crypsis are likely to have contributed to this melanisation, with the former having implications for the ability of each group to exploit cold environments.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Lindgren, Johan -- Sjovall, Peter -- Carney, Ryan M -- Uvdal, Per -- Gren, Johan A -- Dyke, Gareth -- Schultz, Bo Pagh -- Shawkey, Matthew D -- Barnes, Kenneth R -- Polcyn, Michael J -- England -- Nature. 2014 Feb 27;506(7489):484-8. doi: 10.1038/nature12899. Epub 2014 Jan 8.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of Geology, Lund University, SE-223 62 Lund, Sweden. ; SP Technical Research Institute of Sweden, Chemistry, Materials and Surfaces, SE-501 15 Boras, Sweden. ; Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island 02906, USA. ; 1] MAX-IV laboratory, Lund University, SE-221 00 Lund, Sweden [2] Chemical Physics, Department of Chemistry, Lund University, SE-221 00 Lund, Sweden. ; 1] Ocean and Earth Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton SO14 3ZH, UK [2] Institute for Life Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton SO14 3ZH, UK. ; MUSERUM, Natural History Division, Havnevej 14, 7800 Skive, Denmark. ; Integrated Bioscience Program, University of Akron, Akron, Ohio 44325, USA. ; Mosasaur Ranch Museum, Lajitas, Texas 79852, USA. ; Roy M. Huffington Department of Earth Sciences, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas 75275, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24402224" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: 〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Callaway, Ewen -- Sutikna, Thomas -- Roberts, Richard -- Saptomo, Wahyu -- Brown, Peter -- Gee, Henry -- Dayton, Leigh -- Jungers, Bill -- Henneberg, Maciej -- Falk, Dean -- Martin, Robert -- Aiello, Leslie -- England -- Nature. 2014 Oct 23;514(7523):422-6. doi: 10.1038/514422a.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25341771" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Discoveries of bird-like theropod dinosaurs and basal avialans in recent decades have helped to put the iconic 'Urvogel' Archaeopteryx into context and have yielded important new data on the origin and early evolution of feathers. However, the biological context under which pennaceous feathers evolved is still debated. Here we describe a new specimen of Archaeopteryx with extensive feather preservation, not only on the wings and tail, but also on the body and legs. The new specimen shows that the entire body was covered in pennaceous feathers, and that the hindlimbs had long, symmetrical feathers along the tibiotarsus but short feathers on the tarsometatarsus. Furthermore, the wing plumage demonstrates that several recent interpretations are problematic. An analysis of the phylogenetic distribution of pennaceous feathers on the tail, hindlimb and arms of advanced maniraptorans and basal avialans strongly indicates that these structures evolved in a functional context other than flight, most probably in relation to display, as suggested by some previous studies. Pennaceous feathers thus represented an exaptation and were later, in several lineages and following different patterns, recruited for aerodynamic functions. This indicates that the origin of flight in avialans was more complex than previously thought and might have involved several convergent achievements of aerial abilities.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Foth, Christian -- Tischlinger, Helmut -- Rauhut, Oliver W M -- England -- Nature. 2014 Jul 3;511(7507):79-82. doi: 10.1038/nature13467.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉1] Staatliche Naturwissenschaftliche Sammlungen Bayerns, Bayerische Staatssammlung fur Palaontologie und Geologie, Richard-Wagner-Strasse 10, 80333 Munich, Germany [2] Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences and GeoBioCenter, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitat Munchen, Richard-Wagner-Strasse 10, 80333 Munich, Germany. ; Tannenweg 16, 85134 Stammham, Germany.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24990749" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Inference of colour patterning in extinct dinosaurs has been based on the relationship between the morphology of melanin-containing organelles (melanosomes) and colour in extant bird feathers. When this relationship evolved relative to the origin of feathers and other novel integumentary structures, such as hair and filamentous body covering in extinct archosaurs, has not been evaluated. Here we sample melanosomes from the integument of 181 extant amniote taxa and 13 lizard, turtle, dinosaur and pterosaur fossils from the Upper-Jurassic and Lower-Cretaceous of China. We find that in the lineage leading to birds, the observed increase in the diversity of melanosome morphologies appears abruptly, near the origin of pinnate feathers in maniraptoran dinosaurs. Similarly, mammals show an increased diversity of melanosome form compared to all ectothermic amniotes. In these two clades, mammals and maniraptoran dinosaurs including birds, melanosome form and colour are linked and colour reconstruction may be possible. By contrast, melanosomes in lizard, turtle and crocodilian skin, as well as the archosaurian filamentous body coverings (dinosaur 'protofeathers' and pterosaur 'pycnofibres'), show a limited diversity of form that is uncorrelated with colour in extant taxa. These patterns may be explained by convergent changes in the key melanocortin system of mammals and birds, which is known to affect pleiotropically both melanin-based colouration and energetic processes such as metabolic rate in vertebrates, and may therefore support a significant physiological shift in maniraptoran dinosaurs.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Li, Quanguo -- Clarke, Julia A -- Gao, Ke-Qin -- Zhou, Chang-Fu -- Meng, Qingjin -- Li, Daliang -- D'Alba, Liliana -- Shawkey, Matthew D -- England -- Nature. 2014 Mar 20;507(7492):350-3. doi: 10.1038/nature12973. Epub 2014 Feb 12.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, China University of Geosciences, Beijing 100083, China. ; Department of Geological Sciences, University of Texas at Austin, 1 University Station C1100, Austin, Texas 78712, USA. ; School of Earth and Space Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China. ; Institute of Paleontology, Shenyang Normal University, Shenyang 110034, China. ; Beijing Museum of Natural History, 126 Tianqiao South Street, Beijing 100050, China. ; Museum of China University of Geosciences (Beijing), 29 Xueyuan Road, 100083, China. ; Department of Biology and Integrated Bioscience Program, University of Akron, Akron, Ohio 44325-3908, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24522537" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: The large spectrum of limb morphologies reflects the wide evolutionary diversification of the basic pentadactyl pattern in tetrapods. In even-toed ungulates (artiodactyls, including cattle), limbs are adapted for running as a consequence of progressive reduction of their distal skeleton to symmetrical and elongated middle digits with hoofed phalanges. Here we analyse bovine embryos to establish that polarized gene expression is progressively lost during limb development in comparison to the mouse. Notably, the transcriptional upregulation of the Ptch1 gene, which encodes a Sonic hedgehog (SHH) receptor, is disrupted specifically in the bovine limb bud mesenchyme. This is due to evolutionary alteration of a Ptch1 cis-regulatory module, which no longer responds to graded SHH signalling during bovine handplate development. Our study provides a molecular explanation for the loss of digit asymmetry in bovine limb buds and suggests that modifications affecting the Ptch1 cis-regulatory landscape have contributed to evolutionary diversification of artiodactyl limbs.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Lopez-Rios, Javier -- Duchesne, Amandine -- Speziale, Dario -- Andrey, Guillaume -- Peterson, Kevin A -- Germann, Philipp -- Unal, Erkan -- Liu, Jing -- Floriot, Sandrine -- Barbey, Sarah -- Gallard, Yves -- Muller-Gerbl, Magdalena -- Courtney, Andrew D -- Klopp, Christophe -- Rodriguez, Sabrina -- Ivanek, Robert -- Beisel, Christian -- Wicking, Carol -- Iber, Dagmar -- Robert, Benoit -- McMahon, Andrew P -- Duboule, Denis -- Zeller, Rolf -- NS 033642/NS/NINDS NIH HHS/ -- England -- Nature. 2014 Jul 3;511(7507):46-51. doi: 10.1038/nature13289. Epub 2014 Jun 18.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉1] Developmental Genetics, Department Biomedicine, University of Basel, CH-4058 Basel, Switzerland [2]. ; 1] Developmental Genetics, Department Biomedicine, University of Basel, CH-4058 Basel, Switzerland [2] Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, Genetique Animale et Biologie Integrative, F-78350 Jouy-en-Josas, France [3]. ; Developmental Genetics, Department Biomedicine, University of Basel, CH-4058 Basel, Switzerland. ; School of Life Sciences, Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland. ; Department of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, Eli and Edythe Broad Center for Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California 90089, USA. ; Department for Biosystems Science and Engineering, Federal Institute of Technology Zurich and Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, CH-4058 Basel, Switzerland. ; 1] Developmental Genetics, Department Biomedicine, University of Basel, CH-4058 Basel, Switzerland [2] Department for Biosystems Science and Engineering, Federal Institute of Technology Zurich and Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, CH-4058 Basel, Switzerland. ; Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, Genetique Animale et Biologie Integrative, F-78350 Jouy-en-Josas, France. ; Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, Domaine Experimental du Pin au Haras, F-61310 Exmes, France. ; Institute of Anatomy, Department Biomedicine, University of Basel, CH-4056 Basel, Switzerland. ; Institute for Molecular Bioscience, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia. ; Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, Biometrie et Intelligence Artificielle, F-31326 Castanet-Tolosan, France. ; 1] Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, Genetique Animale et Biologie Integrative, F-78350 Jouy-en-Josas, France [2] Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, Laboratoire d'Ingenierie des Systemes Biologiques et des Procedes, F-31077 Toulouse, France. ; 1] Developmental Genetics, Department Biomedicine, University of Basel, CH-4058 Basel, Switzerland [2] Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, CH-4058 Basel, Switzerland. ; Institut Pasteur, Genetique Moleculaire de la Morphogenese and Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique URA-2578, F-75015 Paris, France. ; 1] School of Life Sciences, Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland [2] Department of Genetics and Evolution, University of Geneva, CH-1211 Geneva, Switzerland.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24990743" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: A reduction in the number of digits has evolved many times in tetrapods, particularly in cursorial mammals that travel over deserts and plains, yet the underlying developmental mechanisms have remained elusive. Here we show that digit loss can occur both during early limb patterning and at later post-patterning stages of chondrogenesis. In the 'odd-toed' jerboa (Dipus sagitta) and horse and the 'even-toed' camel, extensive cell death sculpts the tissue around the remaining toes. In contrast, digit loss in the pig is orchestrated by earlier limb patterning mechanisms including downregulation of Ptch1 expression but no increase in cell death. Together these data demonstrate remarkable plasticity in the mechanisms of vertebrate limb evolution and shed light on the complexity of morphological convergence, particularly within the artiodactyl lineage.〈br /〉〈br /〉〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4228958/" target="_blank"〉〈img src="https://static.pubmed.gov/portal/portal3rc.fcgi/4089621/img/3977009" border="0"〉〈/a〉   〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4228958/" target="_blank"〉This paper as free author manuscript - peer-reviewed and accepted for publication〈/a〉〈br /〉〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Cooper, Kimberly L -- Sears, Karen E -- Uygur, Aysu -- Maier, Jennifer -- Baczkowski, Karl-Stephan -- Brosnahan, Margaret -- Antczak, Doug -- Skidmore, Julian A -- Tabin, Clifford J -- R37 HD032443/HD/NICHD NIH HHS/ -- R37HD032443/HD/NICHD NIH HHS/ -- England -- Nature. 