Journal of Evolutionary Biology

CALL FOR PAPERS 📣

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

Find out more here: tinyurl.com/2uza525c

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

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

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

@tommytraverscook.bsky.social et al.

doi.org/10.1093/jeb/...

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

PERSPECTIVE: The evolutionary potential of symbiosis

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

@treyjscott.bsky.social

doi.org/10.1093/jeb/...

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

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

Jeremy Draghi

doi.org/10.1093/jeb/...

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

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

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

doi.org/10.1093/jeb/...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Responsible publication of your research!

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

doi.org/10.1093/jeb/...

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

Mitteroecker (2025)

doi.org/10.1093/jeb/...

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

Singh et al. (2025)

doi.org/10.1093/jeb/...

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

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

Carrión et al. (2025)

doi.org/10.1093/jeb/...

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

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

doi.org/10.1093/jeb/...

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

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

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

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

doi.org/10.1093/jeb/...

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

RESEARCH ARTICLE:

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

doi.org/10.1093/jeb/...

@dk-dowling.bsky.social

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

RESEARCH ARTICLE:

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

doi.org/10.1093/jeb/...

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

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

RESEARCH ARTICLE:

Convergent pathways of reductive mitochondrial evolution characterized with hypercubic inference:

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

doi.org/10.1093/jeb/...

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

Hill & Hood (2025)

doi.org/10.1093/jeb/...

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

PERSPECTIVE:

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

Daniel Sloan (2025)

doi.org/10.1093/jeb/...

Check out our latest Special Section guest edited by @mitopozzi.bsky.social and Sophie Breton:

Beyond ATP: New insight into mitochondrial function and evolution

🎨 Cover image - artwork by Iain G Johnston

academic.oup.com/jeb/pages/be...

Leaving academia: insights from evolutionary biologists on their career transitions and job satisfaction Abstract. Many who have obtained PhDs in evolutionary biology will ultimately pursue careers that fall outside a narrow definition of an academic career. A

The #editorschoice for this month is Forum Article:

Leaving academia: insights from evolutionary biologists on their career transitions and job satisfaction

Betancourt et al.
@claireasher.bsky.social
@liverpooluni.bsky.social

doi.org/10.1093/jeb/...

Wishing all of our followers a Happy New Year 2026! We kick off with the January Issue of JEB online now:

academic.oup.com/jeb/issue/39/1

📸 A sea otter (Enhydra lutris) in the water at the Toba Aquarium, Japan. Photo Credit Tomohiro Harano

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

📢Out now in @jevbio.bsky.social, we tried to work out whether heat limits of survival or fertility are reflected in heat shock protein expression across Drosophila 🪰 species. The answer is, well, a bit. With the wonderful @chsmithson.bsky.social @ejduncan.bsky.social doi.org/10.1093/jeb/...

Just a week left to apply for a position in our Editorial Board!

@kztwyman.bsky.social & @andygardner.bsky.social mathematically connect the dynamics of natural selection to optimisation to provide formal justification for viewing obligately eusocial colonies as adaptive individuals in their own right—that is, superorganism:

doi.org/10.1093/jeb/...

CALL OPEN NOW - Would you like to join the JEB Editorial Board?

📣 Deadline for applications - Monday 19th January 📣

We'd love to receive applications from across the field of evolutionary biology!

Plant phenology is often involved in local adaptation. Genetic variation in phenology of Eurasian #Arabidopsis predicted continental patterns of natural #phenology. But locally, within regions, phenology of Arabidopsis individuals has low #heritability:

doi.org/10.1093/jeb/...
DeLeo et al.

Hidden genetic diversity among Blochmanniella endosymbionts of closely related carpenter ant populations Abstract. Carpenter ants (Family Formicidae; Genus Camponotus) are a globally distributed, arboreal clade. They harbor an intracellular obligate bacterial

Carpenter #ants possess symbiotic #bacteria that are evolving in high-altitude forests! Our sequenced endosymbionts from CA’s Sierra Nevada Mts reveal their gene losses & adaptations to montane life. #Evolution #Genomics.

doi.org/10.1093/jeb/...
Maynard et al @uofcalifornia.bsky.social

Impact of genotype-dependent dispersal on mutation fixation in subdivided populations Abstract. In the wild, every population exhibits a certain degree of spatial structure. Some populations are subdivided into demes, between which individua

Impact of genotype-dependent dispersal on mutation fixation in subdivided populations:

doi.org/10.1093/jeb/...
Marrec, 2025 @unibe.ch @unil.bsky.social

Adaptive nutrient responses vary with growing environment but not altitudinal origin in an invasive plant Abstract. Invasive plants often thrive in nutrient-rich environments because of their superior ability to capture and efficiently exploit nutrients. This f

A common garden study reveals how the waterway weed seep #monkeyflower (Erythranthe guttata) in New Zealand uses adaptive plasticity to increase seed output in high nutrient conditions:

doi.org/10.1093/jeb/...
Millar & Chapman