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asn-amnat.bsky.social
American Naturalist / ASN 🐌
@asn-amnat.bsky.social
6.1K followers 330 following 330 posts
The American Naturalist, scholarly journal of evolutionary biology and ecology, pioneer of Open Data, affiliated with American Society of Naturalists and our nonprofit publisher (UChicago Press). All articles are Green Open Access compatible.
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asn-amnat.bsky.social
VP Symposium: The Contributions of Microbial Interactions to Abrupt Ecosystem Changes during the Late Quaternary by Braga et al.

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The Contributions of Microbial Interactions to Abrupt Ecosystem Changes during the Late Quaternary* | The American Naturalist
Abstract Abrupt ecosystem shifts during the Late Quaternary coincided with major climatic changes and intensified human activities, but the precise causes of these shifts remain debated. Here, buildin...
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November 14, 2025 at 10:55 PM
asn-amnat.bsky.social
2026 Student Paper Award: Yuan et al. discover why female frogs grow larger: male competition drives size when mates are scarce. Monogamous species show the strongest link, and both temperature and predation shape this dance.

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Positive Association between Female-Biased Sexual Size Dimorphism and Male-Skewed Operational Sex Ratio in Anurans | The American Naturalist
Abstract Sexual size dimorphism (varying body sizes between males and females) and the operational sex ratio (ratio of sexually active males to receptive females) are key demographic traits influenced...
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November 14, 2025 at 10:52 PM
asn-amnat.bsky.social
VP Symposium: Preservation of Genetic Diversity and Selection over a Century in a Coral Reef Tish (Taeniamia zosterophora) in the Philippines by Fitz et al.

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Preservation of Genetic Diversity and Selection over a Century in a Coral Reef Tish (Taeniamia zosterophora) in the Philippines* | The American Naturalist
Abstract Evaluating the evolutionary impacts of anthropogenic activity on populations is key to understanding species resiliency and to designing effective conservation strategies. Sequencing DNA from...
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November 14, 2025 at 10:48 PM
asn-amnat.bsky.social
2026 Student Paper Award: Pollinator and Flower Morphology Interact to Affect Pollen Receipt by Newman et al.

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November 13, 2025 at 10:29 PM
asn-amnat.bsky.social
2026 Student Paper Award: Do older birds claim better territories, and does this drive age biases in space over time? Woodman et al. use 45 years of data to suggest that habitat quality - not age - shapes spatial demography.

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November 13, 2025 at 10:25 PM
asn-amnat.bsky.social
Faurby et al. analyze diversification and colonization rate in living and extinct Carnivora, finding that colonizers diversify faster and suggesting that the patterns are best explained by heritable variation in completive ability between clades.

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Good Colonizers Diversify Faster | The American Naturalist
Abstract Variation in colonization ability (comprising the dispersal and successful establishment of lineages in new regions) and its connection to species diversification may be one of the major reas...
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November 13, 2025 at 10:21 PM
asn-amnat.bsky.social
2025 ਵਿਦਿਆਰਥੀ ਪੇਪਰ ਅਵਾਰਡ: ਇੱਕ ਲਿੰਗ ਵਿੱਚ ਵਿਕਾਸ ਅਕਸਰ ਵਿਰੋਧੀ ਲਿੰਗ 'ਤੇ ਚੋਣ ਦੁਆਰਾ ਪ੍ਰਭਾਵਿਤ ਹੁੰਦਾ ਹੈ। ਗੀਤਾ ਅਰੁਣ ਅਤੇ ਹੋਰ। ਫਲਾਂ ਦੀਆਂ ਮੱਖੀਆਂ ਦੀ ਵਰਤੋਂ ਕਰਕੇ ਇਸਦੀ ਪੜਚੋਲ ਕਰੋ ਅਤੇ ਪਤਾ ਲਗਾਓ ਕਿ ਚੋਣ ਪ੍ਰਤੀ ਪ੍ਰਤੀਕਿਰਿਆਵਾਂ ਲਿੰਗਾਂ ਵਿਚਕਾਰ ਵੱਡੇ ਪੱਧਰ 'ਤੇ ਸਮਾਨਾਂਤਰ ਹਨ।

