Evolutionary paths to new phenotypes

• 成果类型: Editorial Material
• 署名作者: Elmer, Kathryn R.
• 署名单位: University of Glasgow
• 刊物名称: SCIENCE
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0036-11026
• DOI: 10.1126/science.adm9239
• 发表日期: 2024-01-05
• 页码: 27-28
• 关键词: viviparity

摘要

Adaptation by natural selection cannot take any evolutionary path; it operates within the constraints of genetic variation and environmental context, with futures contingent on the past. Therefore, how new suites of traits arise is an enduring issue and is key to understanding the diversity of life (1). On pages 108 and 114 of this issue, Chomicki et al. (2) and Stankowski et al. (3), respectively, investigate two different cases of fascinating biological complexity that arose through convergent and convoluted evolutionary paths-one in carnivorous pitcher plants (Nepenthes gracilis and Nepenthes pervillei) and another in marine periwinkle snails (Littorina saxatilis). The studies use different approaches to reconstruct evolution to reveal how complex phenotypic traits arise in unexpected ways. The results advance understanding not only of the specific traits that are studied-feeding structures in plants and live-bearing (as opposed to egg-laying) in snails-but also how evolution in general might arrive at apparently unlikely combinations.