2014 Jul 3;511(7507):41-5. doi: 10.1038/nature13496. Epub 2014 Jun 18.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉1] Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA [2] Division of Biological Sciences, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, USA. [3]. ; 1] Department of Animal Biology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, USA [2]. ; 1] Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA [2]. ; Department of Animal Biology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, USA. ; cole Normale Superieure de Lyon, 69007 Lyon, France. ; Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, USA. ; The Camel Reproduction Centre, Dubai, United Arab Emirates. ; Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24990742" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: The move of vertebrates to a terrestrial lifestyle required major adaptations in their locomotory apparatus and reproductive organs. While the fin-to-limb transition has received considerable attention, little is known about the developmental and evolutionary origins of external genitalia. Similarities in gene expression have been interpreted as a potential evolutionary link between the limb and genitals; however, no underlying developmental mechanism has been identified. We re-examined this question using micro-computed tomography, lineage tracing in three amniote clades, and RNA-sequencing-based transcriptional profiling. Here we show that the developmental origin of external genitalia has shifted through evolution, and in some taxa limbs and genitals share a common primordium. In squamates, the genitalia develop directly from the budding hindlimbs, or the remnants thereof, whereas in mice the genital tubercle originates from the ventral and tail bud mesenchyme. The recruitment of different cell populations for genital outgrowth follows a change in the relative position of the cloaca, the genitalia organizing centre. Ectopic grafting of the cloaca demonstrates the conserved ability of different mesenchymal cells to respond to these genitalia-inducing signals. Our results support a limb-like developmental origin of external genitalia as the ancestral condition. Moreover, they suggest that a change in the relative position of the cloacal signalling centre during evolution has led to an altered developmental route for external genitalia in mammals, while preserving parts of the ancestral limb molecular circuitry owing to a common evolutionary origin.〈br /〉〈br /〉〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4294627/" target="_blank"〉〈img src="https://static.pubmed.gov/portal/portal3rc.fcgi/4089621/img/3977009" border="0"〉〈/a〉   〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4294627/" target="_blank"〉This paper as free author manuscript - peer-reviewed and accepted for publication〈/a〉〈br /〉〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Tschopp, Patrick -- Sherratt, Emma -- Sanger, Thomas J -- Groner, Anna C -- Aspiras, Ariel C -- Hu, Jimmy K -- Pourquie, Olivier -- Gros, Jerome -- Tabin, Clifford J -- R37 HD032443/HD/NICHD NIH HHS/ -- R37-HD032443/HD/NICHD NIH HHS/ -- England -- Nature. 2014 Dec 18;516(7531):391-4. doi: 10.1038/nature13819. Epub 2014 Nov 5.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA. ; Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA. ; Department of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA. ; 1] Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA [2] Institut de Genetique et de Biologie Moleculaire et Cellulaire (IGBMC), 67400 Illkirch, France [3] Department of Pathology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA. ; Developmental and Stem Cell Biology Department, Institut Pasteur, 75724 Paris Cedex 15, France.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25383527" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: What mechanisms underlie the transitions responsible for the diverse shapes observed in the living world? Although bacteria exhibit a myriad of morphologies, the mechanisms responsible for the evolution of bacterial cell shape are not understood. We investigated morphological diversity in a group of bacteria that synthesize an appendage-like extension of the cell envelope called the stalk. The location and number of stalks varies among species, as exemplified by three distinct subcellular positions of stalks within a rod-shaped cell body: polar in the genus Caulobacter and subpolar or bilateral in the genus Asticcacaulis. Here we show that a developmental regulator of Caulobacter crescentus, SpmX, is co-opted in the genus Asticcacaulis to specify stalk synthesis either at the subpolar or bilateral positions. We also show that stepwise evolution of a specific region of SpmX led to the gain of a new function and localization of this protein, which drove the sequential transition in stalk positioning. Our results indicate that changes in protein function, co-option and modularity are key elements in the evolution of bacterial morphology. Therefore, similar evolutionary principles of morphological transitions apply to both single-celled prokaryotes and multicellular eukaryotes.〈br /〉〈br /〉〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4035126/" target="_blank"〉〈img src="https://static.pubmed.gov/portal/portal3rc.fcgi/4089621/img/3977009" border="0"〉〈/a〉   〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4035126/" target="_blank"〉This paper as free author manuscript - peer-reviewed and accepted for publication〈/a〉〈br /〉〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Jiang, Chao -- Brown, Pamela J B -- Ducret, Adrien -- Brun, Yves V -- AI072992/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/ -- GM051986/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- R01 GM051986/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- S10RR028697-01/RR/NCRR NIH HHS/ -- England -- Nature. 2014 Feb 27;506(7489):489-93. doi: 10.1038/nature12900. Epub 2014 Jan 19.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of Biology, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana 47405, USA. ; 1] Department of Biology, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana 47405, USA [2] Division of Biological Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri 65211, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24463524" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: The evolution of serially arranged, jointed endoskeletal supports internal to the gills--the visceral branchial arches--represents one of the key events in early jawed vertebrate (gnathostome) history, because it provided the morphological basis for the subsequent evolution of jaws. However, until now little was known about visceral arches in early gnathostomes, and theories about gill arch evolution were driven by information gleaned mostly from both modern cartilaginous (chondrichthyan) and bony (osteichthyan) fishes. New fossil discoveries can profoundly affect our understanding of evolutionary history, by revealing hitherto unseen combinations of primitive and derived characters. Here we describe a 325 million year (Myr)-old Palaeozoic shark-like fossil that represents, to our knowledge, the earliest identified chondrichthyan in which the complete gill skeleton is three-dimensionally preserved in its natural position. Its visceral arch arrangement is remarkably osteichthyan-like, suggesting that this may represent the common ancestral condition for crown gnathostomes. Our findings thus reinterpret the polarity of some arch features of the crown jawed vertebrates and invert the classic hypothesis, in which modern sharks retain the ancestral condition. This study underscores the importance of early chondrichthyans in resolving the evolutionary history of jawed vertebrates.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Pradel, Alan -- Maisey, John G -- Tafforeau, Paul -- Mapes, Royal H -- Mallatt, Jon -- England -- Nature. 2014 May 29;509(7502):608-11. doi: 10.1038/nature13195. Epub 2014 Apr 16.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of Vertebrate Paleontology, American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street, New York, New York 10024, USA. ; European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, BP 220, 6 rue Jules Horowitz, 38043 Grenoble Cedex, France. ; Department of Geological Sciences, Ohio University, Athens, Ohio 45701, USA. ; School of Biological Sciences, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington 99164-4236, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24739974" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: 〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Callaway, Ewen -- England -- Nature. 2014 Dec 4;516(7529):18-9. doi: 10.1038/516018a.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25471860" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: 〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Witzany, Guenther -- Baluska, Frantisek -- England -- Nature. 2014 Nov 20;515(7527):343. doi: 10.1038/515343b.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Telos-Philosophische Praxis, Burmoos, Austria. ; University of Bonn, Germany.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25409819" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: 〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Linksvayer, Timothy -- England -- Nature. 2014 Oct 16;514(7522):308-9. doi: 10.1038/nature13755. Epub 2014 Oct 1.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of Biology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25274299" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: 〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Kutschera, U -- England -- Nature. 2014 Jun 12;510(7504):218. doi: 10.1038/510218a.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Institute of Biology, University of Kassel, Germany.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24919913" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Cooperation is central to the emergence of multicellular life; however, the means by which the earliest collectives (groups of cells) maintained integrity in the face of destructive cheating types is unclear. One idea posits cheats as a primitive germ line in a life cycle that facilitates collective reproduction. Here we describe an experiment in which simple cooperating lineages of bacteria were propagated under a selective regime that rewarded collective-level persistence. Collectives reproduced via life cycles that either embraced, or purged, cheating types. When embraced, the life cycle alternated between phenotypic states. Selection fostered inception of a developmental switch that underpinned the emergence of collectives whose fitness, during the course of evolution, became decoupled from the fitness of constituent cells. Such development and decoupling did not occur when groups reproduced via a cheat-purging regime. Our findings capture key events in the evolution of Darwinian individuality during the transition from single cells to multicellularity.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Hammerschmidt, Katrin -- Rose, Caroline J -- Kerr, Benjamin -- Rainey, Paul B -- England -- Nature. 2014 Nov 6;515(7525):75-9. doi: 10.1038/nature13884.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉New Zealand Institute for Advanced Study and Allan Wilson Centre for Molecular Ecology &Evolution, Massey University, Auckland 0745, New Zealand. ; Department of Biology and BEACON Center for the Study of Evolution in Action, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, USA. ; 1] New Zealand Institute for Advanced Study and Allan Wilson Centre for Molecular Ecology &Evolution, Massey University, Auckland 0745, New Zealand [2] Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology, Plon 24306, Germany.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25373677" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: 〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Tozzi, Arturo -- England -- Nature. 