American Naturalist / ASN 🐌

Why we aren’t lizards: the evolution of endothermy through optimizing life history
Summary & Analysis by Kaleigh Remick of “The Evolution of Homeothermic Endothermy via Life History Optimization” by Rubalcaba
www.amnat.org/an/newpapers...

Of course it helps. I confess that I don’t understand the logic that society journals with nonprofit publishers should have less right to recoup our costs than corporate publishers have to do so *and* take a cut in profit (which often takes the form of burdensome APCs)...

We do need to cover our expenses.

On the Use of the Sucking-Fish for Catching Fish and Turtles: Studies in Echeneis or Remora, III | The American Naturalist: Vol 53, No 629

We do, but the threshold isn't 60 years. I'm not sure of the exact cutoff, but for example this MS from 1919 is free: www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...

Are absentee parents a result of evolution?
Summary & Analysis by Julia M. Dovi of "A Life History Perspective on the Evolutionary Interplay of Sex Ratios and Parental Sex Roles" by Long et al.
www.amnat.org/an/newpapers...

How moving – or not – as conditions change keeps species alive
Summary & Analysis by Jeremy Summers of "Partitioning the impacts of spatial-temporal variation in demography and dispersal on metapopulation growth rates" by Schreiber
www.amnat.org/an/newpapers...

1 week left to get your image in for Evolution 2026 logo contest! www.evolutionmeetings.org/2026-logo-co...

New synthesis available ahead of print!
"A Quantitative Survey of Cogradient and Countergradient Variation in Nature" by Albecker et al.

www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...

Why do plants produce male and bisexual flowers simultaneously and shift its gender between male and hermaphroditic phases among seasons? Chen and Pannell study sex allocation and reproductive success in Pulsatilla alpina.
Now open-access ahead of print!
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...

The Baldwin Effect Reloaded: Intermediate Levels of Phenotypic Plasticity Favor Evolutionary Rescue | The American Naturalist Abstract Since the late 1890s up until today, how phenotypic plasticity interacts with genetic adaptation has been a debated issue. Proponents of a positive causal role of phenotypic plasticity—James ...

Does phenotypic plasticity promote (Baldwin effect) or hinder (Mayr) genetic adaptation? Lambert et al. mathematically show that when adaptive plasticity increases, the Baldwin effect increases, peaks then decreases as plasticity begins to mask selection.
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...

Till Selection Do Us Part? Testing Sexual Selection’s Role in Speciation
Summary & Analysis by Pooja Radhakrishnan of "Evolutionary lability of sexual selection and its implications for speciation and macroevolution" by Januario et al.
www.amnat.org/an/newpapers...

Register now for #SORTEE2025 conference!

We thank our sponsors (@asn-amnat.bsky.social, @cdnsciencepub.com, @datadryad.bsky.social, @peercommunityin.bsky.social, @royalsociety.org, @sse-evolution.bsky.social, @biologists.bsky.social) who are eligible for free registration.

A Mechanistically Integrated Model of Exploitative and Interference Competition over a Single Resource Produces Widespread Coexistence | The American Naturalist Abstract Many ecological models treat exploitative competition in isolation from interference competition. Corresponding theory centers around the R* rule, according to which consumers that share a si...

Our new paper @asn-amnat.bsky.social develops a Grand Unified Theory including both exploitative and interference competition doi.org/10.1086/737628. The R* rule of ecology (that 2 species cannot coexist on a single resource), is widely broken, including via a new trade-off we describe. 1/9

Thanks for pointing this out! ... How does the link work now?

When It Gets Too Hot, Insects Move Too: New Study on Thermal Preferences
Summary & Analysis by Patrick Stillson of "Thermal preference plasticity in ectotherms: Integrating temperature affinity and thermoregulation precision" by Deconninck et al.
amnat.org/an/newpapers...

The next stand-alone meeting of the American Society of Naturalists @asn-amnat.bsky.social will be on the East Coast!!! Mark your calendars for January 8-12, 2027 and we'll talk evolution, ecology, behavior, and integrative organismal biology at www.themansionatglencove.com/meeting-venues

Best Publishing Practices and Open Access Options at The American Naturalist | The American Naturalist: Vol 206, No 2

ICYMI: AmNat Editor-in-Chief Volker Rudolf speaks out: "Best Publishing Practices and Open Access Options at The American Naturalist"

Read now!
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...

What Is an Elevational Range? | The American Naturalist Abstract Elevational distributions have long fascinated scientists, an interest that has burgeoned with studies of predicted upslope range shifts under climate change. However, this body of work has y...

Elevational ranges are a focus of intense study, particularly as climate change drives species upslope. But what are they and how do we measure them? In his Synthesis, Linck addresses these questions and more with community science data.
Now ahead of print! www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...

Upcoming events Upcoming conference by Society for Open, Reliable, and Transparent Ecology and Evolutionary biology (SORTEE)

Members of the American Society of Naturalists @asn-amnat.bsky.social can get free registration to the 2025 SORTEE conference Oct 15-16 sortee.org/upcoming/

Evolution Conference Information Evolution 2026 Cleveland needs a logo! Submit your design(s) to evolution.meetings@gmail.com with the subject header 'logo contest 2026'  Guidance: 3-4 colors maximum try to avoid single organism...

