📄 Category

evolutionary biology

337 papers

Evolutionary biology explores the dynamic history of life on Earth, tracing how species change, adapt, and diversify over time. This field investigates the mechanisms driving everything from the development of antibiotic resistance in bacteria to the complex social behaviors of primates, revealing the deep connections that bind all living organisms together.

On Gist.Science, we ensure these groundbreaking discoveries remain accessible by processing every new preprint uploaded to bioRxiv in this category. Our team generates both plain-language overviews and detailed technical summaries for each paper, bridging the gap between raw research and public understanding without requiring a specialized background.

Below are the latest studies in evolutionary biology, offering fresh insights into the ongoing story of life.

📄 evolutionary biology

Identification of novel enolase negative Segatella copri subspecies supports notion of Segatella copri speciation via alternative phosphoenolpyruvate synthesis pathways

This study identifies a novel *enolase*-negative subspecies of *Segatella copri* and proposes that its evolution is driven by the conservation of alternative phosphoenolpyruvate synthesis pathways utilizing formate, ferredoxin, and fumarate, which compensate for the absence of enolase and potentially mediate its competitive interactions with *Blautia* species in the human gut.

Bosnar, L. M., Shindler, A., Petrovski, S., Franks, A. E.2026-06-05
📄 evolutionary biology

Agent-based modelling of a nematode system provides general insights into the evolutionary constraints and modulators of phenotypic plasticity, bet-hedging, and environmental homeostasis

This study employs an agent-based model of the nematode *Pristionchus pacificus* to demonstrate that the evolutionary success of phenotypic plasticity versus bet-hedging strategies is critically dependent on the intrinsic costs of plasticity, the timescale of environmental fluctuations, and fitness asymmetries between morphs, revealing that small changes in these variables can trigger significant phase transitions in mixed-strategy systems.

Tarantino, R.2026-06-05
📄 evolutionary biology

Amino acid auxotrophy is a feature of a distinct bacterial lifestyle across environments

This study demonstrates that amino acid auxotrophy in bacteria is primarily driven by phylogenetic history and genome streamlining rather than environmental nutrient availability, challenging the Black Queen Hypothesis by revealing auxotrophy as a conserved, co-occurring genomic lifestyle feature rather than a transient adaptive response.

Henderson, A., Gabrielli, M., Szabo, R., Eren, A. M., Schubert, O. T., Ackermann, M.2026-06-05
📄 evolutionary biology

Independent major-effect loci and limited trait associations characterise warning colour variation across sexes and life stages in the wood tiger moth (Arctia plantaginis)

This study reveals that warning colour variation in the wood tiger moth is governed by independent major-effect loci across sexes and life stages with limited trait associations, suggesting that variable selection rather than genetic correlations maintains the species' colour polymorphisms.

Koch, E. L., Brien, M. N., Chan, Y. F., Kucka, M., Ottocento, C., De Pasqual, C., Selenius, E., Nokelainen, O., Galarza (…)2026-06-05
📄 evolutionary biology

Inbreeding depression by polygenic load following a severe population bottleneck

This study reveals that the recovery of the critically endangered Seychelles warbler following a severe population bottleneck was enabled by the selective purging of severe genetic load, which allowed the species to survive despite experiencing significant inbreeding depression driven by a remaining polygenic load of mildly deleterious alleles.

Lee, K. G. L., Pinto, A., Dong, S., Gonzalez-Mollinedo, S., Lee, C. Z., Slate, J., Komdeur, J., Richardson, D., Dugdale (…)2026-06-05
📄 evolutionary biology

Adaptive laboratory evolution of a minimal cell to low temperature

Through adaptive laboratory evolution, the minimal bacterium JCVI-syn3B successfully acquired a genetically encoded ability to grow at low temperatures via mechanisms involving mRNA turnover, DNA stabilization, lipid synthesis, and division protein upregulation, demonstrating that even genomically minimal cells retain substantial evolvability.

Mizutani, M., Moriyama, M., Koga, R., Fukatsu, T., Kakizawa, S.2026-06-05
📄 evolutionary biology

Genomic variation and ancestry of Helicobacter pylori in the admixed population of Cabo Verde reveal host adaptation, limited host-pathogen ancestry concordance, and signatures of trans-Atlantic slave trade migrations

This study analyzes *Helicobacter pylori* in the admixed Cabo Verdean population to reveal that while bacterial strains reflect historical trans-Atlantic migrations and show signs of host adaptation, their ancestry is uncoupled from host ancestry, offering a unique model for investigating host-pathogen interactions independent of parallel evolutionary history.

Archampong, T., Tam, Y. L., Davison, C., Boughanmi, I., Tallman, S., Rodrigues, M., Tavares, N., Santos, K. S., Barbosa (…)2026-06-05
📄 evolutionary biology

Diversifying the Northern Neotropics: Phylogenomics and Evolutionary History of the Early-Diverging Herichthyine Cichlids Thorichthys and Trichromis

Using ultraconserved elements to construct a comprehensive phylogenomic framework, this study reveals that the diversification of early-diverging herichthyine cichlids (*Thorichthys* and *Trichromis*) in the northern Neotropics is driven by the interplay of geological restructuring, climatic oscillations, and ecological pressures, while uncovering unrecognized species diversity, uncertain boundaries, and the first evidence of ghost introgression in these fishes.

Elias, D. J., Alda, F., Betancourt-Resendes, I., Diaz-Flores, A., Dominguez-Dominguez, O., Rodriguez-Machado, S., Velasq (…)2026-06-05
📄 evolutionary biology

Loci under balancing selection facilitate the emergence of pseudo-overdominance and recombination suppression

This study demonstrates through individual-based simulations that loci under balancing selection facilitate the emergence of pseudo-overdominance by maintaining deleterious mutations and linkage disequilibrium, thereby promoting the evolution of recombination suppression to prevent the production of unfit homozygous recombinant offspring.

Guyot, L., Giraud, T., Jay, P.2026-06-04