2014 Nov 20;515(7527):343. doi: 10.1038/515343c.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉ASL Napoli 2 Nord, Naples, Italy.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25409815" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: 〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Hutchinson, John -- England -- Nature. 2014 Sep 4;513(7516):37-8. doi: 10.1038/nature13743. Epub 2014 Aug 27.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Structure and Motion Laboratory, Department of Comparative Biomedical Sciences, Royal Veterinary College, Hatfield AL9 7TA, UK.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25162531" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Female mosquitoes are major vectors of human disease and the most dangerous are those that preferentially bite humans. A 'domestic' form of the mosquito Aedes aegypti has evolved to specialize in biting humans and is the main worldwide vector of dengue, yellow fever, and chikungunya viruses. The domestic form coexists with an ancestral, 'forest' form that prefers to bite non-human animals and is found along the coast of Kenya. We collected the two forms, established laboratory colonies, and document striking divergence in preference for human versus non-human animal odour. We further show that the evolution of preference for human odour in domestic mosquitoes is tightly linked to increases in the expression and ligand-sensitivity of the odorant receptor AaegOr4, which we found recognizes a compound present at high levels in human odour. Our results provide a rare example of a gene contributing to behavioural evolution and provide insight into how disease-vectoring mosquitoes came to specialize on humans.〈br /〉〈br /〉〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4286346/" target="_blank"〉〈img src="https://static.pubmed.gov/portal/portal3rc.fcgi/4089621/img/3977009" border="0"〉〈/a〉   〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4286346/" target="_blank"〉This paper as free author manuscript - peer-reviewed and accepted for publication〈/a〉〈br /〉〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉McBride, Carolyn S -- Baier, Felix -- Omondi, Aman B -- Spitzer, Sarabeth A -- Lutomiah, Joel -- Sang, Rosemary -- Ignell, Rickard -- Vosshall, Leslie B -- 5UL1TR000043/TR/NCATS NIH HHS/ -- HHSN272200900039C/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/ -- HHSN272200900039C/PHS HHS/ -- K99 DC012069/DC/NIDCD NIH HHS/ -- R00 DC012069/DC/NIDCD NIH HHS/ -- UL1 TR000043/TR/NCATS NIH HHS/ -- Howard Hughes Medical Institute/ -- England -- Nature. 2014 Nov 13;515(7526):222-7. doi: 10.1038/nature13964.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉1] Laboratory of Neurogenetics and Behavior, The Rockefeller University, New York, New York 10065, USA [2] Howard Hughes Medical Institute, 1230 York Avenue, New York, New York 10065, USA. ; Laboratory of Neurogenetics and Behavior, The Rockefeller University, New York, New York 10065, USA. ; Unit of Chemical Ecology, Department of Plant Protection Biology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Box 102, Sundsvagen 14, 230 53 Alnarp, Sweden. ; Center for Virus Research, Kenya Medical Research Institute, PO Box 54840 - 00200, Off Mbagathi Way, Nairobi, Kenya.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25391959" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Group selection may be defined as selection caused by the differential extinction or proliferation of groups. The socially polymorphic spider Anelosimus studiosus exhibits a behavioural polymorphism in which females exhibit either a 'docile' or 'aggressive' behavioural phenotype. Natural colonies are composed of a mixture of related docile and aggressive individuals, and populations differ in colonies' characteristic docile:aggressive ratios. Using experimentally constructed colonies of known composition, here we demonstrate that population-level divergence in docile:aggressive ratios is driven by site-specific selection at the group level--certain ratios yield high survivorship at some sites but not others. Our data also indicate that colonies responded to the risk of extinction: perturbed colonies tended to adjust their composition over two generations to match the ratio characteristic of their native site, thus promoting their long-term survival in their natal habitat. However, colonies of displaced individuals continued to shift their compositions towards mixtures that would have promoted their survival had they remained at their home sites, regardless of their contemporary environment. Thus, the regulatory mechanisms that colonies use to adjust their composition appear to be locally adapted. Our data provide experimental evidence of group selection driving collective traits in wild populations.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Pruitt, Jonathan N -- Goodnight, Charles J -- England -- Nature. 2014 Oct 16;514(7522):359-62. doi: 10.1038/nature13811. Epub 2014 Oct 1.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of Biological Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260, USA. ; Department of Biology, University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont 05405, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25274310" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: 〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Sheldon, Ben C -- Mangel, Marc -- England -- Nature. 2014 Aug 28;512(7515):381-2. doi: 10.1038/512381a.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Edward Grey Institute, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3PS, UK. ; Center for Stock Assessment Research, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, California 95064, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25164746" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: 〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Laland, Kevin -- Uller, Tobias -- Feldman, Marc -- Sterelny, Kim -- Muller, Gerd B -- Moczek, Armin -- Jablonka, Eva -- Odling-Smee, John -- Wray, Gregory A -- Hoekstra, Hopi E -- Futuyma, Douglas J -- Lenski, Richard E -- Mackay, Trudy F C -- Schluter, Dolph -- Strassmann, Joan E -- England -- Nature. 2014 Oct 9;514(7521):161-4. doi: 10.1038/514161a.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25297418" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: The evolutionary relationships of extinct species are ascertained primarily through the analysis of morphological characters. Character inter-dependencies can have a substantial effect on evolutionary interpretations, but the developmental underpinnings of character inter-dependence remain obscure because experiments frequently do not provide detailed resolution of morphological characters. Here we show experimentally and computationally how gradual modification of development differentially affects characters in the mouse dentition. We found that intermediate phenotypes could be produced by gradually adding ectodysplasin A (EDA) protein in culture to tooth explants carrying a null mutation in the tooth-patterning gene Eda. By identifying development-based character inter-dependencies, we show how to predict morphological patterns of teeth among mammalian species. Finally, in vivo inhibition of sonic hedgehog signalling in Eda null teeth enabled us to reproduce characters deep in the rodent ancestry. Taken together, evolutionarily informative transitions can be experimentally reproduced, thereby providing development-based expectations for character-state transitions used in evolutionary studies.〈br /〉〈br /〉〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4252015/" target="_blank"〉〈img src="https://static.pubmed.gov/portal/portal3rc.fcgi/4089621/img/3977009" border="0"〉〈/a〉   〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4252015/" target="_blank"〉This paper as free author manuscript - peer-reviewed and accepted for publication〈/a〉〈br /〉〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Harjunmaa, Enni -- Seidel, Kerstin -- Hakkinen, Teemu -- Renvoise, Elodie -- Corfe, Ian J -- Kallonen, Aki -- Zhang, Zhao-Qun -- Evans, Alistair R -- Mikkola, Marja L -- Salazar-Ciudad, Isaac -- Klein, Ophir D -- Jernvall, Jukka -- DP2 OD007191/OD/NIH HHS/ -- DP2-OD007191/OD/NIH HHS/ -- K99 DE024214/DE/NIDCR NIH HHS/ -- R01 DE021420/DE/NIDCR NIH HHS/ -- R01-DE021420/DE/NIDCR NIH HHS/ -- England -- Nature. 2014 Aug 7;512(7512):44-8. doi: 10.1038/nature13613. Epub 2014 Jul 30.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Developmental Biology Program, Institute of Biotechnology, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 56, FIN-00014 Helsinki, Finland. ; 1] Program in Craniofacial and Mesenchymal Biology, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California 94114, USA [2] Department of Orofacial Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California 94114, USA. ; Division of Materials Physics, Department of Physics, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 64, FIN-00014 Helsinki, Finland. ; Key Laboratory of Evolutionary Systematics of Vertebrates, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100044, China. ; 1] School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Victoria 3800, Australia [2] Geosciences, Museum Victoria, GPO Box 666, Melbourne, Victoria 3001, Australia. ; 1] Developmental Biology Program, Institute of Biotechnology, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 56, FIN-00014 Helsinki, Finland [2] Genomics, Bioinformatics and Evolution Group. Department de Genetica i Microbiologia, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, Cerdanyola del Valles 08193, Spain. ; 1] Program in Craniofacial and Mesenchymal Biology, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California 94114, USA [2] Department of Orofacial Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California 94114, USA [3] Department of Pediatrics, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California 94114, USA [4] Institute for Human Genetics, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California 94114, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25079326" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: The origin of tetrapods from their fish antecedents, approximately 400 million years ago, was coupled with the origin of terrestrial locomotion and the evolution of supporting limbs. Polypterus is a member of the basal-most group of ray-finned fish (actinopterygians) and has many plesiomorphic morphologies that are comparable to elpistostegid fishes, which are stem tetrapods. Polypterus therefore serves as an extant analogue of stem tetrapods, allowing us to examine how developmental plasticity affects the 'terrestrialization' of fish. We measured the developmental plasticity of anatomical and biomechanical responses in Polypterus reared on land. Here we show the remarkable correspondence between the environmentally induced phenotypes of terrestrialized Polypterus and the ancient anatomical changes in stem tetrapods, and we provide insight into stem tetrapod behavioural evolution. Our results raise the possibility that environmentally induced developmental plasticity facilitated the origin of the terrestrial traits that led to tetrapods.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Standen, Emily M -- Du, Trina Y -- Larsson, Hans C E -- England -- Nature. 2014 Sep 4;513(7516):54-8. doi: 10.1038/nature13708. Epub 2014 Aug 27.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Biology Department, University of Ottawa, Gendron Hall, 30 Marie Curie Private, Ottawa, Ontario K1N 6N5, Canada. ; Redpath Museum, McGill University, 859 Sherbrooke Street West, Montreal, Quebec H3A 0C4, Canada.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25162530" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: 〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Huang, Bau-Lin -- Mackem, Susan -- England -- Nature. 2014 Jul 3;511(7507):34-5. doi: 10.1038/nature13509. Epub 2014 Jun 18.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Cancer and Developmental Biology Laboratory, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, Frederick, Maryland 21702, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24990735" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: 〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Luo, Zhe-Xi -- England -- Nature. 