Evolution Meeting 2026 logo contest! The winner will receive meeting registration and an Evolution 2026 t-shirt. www.evolutionmeetings.org/2026-logo-co...

Background: A glowing lightbulb. Text: American Society of Naturalists, Society for the Study of Evolution, Society of Systematic Biologists, Inclusiveness, Diversity, Equity, Access Award. Deadline: October 15, 2025.

Now accepting nominations for the tri-society Inclusiveness, Diversity, Equity, and Access (IDEA) Award! All career stages are eligible. The award includes a plenary lecture at #Evol2026 and a $1000 honorarium. Deadline October 15! www.evolutionsociety.org/society-awar... @asn-amnat.bsky.social

Investigating Tipping and Its Predictability in Noisy Environments: Evaluating the Impact of Temporal and Species Response Correlation | The American Naturalist Abstract Understanding and identifying factors influencing the likelihood of sudden transitions in ecological systems is a significant area of scientific research. Environmental fluctuations are parti...

ছাপার আগে এখনই পড়ুন!: "শোরগোলযুক্ত পরিবেশে টিপিং এবং তার অনুমানযোগ্যতা অনুসন্ধান : সময়গত ও প্রজাতির প্রতিক্রিয়ার সম্পর্কের প্রভাব মূল্যায়ন" দ্বারা Sagar Karmakar, Amit Samadder, & Joydev Chattopadhyay

www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...

How fast is too fast? Lee & McManus reveal ocean warming rate—not just magnitude—determines marine population survival. Cooler refuges & genetic diversity offer resilience, but only if warming doesn't outpace adaptation.
Now open access and ahead of print!
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...

Investigating Tipping and Its Predictability in Noisy Environments: Evaluating the Impact of Temporal and Species Response Correlation | The American Naturalist Abstract Understanding and identifying factors influencing the likelihood of sudden transitions in ecological systems is a significant area of scientific research. Environmental fluctuations are parti...

Now available ahead of print! "Investigating Tipping and Its Predictability in Noisy Environments: Evaluating the Impact of Temporal and Species Response Correlation" by Karmakar et al.

Read now! www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...

Who Stays, Who Goes: Predicting Community Dynamics From Evolutionary History
Summary & analysis by Deepika Gunasekaran of “Effects of Phylogeny on Coexistence in Model Communities” by Serván et al.

Read here!
www.amnat.org/an/newpapers...

Asymmetry in Cross-Sex Cross-Trait Genetic Covariances and the Evolvability of Sexual Dimorphism | The American Naturalist Abstract The evolution of sexual dimorphism is predicted to resolve conflict that can arise from divergent evolutionary interests between sexes, enabling each sex to reach its fitness optimum. However...

Videlier and Sztepanacz re-analyse published data to show that sexual dimorphism may evolve as easily from indirect responses to sexually concordant selection as from direct responses to sexually antagonistic selection.

Read now ahead of print!
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...

In Defense of Type I Functional Responses: The Frequency and Population Dynamic Effects of Feeding on Multiple Prey at a Time | The American Naturalist Abstract Ecologists differ in the degree to which they consider the linear type I functional response to be an unrealistic versus sufficient representation of predator feeding rates. Empiricists tend ...

Novak et al. derive a functional response model that unifies Holling’s classical forms. The model clarifies when linearity can be a mechanistically-reasoned description of predator feeding rates and the impact it has on predator-prey dynamics.

Read now!
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...

Editorial: Accountability, voice, and trust - responsible use of GenAI in scientific publishing Over the last few years, the development and rapid advancement of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) and Large Language Models (LLMs) such as ChatG

Many of us are using LLMs in coding and scientific writing. They are very helpful tools, but we need to be thoughtful as we integrate them into our work flows to preserve accountability, voice and trust. academic.oup.com/evlett/advan.... An editorial at @evolletters.bsky.social for discussion:

This infographic describes the main results from a survey of members of 14 scientific societies. There is a pie chart showing that both academic (58%) and non-academic (42%) responded to the survey. It lists statistics: 85% of respondents reported uncertainty about the future; 71% reported federal training programs were "very" or "extremely important"; 83% reported negative impacts or irreparable harm on their field of science. There is a word cloud summarizing open-ended responses with the largest words "student research fund federal grant". Eight major themes in the responses are listed: disruption of research with societal important; concerns of closure of the USGS Bird Banding Lab; Early Career Bottleneck; Restricted Freedoms including travel and speech; Decline in Government Efficiency and Expertise; Concerns about Biased/Removed Data and Data Gaps; Concerns about the Ability to Meet Legal Mandates; and From Positive Impact to Irreparable Harm. There are icons for each participating society and a QR code for website and data availability.

Today 14 scientific societies in #ecology #evolution and #marineScience are publishing the results of a survey that finds negative impacts of federal policies on food security, flood mitigation, infectious disease preparedness, and wildlife conservation: 🧪👩‍🔬 www.firsthandaccounts.org/impacts/2025...

Coexistence across time and life histories: Summary & Analysis by Jeremy Summers of “Fluctuation-Dependent Coexistence of Stage-Structured Species” by Werner et al.

Read now! www.amnat.org/an/newpapers...