Rapid evolution and phenotypic plasticity: insights from horned beetles

by Sofia Casasa & Armin P Moczek

All organisms face the challenge of having to cope with variable environments. Diverse factors, from food and water availability to temperature, predation pressures, or conspecific densities, may impact an organism’s development, survival, and reproduction. Phenotypic plasticity is one mechanism that allows individuals to cope with variable environmental conditions within their life time, and most organisms

Coral reefs and niche construction: quantifying patterns

by Viviana Brambilla

Coral reefs are one of the most biodiverse and threatened ecosystems in the world. Scleractinian corals act as ecosystem engineers and build the three-dimensional framework that provides shelter and food for themselves and all the other species that inhabit the reef. They are characterised by high diversity in terms of species, growth forms and demographic

“Here I Go Again”—will Waddington’s hopes finally be fulfilled? Part III

by Erik L Peterson

Question 3: Why didn’t Waddington’s attempts fix the division? Answer 3: It’s complicated, but two factors jump out. I devoted chapters of a book to this question, so forgive me for not doing it justice here. I want to focus just on two important reasons. The first is that Waddington and epigenetics became

“Here I Go Again”—will Waddington’s hopes finally be fulfilled? Part II

by Erik L Peterson

Question 2: How did biologists attempt to mend the split between development and inheritance in the past? Answer 2: Morgan (1934) and Waddington (1940). T. H. Morgan’s 1934 book Embryology & Genetics was an important first attempt to close the development-inheritance divide. Morgan blamed the split on vitalism and Hans Spemann’s “organizer” work.

“Here I Go Again”—will Waddington’s hopes finally be fulfilled? Part I

by Erik L Peterson

Introduction Recently, a group of biologists gathered in picturesque accommodations on the side of a mountain to discuss the Extended Evolutionary Synthesis (EES). It was a motley crew. The group included theoreticians and experimentalists, population geneticists and organismal biologists. They brought in a few participants from the humanities and social sciences to boot. Some