2014 Aug 7;512(7512):36-7. doi: 10.1038/nature13651. Epub 2014 Jul 30.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of Organismal Biology and Anatomy, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25079312" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Recent discoveries have highlighted the dramatic evolutionary transformation of massive, ground-dwelling theropod dinosaurs into light, volant birds. Here, we apply Bayesian approaches (originally developed for inferring geographic spread and rates of molecular evolution in viruses) in a different context: to infer size changes and rates of anatomical innovation (across up to 1549 skeletal characters) in fossils. These approaches identify two drivers underlying the dinosaur-bird transition. The theropod lineage directly ancestral to birds undergoes sustained miniaturization across 50 million years and at least 12 consecutive branches (internodes) and evolves skeletal adaptations four times faster than other dinosaurs. The distinct, prolonged phase of miniaturization along the bird stem would have facilitated the evolution of many novelties associated with small body size, such as reorientation of body mass, increased aerial ability, and paedomorphic skulls with reduced snouts but enlarged eyes and brains.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Lee, Michael S Y -- Cau, Andrea -- Naish, Darren -- Dyke, Gareth J -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2014 Aug 1;345(6196):562-6. doi: 10.1126/science.1252243.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Earth Sciences Section, South Australian Museum, North Terrace, Adelaide 5000, Australia. School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Adelaide 5005, Australia. mike.lee@samuseum.sa.gov.au. ; Museo Geologico e Paleontologico "Giovanni Capellini," Via Zamboni 63, 40126 Bologna, Italy. Dipartimento di Scienze Biologiche, Geologiche e Ambientali, Alma Mater Studiorum Universita di Bologna, 40126 Bologna, Italy. ; Ocean and Earth Science, University of Southampton, Southampton SO14 3ZH, UK. ; Ocean and Earth Science, University of Southampton, Southampton SO14 3ZH, UK. MTA-DE Lendulet Behavioural Ecology Research Group, Department of Evolutionary Zoology and Human Biology, University of Debrecen, 4032 Debrecen, Egyetem ter 1, Hungary.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25082702" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Parenting behaviors, such as the provisioning of food by parents to offspring, are known to be highly responsive to changes in environment. However, we currently know little about how such flexibility affects the ways in which parenting is adapted and evolves in response to environmental variation. This is because few studies quantify how individuals vary in their response to changing environments, especially social environments created by other individuals with which parents interact. Social environmental factors differ from nonsocial factors, such as food availability, because parents and offspring both contribute and respond to the social environment they experience. This interdependence leads to the coevolution of flexible behaviors involved in parenting, which could, paradoxically, constrain the ability of individuals to rapidly adapt to changes in their nonsocial environment.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Royle, Nick J -- Russell, Andrew F -- Wilson, Alastair J -- BB/G022976/1/Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council/United Kingdom -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2014 Aug 15;345(6198):776-81. doi: 10.1126/science.1253294. Epub 2014 Aug 14.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Centre for Ecology and Conservation, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Cornwall Campus, Penryn TR10 9EZ, UK. n.j.royle@exeter.ac.uk. ; Centre for Ecology and Conservation, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Cornwall Campus, Penryn TR10 9EZ, UK.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25124432" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Primordial germ cell (PGC) specification occurs either by induction from pluripotent cells (epigenesis) or by a cell-autonomous mechanism mediated by germ plasm (preformation). Among vertebrates, epigenesis is basal, whereas germ plasm has evolved convergently across lineages and is associated with greater speciation. We compared protein-coding sequences of vertebrate species that employ preformation with their sister taxa that use epigenesis and demonstrate that genes evolve more rapidly in species containing germ plasm. Furthermore, differences in rates of evolution appear to cause phylogenetic incongruence in protein-coding sequence comparisons between vertebrate taxa. Our results support the hypothesis that germ plasm liberates constraints on somatic development and that enhanced evolvability drives the evolution of germ plasm.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Evans, Teri -- Wade, Christopher M -- Chapman, Frank A -- Johnson, Andrew D -- Loose, Matthew -- G1100025/Medical Research Council/United Kingdom -- Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council/United Kingdom -- Medical Research Council/United Kingdom -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2014 Apr 11;344(6180):200-3. doi: 10.1126/science.1249325.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉School of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2UH, UK.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24723612" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: 〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Patek, S N -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2014 Sep 19;345(6203):1448-9. doi: 10.1126/science.1256617.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Biology Department, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA. snp2@duke.edu.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25237086" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Integration of evidence over the past decade has revised understandings about the major adaptations underlying the origin and early evolution of the genus Homo. Many features associated with Homo sapiens, including our large linear bodies, elongated hind limbs, large energy-expensive brains, reduced sexual dimorphism, increased carnivory, and unique life history traits, were once thought to have evolved near the origin of the genus in response to heightened aridity and open habitats in Africa. However, recent analyses of fossil, archaeological, and environmental data indicate that such traits did not arise as a single package. Instead, some arose substantially earlier and some later than previously thought. From ~2.5 to 1.5 million years ago, three lineages of early Homo evolved in a context of habitat instability and fragmentation on seasonal, intergenerational, and evolutionary time scales. These contexts gave a selective advantage to traits, such as dietary flexibility and larger body size, that facilitated survival in shifting environments.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Anton, Susan C -- Potts, Richard -- Aiello, Leslie C -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2014 Jul 4;345(6192):1236828. doi: 10.1126/science.1236828.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Center for the Study of Human Origins, Department of Anthropology, New York University, Rufus D. Smith Hall, 25 Waverly Place, New York, NY 10003, USA. E-mail: susan.anton@nyu.edu. ; Human Origins Program, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Post Office Box 37012, Washington, DC 20013-7012, USA. E-mail: pottsr@si.edu. ; Wenner-Gren Foundation, 470 Park Avenue South, 8th Floor, New York, NY 10016, USA. E-mail: laiello@wennergren.org.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24994657" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: The oxygenation of Earth's surface fundamentally altered global biogeochemical cycles and ultimately paved the way for the rise of metazoans at the end of the Proterozoic. However, current estimates for atmospheric oxygen (O2) levels during the billion years leading up to this time vary widely. On the basis of chromium (Cr) isotope data from a suite of Proterozoic sediments from China, Australia, and North America, interpreted in the context of data from similar depositional environments from Phanerozoic time, we find evidence for inhibited oxidation of Cr at Earth's surface in the mid-Proterozoic (1.8 to 0.8 billion years ago). These data suggest that atmospheric O2 levels were at most 0.1% of present atmospheric levels. Direct evidence for such low O2 concentrations in the Proterozoic helps explain the late emergence and diversification of metazoans.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Planavsky, Noah J -- Reinhard, Christopher T -- Wang, Xiangli -- Thomson, Danielle -- McGoldrick, Peter -- Rainbird, Robert H -- Johnson, Thomas -- Fischer, Woodward W -- Lyons, Timothy W -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2014 Oct 31;346(6209):635-8. doi: 10.1126/science.1258410.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department Geology and Geophysics, Yale University, CT, USA. noah.planavsky@yale.edu chris.reinhard@eas.gatech.edu. ; School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, GA, USA. noah.planavsky@yale.edu chris.reinhard@eas.gatech.edu. ; Department Geology and Geophysics, Yale University, CT, USA. Department of Geology, University of Illinois, Champaign, IL, USA. ; Department of Earth Science, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Canada. ; Centre for Ore Deposit and Exploration Science, University of Tasmania, TAS, Australia. ; Geological Survey of Canada, Ottawa, ON, Canada. ; Department of Geology, University of Illinois, Champaign, IL, USA. ; Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA. ; Department of Earth Sciences, University of California, Riverside, CA, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25359975" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: 〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Pennisi, Elizabeth -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2014 Oct 31;346(6209):532-3. doi: 10.1126/science.346.6209.532.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25359943" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: 〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Pennisi, Elizabeth -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2014 Aug 8;345(6197):611-3. doi: 10.1126/science.345.6197.611.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25104366" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: 〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Pennisi, Elizabeth -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2014 Aug 8;345(6197):609-10. doi: 10.1126/science.345.6197.609.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25104364" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: 〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Benton, Michael J -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2014 Aug 1;345(6196):508-9. doi: 10.1126/science.1257633. Epub 2014 Jul 31.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1RJ, UK. mike.benton@bristol.ac.uk.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25082682" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Middle Jurassic to Early Cretaceous deposits from northeastern China have yielded varied theropod dinosaurs bearing feathers. Filamentous integumentary structures have also been described in ornithischian dinosaurs, but whether these filaments can be regarded as part of the evolutionary lineage toward feathers remains controversial. Here we describe a new basal neornithischian dinosaur from the Jurassic of Siberia with small scales around the distal hindlimb, larger imbricated scales around the tail, monofilaments around the head and the thorax, and more complex featherlike structures around the humerus, the femur, and the tibia. The discovery of these branched integumentary structures outside theropods suggests that featherlike structures coexisted with scales and were potentially widespread among the entire dinosaur clade; feathers may thus have been present in the earliest dinosaurs.