To connect human biology to fish biomedical models, we sequenced the genome of spotted
gar (Lepisosteus oculatus), whose lineage diverged from teleosts before teleost genome …

Snake venom has been hypothesized to have originated and diversified through a process
that involves duplication of genes encoding body proteins with subsequent recruitment of the …

Understanding the origin and maintenance of phenotypic variation, particularly across a
continuous spatial distribution, represents a key challenge in evolutionary biology. For this, …

The identification of apparently conserved gene complements in the venom and salivary
glands of a diverse set of reptiles led to the development of the Toxicofera hypothesis – the …

Nonmodel rodents are widely used as subjects for both basic and applied biological
research, but the genetic diversity of the study individuals is rarely quantified. University-housed …

Several families of homeobox genes are arranged in genomic clusters in metazoan
genomes, including the Hox, ParaHox, NK, Rhox, and Iroquois gene clusters. The selective …

Chromosome-scale genome assemblies based on ultralong-read sequencing technologies
are able to illuminate previously intractable aspects of genome biology such as fine-scale …

Portable DNA sequencers such as the Oxford Nanopore MinION device have the potential
to be truly disruptive technologies, facilitating new approaches and analyses and, in some …

The sand rat Psammomys obesus is a gerbil species native to deserts of North Africa and
the Middle East, and is constrained in its ecology because high carbohydrate diets induce …

Background Understanding the evolution of the vertebrate pancreas is key to understanding
its functions. The chondrichthyes (cartilaginous fish such as sharks and rays) have often …