Evolution articles from across Nature Portfolio

The earliest known dinosaur fossils are at least 230 million years old, and by 200 million years ago, dinosaurs dominated global ecosystems. Reconstructing food webs using fossil evidence of feeding activity helps to explain this ascendency.

The most widespread chromosomal sex determination systems in plants and animals with separate sexes are the XY system, in which males are heterogametic, and the ZW system, in which females are heterogametic. Figuring out which species has which system has become easier with fully phased, chromosome-scale genome assemblies. A new study now provides such a genome for Amborella trichopoda, with its Z and W sex chromosomes nearly completely assembled.

By comparing related plants, researchers have identified a cause of a switch in gene expression that enabled a more efficient form of photosynthesis to evolve — paving the way for engineering crops that are more productive.

Hybrids have complex genomes that influence their adaptive potential. This study reveals that yeast hybrids adapt slower than their parental species in a new environment, primarily due to a reduced rate of loss of heterozygosity in key genes.

The first genome and continent-wide study of Leishmania braziliensis across South America reveals eco-epidemiologically distinct genetic groups in the Amazon and Atlantic Forests, offering new insights into the pathogen’s evolutionary history.

Key innovations are traits that trigger the rapid evolution of new species occupying novel niches. Fresh genetic evidence reveals that the modified throat jaws of some fishes, thought to be a textbook example of key innovation, have a complex history that does not fit the classic definition.

There is a paucity of studies on enzyme stereoselectivity from an evolutionary biochemistry perspective. Here, the authors use ancestral sequence reconstruction to trace the evolution of stereoselectivity in imine reductases, elucidate its structural basis, and investigating the role of epistasis.

Remarkably preserved footprints of Homo erectus and Paranthropus boisei offer direct evidence that extinct hominin species coexisted.

The earliest known dinosaur fossils are at least 230 million years old, and by 200 million years ago, dinosaurs dominated global ecosystems. Reconstructing food webs using fossil evidence of feeding activity helps to explain this ascendency.

Analysis of 200-million-year-old digested foods reveals how the animals became dominant.

The most widespread chromosomal sex determination systems in plants and animals with separate sexes are the XY system, in which males are heterogametic, and the ZW system, in which females are heterogametic. Figuring out which species has which system has become easier with fully phased, chromosome-scale genome assemblies. A new study now provides such a genome for Amborella trichopoda, with its Z and W sex chromosomes nearly completely assembled.

Multiple histories converge in Masaru Nobu’s story of culturing an archaeon closely related to us eukaryotes.