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Godefroit, Pascal -- Sinitsa, Sofia M -- Dhouailly, Danielle -- Bolotsky, Yuri L -- Sizov, Alexander V -- McNamara, Maria E -- Benton, Michael J -- Spagna, Paul -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2014 Jul 25;345(6195):451-5. doi: 10.1126/science.1253351.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Directorate 'Earth and History of Life,' Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Rue Vautier 29, B-1000 Brussels, Belgium. pascal.godefroit@naturalsciences.be. ; Institute of Natural Resources, Ecology and Cryology, 26 Butin Street, 672 014 Chita, Russia. ; UJF-CNRS FRE 3405, AGIM, Universite Joseph Fourier, Site Sante, 38 706 La Tronche, France. ; Institute of Geology and Nature Management, FEB RAS, 1 Relochny Street 675 000, Blagoveschensk, Russia. ; Institute of the Earth Crust, SB RAS, 128 Lermontov Street, Irkutsk, 664 033 Irkutsk, Russia. ; School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Science, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland. School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1RJ, UK. ; School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1RJ, UK. ; Directorate 'Earth and History of Life,' Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Rue Vautier 29, B-1000 Brussels, Belgium.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25061209" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: 〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Koschowitz, Marie-Claire -- Lambertz, Markus -- Fischer, Christian -- Sander, P Martin -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2014 Dec 19;346(6216):1466-7. doi: 10.1126/science.346.6216.1466-c.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Division of Paleontology, Steinmann Institute for Geology, Mineralogy and Paleontology, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universitat Bonn, 53115 Bonn, Germany. Institute for Zoology and Anthropology, Department of Morphology, Systematics and Evolutionary Biology with Zoological Museum, Georg-August-Universitat Gottingen, 37073 Gottingen, Germany. m.koschowitz@uni-bonn.de. ; Institut fur Zoologie, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universitat Bonn, 53115 Bonn, Germany. ; Institute for Zoology and Anthropology, Department of Morphology, Systematics and Evolutionary Biology with Zoological Museum, Georg-August-Universitat Gottingen, 37073 Gottingen, Germany. ; Division of Paleontology, Steinmann Institute for Geology, Mineralogy and Paleontology, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universitat Bonn, 53115 Bonn, Germany. Dinosaur Institute, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, CA 90007, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25525237" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: 〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Woyke, Tanja -- Rubin, Edward M -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2014 Nov 7;346(6210):698-9. doi: 10.1126/science.1258871.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉DOE Joint Genome Institute, Walnut Creek, CA 94598, USA, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA. ; DOE Joint Genome Institute, Walnut Creek, CA 94598, USA, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA. emrubin@lbl.gov.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25378606" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Edentulism, the absence of teeth, has evolved convergently among vertebrates, including birds, turtles, and several lineages of mammals. Instead of teeth, modern birds (Neornithes) use a horny beak (rhamphotheca) and a muscular gizzard to acquire and process food. We performed comparative genomic analyses representing lineages of nearly all extant bird orders and recovered shared, inactivating mutations within genes expressed in both the enamel and dentin of teeth of other vertebrate species, indicating that the common ancestor of modern birds lacked mineralized teeth. We estimate that tooth loss, or at least the loss of enamel caps that provide the outer layer of mineralized teeth, occurred about 116 million years ago.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Meredith, Robert W -- Zhang, Guojie -- Gilbert, M Thomas P -- Jarvis, Erich D -- Springer, Mark S -- Howard Hughes Medical Institute/ -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2014 Dec 12;346(6215):1254390. doi: 10.1126/science.1254390. Epub 2014 Dec 11.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of Biology and Molecular Biology, Montclair State University, Montclair, NJ 07043, USA. meredithr@mail.montclair.edu mark.springer@ucr.edu. ; China National GeneBank, Beijing Genomics Institute-Shenzhen, Shenzhen, 518083, China. Centre for Social Evolution, Department of Biology, Universitetsparken 15, University of Copenhagen, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark. ; Center for GeoGenetics, Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen Oster Voldgade 5-7, 1350 Copenhagen, Denmark. Trace and Environmental DNA Laboratory, Department of Environment and Agriculture, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia 6102, Australia. ; Department of Neurobiology, Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710, USA. ; Department of Biology, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521, USA. meredithr@mail.montclair.edu mark.springer@ucr.edu.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25504730" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: 〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Balter, Michael -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2014 Jul 11;345(6193):129. doi: 10.1126/science.345.6193.129.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25013041" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Recent discoveries of spectacular dinosaur fossils overwhelmingly support the hypothesis that birds are descended from maniraptoran theropod dinosaurs, and furthermore, demonstrate that distinctive bird characteristics such as feathers, flight, endothermic physiology, unique strategies for reproduction and growth, and a novel pulmonary system originated among Mesozoic terrestrial dinosaurs. The transition from ground-living to flight-capable theropod dinosaurs now probably represents one of the best-documented major evolutionary transitions in life history. Recent studies in developmental biology and other disciplines provide additional insights into how bird characteristics originated and evolved. The iconic features of extant birds for the most part evolved in a gradual and stepwise fashion throughout archosaur evolution. However, new data also highlight occasional bursts of morphological novelty at certain stages particularly close to the origin of birds and an unavoidable complex, mosaic evolutionary distribution of major bird characteristics on the theropod tree. Research into bird origins provides a premier example of how paleontological and neontological data can interact to reveal the complexity of major innovations, to answer key evolutionary questions, and to lead to new research directions. A better understanding of bird origins requires multifaceted and integrative approaches, yet fossils necessarily provide the final test of any evolutionary model.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Xu, Xing -- Zhou, Zhonghe -- Dudley, Robert -- Mackem, Susan -- Chuong, Cheng-Ming -- Erickson, Gregory M -- Varricchio, David J -- AR 47364/AR/NIAMS NIH HHS/ -- AR 60306/AR/NIAMS NIH HHS/ -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2014 Dec 12;346(6215):1253293. doi: 10.1126/science.1253293.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100044, PR China. xu.xing@ivpp.ac.cn. ; Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100044, PR China. ; Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA. ; Cancer and Developmental Biology Laboratory, Center for Cancer Research, NCI-Frederick NIH, Frederick, MD 21702, USA. ; Department of Pathology, University of Southern California, CA 90033, USA. Cheng Kung University, Laboratory for Wound Repair and Regeneration, Graduated Institute of Clinical Medicine, Tainan, 70101, Taiwan. ; Department of Biological Science, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306-4295, USA. ; Earth Sciences, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT 59717, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25504729" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: 〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Balter, Michael -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2014 May 16;344(6185):680-1. doi: 10.1126/science.344.6185.680.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24833368" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Schwartz et al. hold that variation among the Dmanisi skulls reflects taxic diversity. The morphological observations to support their hypothesis, however, are partly incorrect, and not calibrated against intraspecific variation in living taxa. After proper adjustment, Schwartz et al.'s data are fully compatible with the hypothesis of a single paleodeme of early Homo at Dmanisi.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Zollikofer, Christoph P E -- Ponce de Leon, Marcia S -- Margvelashvili, Ann -- Rightmire, G Philip -- Lordkipanidze, David -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2014 Apr 25;344(6182):360. doi: 10.1126/science.1250081.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Anthropological Institute and Museum, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24763573" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: 〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Grayson, D K -- Meltzer, D J -- Buikstra, J E -- Flannery, K V -- Fowler, C S -- Marcus, J -- O'Connell, J F -- Piperno, D R -- Sabloff, J A -- Smith, B D -- Thomas, D H -- Willerslev, E -- Zeder, M A -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2014 Jul 25;345(6195):390. doi: 10.1126/science.345.6195.390-b. Epub 2014 Jul 24.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of Anthropology and Quaternary Research Center, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98185, USA. grayson@uw.edu. ; Department of Anthropology, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX 75275, USA. ; School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA. ; Museum of Anthropological Archaeology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA. ; Department of Anthropology, University of Nevada, Reno, NV 89557, USA. ; Department of Anthropology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA. ; Program in Human Ecology and Archaeobiology and Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (Panama), National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20560, USA. ; Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, NM 87501, USA. ; Program in Human Ecology and Archaeobiology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20560, USA. ; Division of Anthropology, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY 10024, USA. ; Centre for GeoGenetics, Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, DK-1350 Copenhagen K, Denmark.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25061197" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Rapidly permineralized fossils can provide exceptional insights into the evolution of life over geological time. Here, we present an exquisitely preserved, calcified stem of a royal fern (Osmundaceae) from Early Jurassic lahar deposits of Sweden in which authigenic mineral precipitation from hydrothermal brines occurred so rapidly that it preserved cytoplasm, cytosol granules, nuclei, and even chromosomes in various stages of cell division. Morphometric parameters of interphase nuclei match those of extant Osmundaceae, indicating that the genome size of these reputed "living fossils" has remained unchanged over at least 180 million years-a paramount example of evolutionary stasis.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Bomfleur, Benjamin -- McLoughlin, Stephen -- Vajda, Vivi -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2014 Mar 21;343(6177):1376-7. doi: 10.1126/science.1249884.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of Palaeobiology, Swedish Museum of Natural History, Post Office Box 50007, SE-104 05 Stockholm, Sweden.