In a paper published in 1973 in Nature, Tomoko Ohta extended Motoo Kimura's neutral theory of molecular evolution to include slightly deleterious mutations, and examine the role of interaction of drift and weak selection in molecular evolution. Tomoko Ohta called this extension the "nearly neutral...
Evolution
Revisiting Losos et al. 1998
In a paper published in Science in 1998, Jonathan Losos, Todd Jackman, Allan Larson, Kevin de Queiroz, and Lourdes Rodrı́guez-Schettino, using morphometric and phylogenetic analyses, showed that the same set of habitat specialists or "ecomorphs" of Anolis lizards had evolved independently on four...
Revisiting Benkman 1999
In a paper published in The American Naturalist in 1999, Craig Benkman demonstrated the existence of a selection mosaic with coevolutionary hotspots in a population of the Rocky Mountain lodgepole pine. Where red squirrels are present, they drive selection on lodgepole pine cone structure. In...
Revisiting Thompson & Cunningham 2002
In a paper published in Nature in 2002, John Thompson and Bradley Cunningham showed, through careful study of a widespread plant-moth interaction across multiple habitats and years, that the same moth species functions as a pollinator in some places and as a parasite in other. Thompson &...
Revisiting Dingemanse et al. 2002
In a paper published in Animal Behaviour in 2002, Niels Dingemanse, Christiaan Both, Piet Drent, Kees van Oers and Arie van Noordwijk showed, using an open field test in the laboratory on wild caught great tits, that, 1. there is consistent individual variation in behaviour, and 2. this behaviour...
Revisiting Schemske & Bradshaw 1999
In a paper published in PNAS in 1999, Douglas Schemske and Toby Bradshaw showed, through field crosses of a bee-pollinated and a hummingbird-pollinated monkeyflower (Mimulus) plant, that genes of large effect on pollinator preference have had a role in floral evolution and premating reproductive...
Revisiting Coyne and Orr 1989
In a paper published in Evolution in 1989, Jerry Coyne and Allen Orr showed, through a meta-analysis of 119 pairs of closely-related Drosophila species at different stages of speciation, that mating discrimination, and sterility or inviability of hybrids, gradually increase with time since...
Revisiting Bond and Kamil 2002
In a paper published in Nature in 2002, Alan Bond and Alan Kamil showed, with experiments using real jays and digital moths, that frequency-dependent predation led to the evolution of greater crypticity and phenotypic variation. Fourteen years after the paper was published I spoke to Alan Bond...
Revisiting Johnson 1993
In a paper published in Ecological Applications in 1993, Nancy Collins Johnson showed, experimentally, that fertilization of soil leads to the selection of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal (AM) fungi that are inferior mutualists. Johnson found that fertilization, both, alters the species composition of AM...
Revisiting Kirkpatrick 1982
In a paper published in Evolution in 1982, Mark Kirkpatrick showed, theoretically, that strong female mating preference for a male trait that reduces viability is neither selected for or against, but the mating advantage it provides to the males it prefers can lead to maintenance of that male...