Evolutionary Biology

The geometry of gametic dispersal in a flying mammal, Rhinolophus hipposideros

1. Thomas Brazier
2. Diane Zarzoso-Lacoste
3. Lisa Lehnen
4. Pierre-Loup Jan
5. Sebastien J. Puechmaille
6. Eric J. Petit

Reviewed by Peer Community in Evolutionary Biology

RegEvol: detection of directional selection in regulatory sequences through phenotypic predictions and phenotype-to-fitness functions

1. Alexandre Laverré
2. Thibault Latrille
3. Marc Robinson-Rechavi

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  The focus of this manuscript is a computational procedure to reveal signatures of selection on transcription factor binding sites through assessing changes in predicted binding affinity, setting out to avoid biases inherent in previous tests. The general approach could become a valuable resource for the community that can also be used for a broader range of questions. However, in its current implementation, the methods are inadequate to sufficiently support the primary claims.

Reviewed by eLife

Developmental bias explains the evolutionary trend towards simple leaf shapes

1. James S Malone
2. Nora S Martin
3. Samuel HA von der Dunk
4. Liliana M Dávalos
5. Ard A Louis

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This paper presents important findings on how the shapes of leaves might be biased towards simpler shapes due to biases in how variation is generated by developmental processes rather than selection. The authors present solid evidence that combines image analysis of a herbarium dataset and computational analysis of a model of leaf development. The paper should be of interest to diverse researchers, ranging from plant development to the evolution of complexity more broadly.

Reviewed by eLife