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24653037" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: The evolution of the ratite birds has been widely attributed to vicariant speciation, driven by the Cretaceous breakup of the supercontinent Gondwana. The early isolation of Africa and Madagascar implies that the ostrich and extinct Madagascan elephant birds (Aepyornithidae) should be the oldest ratite lineages. We sequenced the mitochondrial genomes of two elephant birds and performed phylogenetic analyses, which revealed that these birds are the closest relatives of the New Zealand kiwi and are distant from the basal ratite lineage of ostriches. This unexpected result strongly contradicts continental vicariance and instead supports flighted dispersal in all major ratite lineages. We suggest that convergence toward gigantism and flightlessness was facilitated by early Tertiary expansion into the diurnal herbivory niche after the extinction of the dinosaurs.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Mitchell, Kieren J -- Llamas, Bastien -- Soubrier, Julien -- Rawlence, Nicolas J -- Worthy, Trevor H -- Wood, Jamie -- Lee, Michael S Y -- Cooper, Alan -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2014 May 23;344(6186):898-900. doi: 10.1126/science.1251981.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Australian Centre for Ancient DNA, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Adelaide, North Terrace Campus, South Australia 5005, Australia. ; School of Biological Sciences, Flinders University, South Australia 5001, Australia. ; Landcare Research, Post Office Box 40, Lincoln 7640, New Zealand. ; Australian Centre for Ancient DNA, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Adelaide, North Terrace Campus, South Australia 5005, Australia. South Australian Museum, North Terrace, South Australia 5000, Australia. ; Australian Centre for Ancient DNA, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Adelaide, North Terrace Campus, South Australia 5005, Australia. alan.cooper@adelaide.edu.au.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24855267" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: The origin of chordates has been debated for more than a century, with one key issue being the emergence of the notochord. In vertebrates, the notochord develops by convergence and extension of the chordamesoderm, a population of midline cells of unique molecular identity. We identify a population of mesodermal cells in a developing invertebrate, the marine annelid Platynereis dumerilii, that converges and extends toward the midline and expresses a notochord-specific combination of genes. These cells differentiate into a longitudinal muscle, the axochord, that is positioned between central nervous system and axial blood vessel and secretes a strong collagenous extracellular matrix. Ancestral state reconstruction suggests that contractile mesodermal midline cells existed in bilaterian ancestors. We propose that these cells, via vacuolization and stiffening, gave rise to the chordate notochord.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Lauri, Antonella -- Brunet, Thibaut -- Handberg-Thorsager, Mette -- Fischer, Antje H L -- Simakov, Oleg -- Steinmetz, Patrick R H -- Tomer, Raju -- Keller, Philipp J -- Arendt, Detlev -- Howard Hughes Medical Institute/ -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2014 Sep 12;345(6202):1365-8. doi: 10.1126/science.1253396.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Developmental Biology Unit, European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), D-69117 Heidelberg. ; Developmental Biology Unit, European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), D-69117 Heidelberg. Janelia Farm Research Campus, 19700 Helix Drive, Ashburn, VA 20147, USA. ; Janelia Farm Research Campus, 19700 Helix Drive, Ashburn, VA 20147, USA. ; Developmental Biology Unit, European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), D-69117 Heidelberg. Centre for Organismal Studies, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany. detlev.arendt@embl.de.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25214631" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: 〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Duffy, Meghan A -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2014 Jun 13;344(6189):1229-30. doi: 10.1126/science.1255350.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48104, USA. duffymeg@umich.edu.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24926004" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: 〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Morell, Virginia -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2014 Sep 19;345(6203):1443-5. doi: 10.1126/science.345.6203.1443.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25237084" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Two categories of evolutionary challenges result from escalating human impacts on the planet. The first arises from cancers, pathogens, and pests that evolve too quickly and the second, from the inability of many valued species to adapt quickly enough. Applied evolutionary biology provides a suite of strategies to address these global challenges that threaten human health, food security, and biodiversity. This Review highlights both progress and gaps in genetic, developmental, and environmental manipulations across the life sciences that either target the rate and direction of evolution or reduce the mismatch between organisms and human-altered environments. Increased development and application of these underused tools will be vital in meeting current and future targets for sustainable development.〈br /〉〈br /〉〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4245030/" target="_blank"〉〈img src="https://static.pubmed.gov/portal/portal3rc.fcgi/4089621/img/3977009" border="0"〉〈/a〉   〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4245030/" target="_blank"〉This paper as free author manuscript - peer-reviewed and accepted for publication〈/a〉〈br /〉〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Carroll, Scott P -- Jorgensen, Peter Sogaard -- Kinnison, Michael T -- Bergstrom, Carl T -- Denison, R Ford -- Gluckman, Peter -- Smith, Thomas B -- Strauss, Sharon Y -- Tabashnik, Bruce E -- U54 GM088558/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- U54GM088558/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2014 Oct 17;346(6207):1245993. doi: 10.1126/science.1245993. Epub 2014 Sep 11.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of Entomology, University of California, Davis, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616, USA. Institute for Contemporary Evolution, Davis, CA 95616, USA. spcarroll@ucdavis.edu psjorgensen@bio.ku.dk. ; Center for Macroecology, Evolution and Climate, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark. Center for Macroecology, Evolution and Climate, Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark. spcarroll@ucdavis.edu psjorgensen@bio.ku.dk. ; School of Biology and Ecology, University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469, USA. ; Department of Biology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA. ; Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55108, USA. ; Centre for Human Evolution, Adaptation and Disease, Liggins Institute, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand. ; Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA. Center for Tropical Research, Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, University of California, Los Angeles, 619 Charles E. Young Drive East, Los Angeles, 90095-1496, CA. ; Department of Evolution and Ecology and Center for Population Biology, University of California, Davis, One Shields Avenue, CA 95616, USA. ; Department of Entomology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25213376" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: The human sense of fairness is an evolutionary puzzle. To study this, we can look to other species, in which this can be translated empirically into responses to reward distribution. Passive and active protest against receiving less than a partner for the same task is widespread in species that cooperate outside kinship and mating bonds. There is less evidence that nonhuman species seek to equalize outcomes to their own detriment, yet the latter has been documented in our closest relatives, the apes. This reaction probably reflects an attempt to forestall partner dissatisfaction with obtained outcomes and its negative impact on future cooperation. We hypothesize that it is the evolution of this response that allowed the development of a complete sense of fairness in humans, which aims not at equality for its own sake but for the sake of continued cooperation.〈br /〉〈br /〉〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4451566/" target="_blank"〉〈img src="https://static.pubmed.gov/portal/portal3rc.fcgi/4089621/img/3977009" border="0"〉〈/a〉   〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4451566/" target="_blank"〉This paper as free author manuscript - peer-reviewed and accepted for publication〈/a〉〈br /〉〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Brosnan, Sarah F -- de Waal, Frans B M -- P51 OD011132/OD/NIH HHS/ -- P51 RR000165/RR/NCRR NIH HHS/ -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2014 Oct 17;346(6207):1251776. doi: 10.1126/science.1251776. Epub 2014 Sep 18.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Departments of Psychology and Philosophy, Neuroscience Institute and Language Research Center, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, USA. sarah.brosnan@gmail.com. ; Living Links, Yerkes National Primate Research Center and Psychology Department, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25324394" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Lordkipanidze et al. (Research Article, 18 October 2013, p. 326) conclude, from gross morphological comparisons and geometric-morphometric analysis of general shape, that the five hominid crania from Dmanisi in Georgia represent a single regional variant of Homo erectus. However, dental, mandibular, and cranial morphologies all suggest taxic diversity and, in particular, validate the previously named H. georgicus.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Schwartz, Jeffrey H -- Tattersall, Ian -- Chi, Zhang -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2014 Apr 25;344(6182):360. doi: 10.1126/science.1250056.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of Anthropology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24763572" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: 〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Chapuisat, Michel -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2014 Jan 17;343(6168):254-5. doi: 10.1126/science.1249285.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24436408" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Because of differences in craniofacial morphology and dentition between the earliest American skeletons and modern Native Americans, separate origins have been postulated for them, despite genetic evidence to the contrary. We describe a near-complete human skeleton with an intact cranium and preserved DNA found with extinct fauna in a submerged cave on Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula. This skeleton dates to between 13,000 and 12,000 calendar years ago and has Paleoamerican craniofacial characteristics and a Beringian-derived mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) haplogroup (D1). Thus, the differences between Paleoamericans and Native Americans probably resulted from in situ evolution rather than separate ancestry.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Chatters, James C -- Kennett, Douglas J -- Asmerom, Yemane -- Kemp, Brian M -- Polyak, Victor -- Blank, Alberto Nava -- Beddows, Patricia A -- Reinhardt, Eduard -- Arroyo-Cabrales, Joaquin -- Bolnick, Deborah A -- Malhi, Ripan S -- Culleton, Brendan J -- Erreguerena, Pilar Luna -- Rissolo, Dominique -- Morell-Hart, Shanti -- Stafford, Thomas W Jr -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2014 May 16;344(6185):750-4. doi: 10.1126/science.1252619.