📄 Category

evolutionary biology

295 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

Eco-evolutionary dynamics and environmental detoxification jointly shape bacterial community response to antibiotic perturbation

This study demonstrates that antibiotic history reshapes bacterial community responses through coupled eco-evolutionary and environmental feedbacks, where resistance priming buffers against immediate disturbance via evolved resistance and environmental detoxification but ultimately reinforces competitive dominance, creating a trade-off that limits community diversity and recovery.

Cairns, J., Smolander, N., Pausio, S., Pitkänen, O., Lindqvist, M., Tamminen, M., Das Roy, R., Friman, V.-P., Becks, L. (…)2026-04-29
📄 evolutionary biology

Constitutive and inducible fibrosis explain immune variation among threespine stickleback populations

By combining a wild immune survey with a common garden experiment, this study reveals that both heritable constitutive and environmentally influenced inducible fibrosis drive population-specific immune variation in threespine stickleback, linking their defense against *Schistocephalus solidus* to ecological differences in lake eutrophication.

Choi, E., Flanagan, B. A., Alexander, H., Berini, J., Yeung, A., Wolf, C. J., Watts, V., Vaziri, G., Vargas, N., Szajada (…)2026-04-29
📄 evolutionary biology

PhytClust: Efficient and Optimal Monophyletic Partitioning of Rooted Phylogenetic Trees

PhytClust is a new, threshold-free algorithm that provides an efficient and optimal way to partition rooted phylogenetic trees into monophyletic clusters by minimizing within-cluster dispersion, demonstrating superior speed, accuracy, and scalability across diverse biological datasets.

Ganesan, K., Billard, E., Kaufmann, T. L., Strange, C. B., Cwikla, M. C., Altenhoff, A. M., Dessimoz, C., Schwarz, R. F.2026-04-27
📄 evolutionary biology

A deep genetic structure phylogenomically frames the closest algal relatives of land plants

By sequencing 43 new transcriptomes to construct a comprehensive phylogenomic framework, this study reveals that the Zygnematophyceae, the closest algal relatives of land plants, possess a deep and ancient genetic structure characterized by a major split between Spirogyrales and Desmidiales, highlighting the necessity of diverse sampling to understand the evolutionary origins of land plants.

Bierenbroodspot, M. J., Kunz, C. F., Goldbecker, E. S., Lorenz, M., Irisarri, I., Proeschold, T., Darienko, T., de Vries (…)2026-04-22
📄 evolutionary biology

A method for massively scalable phylogenetic network inference

The paper introduces InPhyNet, a novel method that achieves linear scalability and high accuracy in inferring phylogenetic networks for large datasets by merging independently inferred sub-networks, thereby overcoming the computational limitations of existing model-based approaches while providing biologically meaningful insights into complex evolutionary histories.

Kolbow, N., Kong, S., Solis-Lemus, C.2026-04-18
📄 evolutionary biology

Evolution and adaptations of the seminal proteome in an insect with traumatic insemination

This study presents the first high-throughput proteomic characterization of the sperm and seminal fluid in the bedbug *Cimex lectularius*, revealing unique evolutionary patterns such as elevated molecular evolution rates and an ancient expansion of Sperm-leucylaminopeptidases (S-Laps) that likely adapt to the species' traumatic insemination strategy.

Garlovsky, M. D., Otti, O., Reinhardt, K., Karr, T. L.2026-04-18
📄 evolutionary biology

The Origin and Migration of the Ameru Community in Kenya based on mtDNA analysis.

This study utilizes mtDNA analysis of 132 elderly Ameru males to reveal a heterogeneous maternal genetic landscape characterized by diverse African origins (primarily L0–L4 haplogroups) and distinct subgroup histories, where communities like Imenti and Tigania exhibit unique lineages with potential Eurasian and Afro-Asiatic connections compared to the West and Central African ancestry prevalent in other Ameru subgroups.

Onyango, D. M., Anampiu, R., Ayieko, C., Magonya, L. A., Owuor, R. A., Magaga, G. O., Andika, B.2026-04-18