ਹੁਣੇ ਛਪਾਈ ਤੋਂ ਪਹਿਲਾਂ ਪੜ੍ਹੋ!
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Using Sex-Specific Robertson Covariances to Estimate Within- and Cross-Sex Responses to Selection on Reproductive Traits in Drosophila melanogaster | The American Naturalist
Abstract In organisms with separate sexes, the expected evolutionary change in a trait due to selection can be expressed using sex-specific Robertson covariances (RCs), that is, the additive genetic c...
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November 12, 2025 at 10:54 PM
asn-amnat.bsky.social
2025 Student Paper Award: Evolution in one sex is often affected by selection acting on the opposite sex. Geeta Arun et al. explore this using fruit flies and find that responses to selection are largely parallel between sexes.

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Using Sex-Specific Robertson Covariances to Estimate Within- and Cross-Sex Responses to Selection on Reproductive Traits in Drosophila melanogaster | The American Naturalist
Abstract In organisms with separate sexes, the expected evolutionary change in a trait due to selection can be expressed using sex-specific Robertson covariances (RCs), that is, the additive genetic c...
www.journals.uchicago.edu
November 12, 2025 at 10:51 PM
asn-amnat.bsky.social
ASN Address: The Study of Mutualism, Past, Present, and Future by Bronstein

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The Study of Mutualism, Past, Present, and Future* | The American Naturalist
Abstract After a fitful start, the conceptual study of mutualism (mutually beneficial interspecific interactions) is now flourishing. In 1994, I reviewed the status of the field as reflected in the pe...
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November 12, 2025 at 10:45 PM
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sse-evolution.bsky.social
The Undergraduate Community at Evolution program provides travel funding, mentoring, and a presentation opportunity at #Evol2026. Please share with undergrads in your lab! www.evolutionsociety.org/content/educ...
@asn-amnat.bsky.social @systbiol.bsky.social @evolmtg.bsky.social
Text: Society for the Study of Evolution Undergraduate Community at Evolution Program. Applications due January 20, 2026.
November 10, 2025 at 2:29 AM
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egioxford.bsky.social
New paper from @joewoodman.bsky.social et al in @asn-amnat.bsky.social uses the long-term study of Great Tits in Wytham Woods to ask how differently aged birds are distributed in space & what consequences this has for spatial variation in reproductive output
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November 9, 2025 at 7:23 PM
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scottpegan.bsky.social
Wonderful description by @pothebug.bsky.social about our #NaturalHistory paper in @asn-amnat.bsky.social!

www.amnat.org/an/newpapers...
A bug of many hats – The red-shouldered soapberry bug as a pollinating seed-predator
<p>Read about &ldquo;A New Twist on an Old Story: Pollination and Seed Predation in Jadera haematoloma&rdquo; by Mattheau S. Comerford, Scott. P. Carroll, and Scott P. Egan (August&nbsp;2025)</p><br/>...
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November 8, 2025 at 2:14 PM
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danielbolnick.bsky.social
Great new podcast episode from @bigbiology.bsky.social about the @asn-amnat.bsky.social survey by @drk-lo.bsky.social of how federal funding and policy changes this year have impacted organismal biology researchers in the US
October 30, 2025 at 7:36 PM
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jbyoder.org
Nifty Natural History Note in @asn-amnat.bsky.social: these frogs can change color from green to brown to hide against different-colored backgrounds (Image: Hugo Claessen, Wikimedia) 🌿

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A waxy-looking frog with a green back and upper surfaces and a yellow belly, photographed on a green leaf
October 29, 2025 at 1:15 PM
asn-amnat.bsky.social
Innes-Gold et al. found that both biotic factors like herbivory and abiotic factors like water temperature mediate the intriguing phenomenon of coral reef halos.

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A drawing of a reef with three large fish in the foreground and plants on the left side of the image in the background.
November 7, 2025 at 9:53 PM
asn-amnat.bsky.social
ASN VP Symposium: Phenological Shifts in Plants and Pollinators over a Century Disrupt Interaction Persistence by Zoller et al.