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Applied Paleoscience and DirectAMS, 10322 NE 190th Street, Bothell, WA 98011, USA. paleosci@gmail.com. ; Department of Anthropology and Institutes of Energy and the Environment, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA. ; Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131-0001, USA. ; Department of Anthropology and School of Biological Sciences, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164, USA. ; Bay Area Underwater Explorers, Berkeley, CA, USA. ; Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA. ; School of Geography and Earth Sciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario L8S 4K1, Canada. ; Instituto Nacional Antropologia e Historia, Colonia Centro Historico, 06060, Mexico City, DF, Mexico. ; Department of Anthropology and Population Research Center, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA. ; Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, IL 61801, USA. ; Subdireccion de Arqueologia Subacuatica, Instituto Nacional de Antropologia e Historia, 06070 Mexico City, Mexico. ; Waitt Institute, La Jolla, CA 92038-1948, USA. ; Department of Anthropology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA. ; Centre for AMS C, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark, and Centre for GeoGenetics, Natural History Museum of Denmark, Geological Museum, Copenhagen, Denmark.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24833392" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: 〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Chatters, James C -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2014 Jul 25;345(6195):390. doi: 10.1126/science.345.6195.390-c. Epub 2014 Jul 24.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Applied Paleoscience, Bothell, WA 98011, USA. paleosci@gmail.com.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25061198" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: 〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Fritzsch, Bernd -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2014 Aug 8;345(6197):631-2. doi: 10.1126/science.345.6197.631-b. Epub 2014 Aug 7.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of Biology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA. bernd-fritzsch@uiowa.edu.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25104375" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: The Lower to Middle Paleolithic transition (~400,000 to 200,000 years ago) is marked by technical, behavioral, and anatomical changes among hominin populations throughout Africa and Eurasia. The replacement of bifacial stone tools, such as handaxes, by tools made on flakes detached from Levallois cores documents the most important conceptual shift in stone tool production strategies since the advent of bifacial technology more than one million years earlier and has been argued to result from the expansion of archaic Homo sapiens out of Africa. Our data from Nor Geghi 1, Armenia, record the earliest synchronic use of bifacial and Levallois technology outside Africa and are consistent with the hypothesis that this transition occurred independently within geographically dispersed, technologically precocious hominin populations with a shared technological ancestry.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Adler, D S -- Wilkinson, K N -- Blockley, S -- Mark, D F -- Pinhasi, R -- Schmidt-Magee, B A -- Nahapetyan, S -- Mallol, C -- Berna, F -- Glauberman, P J -- Raczynski-Henk, Y -- Wales, N -- Frahm, E -- Joris, O -- MacLeod, A -- Smith, V C -- Cullen, V L -- Gasparian, B -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2014 Sep 26;345(6204):1609-13. doi: 10.1126/science.1256484.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of Anthropology, University of Connecticut, 354 Mansfield Road, Unit 1176, Storrs, CT 06269, USA. daniel.adler@uconn.edu. ; Department of Archaeology, University of Winchester, Winchester, SO22 4NR, UK. ; Department of Geography, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, Surrey, TW20 0EX, UK. ; Natural Environmental Research Council Argon Isotope Facility, Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre, Scottish Enterprise and Technology Park, Rankine Avenue, East Kilbride, G75 0QF, UK. ; School of Archaeology, University College Dublin, Newman Building, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland. ; Department of Anthropology, University of Connecticut, 354 Mansfield Road, Unit 1176, Storrs, CT 06269, USA. ; Department of Cartography and Geomorphology, Yerevan State University, Alek Manukyan 1, 0025 Yerevan, Armenia. ; Departamento de Geografia e Historia, Universidad de La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain. ; Department of Archaeology, Simon Fraser University, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby, British Columbia, V5A 1S6, Canada. ; Ex-Situ Silex, Leiden, Netherlands. ; Department of Anthropology, University of Connecticut, 354 Mansfield Road, Unit 1176, Storrs, CT 06269, USA. Centre for GeoGenetics, University of Copenhagen, Oster Voldgade 5-7, 1350 Copenhagen K, Denmark. ; Department of Archaeology, University of Sheffield, Northgate House, West Street, Sheffield, S1 4ET, UK. ; MONREPOS Archaeological Research Centre and Museum for Human Behavioural Evolution, Romisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum Mainz, Schloss Monrepos, D-56567 Neuwied, Germany. ; Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, University of Oxford, Dyson Perrins Building, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3QY, UK. ; Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology, National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia, Charents 15, 0025 Yerevan, Armenia.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25258079" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: 〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Orlando, Ludovic -- Willerslev, Eske -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2014 Aug 1;345(6196):511-2. doi: 10.1126/science.1256515.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Centre for GeoGenetics, Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, Oster Voldgade 5-7, 1350K Copenhagen, Denmark. lorlando@snm.ku.dk. ; Centre for GeoGenetics, Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, Oster Voldgade 5-7, 1350K Copenhagen, Denmark.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25082684" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Male mammals often kill conspecific offspring. The benefits of such infanticide to males, and its costs to females, probably vary across mammalian social and mating systems. We used comparative analyses to show that infanticide primarily evolves in social mammals in which reproduction is monopolized by a minority of males. It has not promoted social counterstrategies such as female gregariousness, pair living, or changes in group size and sex ratio, but is successfully prevented by female sexual promiscuity, a paternity dilution strategy. These findings indicate that infanticide is a consequence, rather than a cause, of contrasts in mammalian social systems affecting the intensity of sexual conflict.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Lukas, Dieter -- Huchard, Elise -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2014 Nov 14;346(6211):841-4. doi: 10.1126/science.1257226.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Large Animal Research Group, Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EJ, UK. dl384@cam.ac.uk. ; Large Animal Research Group, Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EJ, UK. Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive, UMR 5175, CNRS - Universite de Montpellier, 1919 Route de Mende, 34293 Montpellier Cedex 5, France.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25395534" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Little is known about the genetic basis of convergent traits that originate repeatedly over broad taxonomic scales. The myogenic electric organ has evolved six times in fishes to produce electric fields used in communication, navigation, predation, or defense. We have examined the genomic basis of the convergent anatomical and physiological origins of these organs by assembling the genome of the electric eel (Electrophorus electricus) and sequencing electric organ and skeletal muscle transcriptomes from three lineages that have independently evolved electric organs. Our results indicate that, despite millions of years of evolution and large differences in the morphology of electric organ cells, independent lineages have leveraged similar transcription factors and developmental and cellular pathways in the evolution of electric organs.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Gallant, Jason R -- Traeger, Lindsay L -- Volkening, Jeremy D -- Moffett, Howell -- Chen, Po-Hao -- Novina, Carl D -- Phillips, George N Jr -- Anand, Rene -- Wells, Gregg B -- Pinch, Matthew -- Guth, Robert -- Unguez, Graciela A -- Albert, James S -- Zakon, Harold H -- Samanta, Manoj P -- Sussman, Michael R -- 1SC1GM092297-01A1/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- R01 GM084879/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- R01 GM088670/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2014 Jun 27;344(6191):1522-5. doi: 10.1126/science.1254432.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of Zoology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA. BEACON Center for the Study of Evolution in Action, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA. ; Department of Genetics, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706, USA. Biotechnology Center, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706, USA. ; Biotechnology Center, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706, USA. Department of Biochemistry, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706, USA. ; Department of Cancer Immunology and AIDS, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA 02115, USA. Department of Microbiology and Immunobiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA. ; Department of Cancer Immunology and AIDS, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA 02115, USA. Department of Microbiology and Immunobiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA. Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, Cambridge, MA 02141, USA. ; Department of Biochemistry and Cell Biology and Department of Chemistry, Rice University, Houston, TX 77005, USA. ; Department of Pharmacology and Department of Neuroscience, College of Medicine, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, OH 43210, USA. ; Department of Molecular and Cellular Medicine, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77483, USA. ; Department of Biology, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM 88003, USA. ; Department of Biology, University of Louisiana, Lafayette, LA 70503, USA. ; BEACON Center for the Study of Evolution in Action, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA. University of Texas, Austin, TX 78712, USA. The Josephine Bay Paul Center for Comparative Molecular Biology and Evolution, The Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, MA 02543, USA. msussman@wisc.edu manoj.samanta@systemix.org h.zakon@austin.utexas.edu. ; Systemix Institute, Redmond, WA 98053, USA. msussman@wisc.edu manoj.samanta@systemix.org h.zakon@austin.utexas.edu. ; Biotechnology Center, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706, USA. Department of Biochemistry, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706, USA. msussman@wisc.edu manoj.samanta@systemix.org h.zakon@austin.utexas.edu.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24970089" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: 〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Cho, Adrian -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2014 Oct 10;346(6206):192-4. doi: 10.1126/science.346.6206.192.