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Phenological Shifts in Plants and Pollinators over a Century Disrupt Interaction Persistence* | The American Naturalist
Abstract Mutualistic interactions between plants and pollinators play an important role in supporting biodiversity and ecosystem stability. However, these interactions are increasingly threatened by c...
www.journals.uchicago.edu
November 7, 2025 at 9:45 PM
asn-amnat.bsky.social
ASN VP Symposium: Functional Resurveys and Models Reveal the Interplay of Plasticity and Evolution of Pierid Butterflies in Response to Recent Climate Change by Buckley and Kingsolver

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Functional Resurveys and Models Reveal the Interplay of Plasticity and Evolution of Pierid Butterflies in Response to Recent Climate Change* | The American Naturalist
Abstract The extent of contemporary evolution, which is mediated by interactions with plasticity, will be an important determinant of biological responses to climate change. We synthesize two function...
www.journals.uchicago.edu
November 7, 2025 at 9:42 PM
asn-amnat.bsky.social
A bug of many hats – The red-shouldered soapberry bug as a pollinating seed-predator
Summary & Analysis by Pooja Nathan of “A New Twist on an Old Story: Pollination and Seed Predation in Jadera haematoloma” by Comerford et al.

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www.amnat.org/an/newpapers...
Fire Transforms Landscape Color, Affecting Camouflaging Animals
<p>Read about &ldquo;Differential survival and background selection in cryptic trunk-dwelling arthropods in fire-prone environments&rdquo; by Jo&atilde;o Vitor de Alcantara Viana, Rafael Campos Duarte...
www.amnat.org
November 7, 2025 at 6:37 PM
asn-amnat.bsky.social
Fire Transforms Landscape Color, Affecting Camouflaging Animals
Summary & Analysis by Regina Fairbanks of “Differential survival and background selection in cryptic trunk-dwelling arthropods in fire-prone environments” by de Alcantara Viana et al.

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www.amnat.org/an/newpapers...
Fire Transforms Landscape Color, Affecting Camouflaging Animals
<p>Read about &ldquo;Differential survival and background selection in cryptic trunk-dwelling arthropods in fire-prone environments&rdquo; by Jo&atilde;o Vitor de Alcantara Viana, Rafael Campos Duarte...
www.amnat.org
November 7, 2025 at 6:35 PM
asn-amnat.bsky.social
The Characteristics of Inducible Defenses Influence Predator-Prey Dynamics by Cortez et al.

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November 5, 2025 at 6:13 PM
asn-amnat.bsky.social
Intraspecific Reaction Norm Variation Controls the Eco-Evolutionary Consequences of Environmental Change by Wieczynski et al.

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November 5, 2025 at 6:07 PM
asn-amnat.bsky.social
A mammals-wide study found no support for Rensch’s rule, a commonly-tested ecological rule that posits that sexual size dimorphism is greater in larger species if males are larger, and in smaller species if females are larger.

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November 5, 2025 at 5:59 PM
asn-amnat.bsky.social
What can goshawks teach us about how camouflage, behavior, and habitat protect seasonally color-molting prey? Recent findings suggest that brown prey may be less vulnerable to predation under climate change compared to white morphs.

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Four drawings of rabbits, each demonstrating the camouflaging effects of dark or light fur against a similar or contrasting habitat.
November 3, 2025 at 7:49 PM
asn-amnat.bsky.social
Temporal variability in demographic rates has been viewed as detrimental to long-term fitness, but a newer idea is that it may sometimes be beneficial. Morris and Doak reassess the conditions necessary for lability to occur.

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What Is Demographic Lability and When Might We Expect to See It? | The American Naturalist
Abstract When vital rates are convex functions of environmental drivers, temporal variation in those vital rates could increase long-term stochastic fitness (so-called demographic lability). Yet no em...
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November 3, 2025 at 7:41 PM
asn-amnat.bsky.social
Lerch and Servedio develop models to understand the importance of learning for the evolution of same-sex sexual behavior. They focus on the role of the sex ratio, rectifying previously contradictory empirical and theoretical results.

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October 29, 2025 at 4:15 PM