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25301619" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Ecological theory predicts that disease incidence increases with increasing density of host networks, yet evolutionary theory suggests that host resistance increases accordingly. To test the combined effects of ecological and evolutionary forces on host-pathogen systems, we analyzed the spatiotemporal dynamics of a plant (Plantago lanceolata)-fungal pathogen (Podosphaera plantaginis)relationship for 12 years in over 4000 host populations. Disease prevalence at the metapopulation level was low, with high annual pathogen extinction rates balanced by frequent (re-)colonizations. Highly connected host populations experienced less pathogen colonization and higher pathogen extinction rates than expected; a laboratory assay confirmed that this phenomenon was caused by higher levels of disease resistance in highly connected host populations.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Jousimo, Jussi -- Tack, Ayco J M -- Ovaskainen, Otso -- Mononen, Tommi -- Susi, Hanna -- Tollenaere, Charlotte -- Laine, Anna-Liisa -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2014 Jun 13;344(6189):1289-93. doi: 10.1126/science.1253621.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Metapopulation Research Group, Department of Biosciences, University of Helsinki, Post Office Box 65 (Viikinkaari 1), FI-00014 University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland. ; Metapopulation Research Group, Department of Biosciences, University of Helsinki, Post Office Box 65 (Viikinkaari 1), FI-00014 University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland. Department of Biomedical Engineering and Computational Science, Aalto University School of Science, FI-00076 Aalto, Finland. ; Metapopulation Research Group, Department of Biosciences, University of Helsinki, Post Office Box 65 (Viikinkaari 1), FI-00014 University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland. anna-liisa.laine@helsinki.fi.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24926021" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Odontocetes (toothed whales, dolphins and porpoises) hunt and navigate through dark and turbid aquatic environments using echolocation; a key adaptation that relies on the same principles as sonar. Among echolocating vertebrates, odontocetes are unique in producing high-frequency vocalizations at the phonic lips, a constriction in the nasal passages just beneath the blowhole, and then using air sinuses and the melon to modulate their transmission. All extant odontocetes seem to echolocate; however, exactly when and how this complex behaviour--and its underlying anatomy--evolved is largely unknown. Here we report an odontocete fossil, Oligocene in age (approximately 28 Myr ago), from South Carolina (Cotylocara macei, gen. et sp. nov.) that has several features suggestive of echolocation: a dense, thick and downturned rostrum; air sac fossae; cranial asymmetry; and exceptionally broad maxillae. Our phylogenetic analysis places Cotylocara in a basal clade of odontocetes, leading us to infer that a rudimentary form of echolocation evolved in the early Oligocene, shortly after odontocetes diverged from the ancestors of filter-feeding whales (mysticetes). This was followed by enlargement of the facial muscles that modulate echolocation calls, which in turn led to marked, convergent changes in skull shape in the ancestors of Cotylocara, and in the lineage leading to extant odontocetes.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Geisler, Jonathan H -- Colbert, Matthew W -- Carew, James L -- England -- Nature. 2014 Apr 17;508(7496):383-6. doi: 10.1038/nature13086. Epub 2014 Mar 12.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of Anatomy, New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine, Northern Boulevard, Old Westbury, New York 11568, USA. ; Jackson School of Geosciences, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, USA. ; Department of Geology and Environmental Geosciences, Natural History Museum, College of Charleston, Charleston, South Carolina 29424, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24670659" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: A defining feature of vertebrates (craniates) is a pronounced head that is supported and protected by a robust cellular endoskeleton. In the first vertebrates, this skeleton probably consisted of collagenous cellular cartilage, which forms the embryonic skeleton of all vertebrates and the adult skeleton of modern jawless and cartilaginous fish. In the head, most cellular cartilage is derived from a migratory cell population called the neural crest, which arises from the edges of the central nervous system. Because collagenous cellular cartilage and neural crest cells have not been described in invertebrates, the appearance of cellular cartilage derived from neural crest cells is considered a turning point in vertebrate evolution. Here we show that a tissue with many of the defining features of vertebrate cellular cartilage transiently forms in the larvae of the invertebrate chordate Branchiostoma floridae (Florida amphioxus). We also present evidence that during evolution, a key regulator of vertebrate cartilage development, SoxE, gained new cis-regulatory sequences that subsequently directed its novel expression in neural crest cells. Together, these results suggest that the origin of the vertebrate head skeleton did not depend on the evolution of a new skeletal tissue, as is commonly thought, but on the spread of this tissue throughout the head. We further propose that the evolution of cis-regulatory elements near an ancient regulator of cartilage differentiation was a major factor in the evolution of the vertebrate head skeleton.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Jandzik, David -- Garnett, Aaron T -- Square, Tyler A -- Cattell, Maria V -- Yu, Jr-Kai -- Medeiros, Daniel M -- England -- Nature. 2015 Feb 26;518(7540):534-7. doi: 10.1038/nature14000. Epub 2014 Dec 8.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉1] Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309, USA [2] Department of Zoology, Comenius University, Bratislava 84215, Slovakia. ; Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309, USA. ; Institute of Cellular and Organismic Biology, Academia Sinica, Taipei 11529, Taiwan.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25487155" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Reproduction in jawed vertebrates (gnathostomes) involves either external or internal fertilization. It is commonly argued that internal fertilization can evolve from external, but not the reverse. Male copulatory claspers are present in certain placoderms, fossil jawed vertebrates retrieved as a paraphyletic segment of the gnathostome stem group in recent studies. This suggests that internal fertilization could be primitive for gnathostomes, but such a conclusion depends on demonstrating that copulation was not just a specialized feature of certain placoderm subgroups. The reproductive biology of antiarchs, consistently identified as the least crownward placoderms and thus of great interest in this context, has until now remained unknown. Here we show that certain antiarchs possessed dermal claspers in the males, while females bore paired dermal plates inferred to have facilitated copulation. These structures are not associated with pelvic fins. The clasper morphology resembles that of ptyctodonts, a more crownward placoderm group, suggesting that all placoderm claspers are homologous and that internal fertilization characterized all placoderms. This implies that external fertilization and spawning, which characterize most extant aquatic gnathostomes, must be derived from internal fertilization, even though this transformation has been thought implausible. Alternatively, the substantial morphological evidence for placoderm paraphyly must be rejected.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Long, John A -- Mark-Kurik, Elga -- Johanson, Zerina -- Lee, Michael S Y -- Young, Gavin C -- Min, Zhu -- Ahlberg, Per E -- Newman, Michael -- Jones, Roger -- den Blaauwen, Jan -- Choo, Brian -- Trinajstic, Kate -- England -- Nature. 2015 Jan 8;517(7533):196-9. doi: 10.1038/nature13825. Epub 2014 Oct 19.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉1] School of Biological Sciences, Flinders University, 2100, Adelaide, South Australia 5001, Australia [2] Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, 900 Exposition Boulevard, Los Angeles, California 9007, USA [3] Museum Victoria, PO Box 666, Melbourne, Victoria 3001, Australia. ; Institute of Geology at Tallinn University of Technology, Ehitajate tee 5, 19086 Tallinn, Estonia. ; Department of Earth Sciences, Natural History Museum, London SW7 5BD, UK. ; 1] South Australian Museum, North Terrace, Adelaide, South Australia 5000, Australia [2] School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, The University of Adelaide, South Australia 5005, Australia. ; Research School of Earth Sciences, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory 0200, Australia. ; Key Laboratory of Evolutionary Systematics of Vertebrates, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, PO Box 643, Beijing 100044, China. ; Department of Organismal Biology, Evolutionary Biology Centre, Uppsala University, Norbyvagen 18A, 752 36 Uppsala, Sweden. ; Vine Lodge, Vine Road, Johnston, Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire SA62 3NZ, UK. ; 6 Burghley Road, Wimbledon, London SW19 5BH, UK. ; University of Amsterdam, Science Park 904, 1098XH, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. ; School of Biological Sciences, Flinders University, 2100, Adelaide, South Australia 5001, Australia. ; 1] Western Australian Organic and Isotope Geochemistry Centre, Department of Chemistry, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia 6102, Australia [2] Earth and Planetary Sciences, Western Australian Museum, Perth, Western Australia 6000, Australia.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25327249" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: For many decades comparative analyses of protein sequences and structures have been used to investigate fundamental principles of molecular evolution. In contrast, relatively little is known about the long-term evolution of species' phenotypic and genetic properties. This represents an important gap in our understanding of evolution, as exactly these proprieties play key roles in natural selection and adaptation to diverse environments. Here we perform a comparative analysis of bacterial growth and gene deletion phenotypes using hundreds of genome-scale metabolic models. Overall, bacterial phenotypic evolution can be described by a two-stage process with a rapid initial phenotypic diversification followed by a slow long-term exponential divergence. The observed average divergence trend, with approximately similar fractions of phenotypic properties changing per unit time, continues for billions of years. We experimentally confirm the predicted divergence trend using the phenotypic profiles of 40 diverse bacterial species across more than 60 growth conditions. Our analysis suggests that, at long evolutionary distances, gene essentiality is significantly more conserved than the ability to utilize different nutrients, while synthetic lethality is significantly less conserved. We also find that although a rapid phenotypic evolution is sometimes observed within the same species, a transition from high to low phenotypic similarity occurs primarily at the genus level.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Plata, German -- Henry, Christopher S -- Vitkup, Dennis -- GM079759/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- U54CA121852/CA/NCI NIH HHS/ -- England -- Nature. 2015 Jan 15;517(7534):369-72. doi: 10.1038/nature13827. Epub 2014 Oct 26.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉1] Department of Systems Biology, Center for Computational Biology and Bioinformatics, Columbia University, New York, New York 10032, USA [2] Integrated Program in Cellular, Molecular, Structural and Genetic Studies, Columbia University, New York, New York 10032, USA. ; Mathemathics and Computer Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439, USA. ; 1] Department of Systems Biology, Center for Computational Biology and Bioinformatics, Columbia University, New York, New York 10032, USA [2] Department of Biomedical Informatics, Columbia University, New York, New York 10032, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25363780" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